What functionality does vCenter Server provide for multiple ESXi hosts?

vCenter Server plays a crucial role in managing multiple ESXi hosts and providing a cohesive management interface for virtualized environments. One of its key functionalities is infrastructure consolidation, which allows administrators to manage resources across various hosts as a single entity. This means that vCenter Server aggregates the resources, such as CPU and memory, of all connected ESXi hosts, enabling efficient allocation and utilization of those resources.

Additionally, vCenter Server offers capabilities like managing virtual machines, enabling features such as vMotion for live migration, Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) for load balancing, and high availability configurations. By consolidating infrastructure, vCenter Server simplifies management tasks, enhances operational efficiency, and improves the overall performance of the virtual environment. This holistic view and management capability is paramount for organizations aiming to maximize their virtualization investments.

While the other options listed, such as resource allocation, virtual networking, and performance monitoring, are indeed features offered within the vSphere ecosystem, they are components that benefit from the infrastructure consolidation enabled by vCenter Server. The foundational aspect of managing multiple ESXi hosts and their resources effectively points directly to the importance of infrastructure consolidation in this context.