An exclusive VMworld TV interview with Jim Silvera, Expert on vCenter Operations and how adapters collect and process data. A key feature of vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise is its ability to consume data from across the enterprise. vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise uses adapters to collect data from a variety of data sources, including specific third-party products.
Adapters work with the vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise Collector to collect and process data. The Collector acts as a gateway between vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise and its adapters. The adapters connect to and collect data from data sources, transform the data into a format that vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise can consume, and pass the data to the Collector for final processing.
Depending on the data source and the adapter implementation, an adapter might collect data by making API calls, using a command-line interface, or sending database queries. Some adapters collect data for each resource independently and other adapters extract data for all resources based on a specified time range.
vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise uses embedded adapters and external adapters. Embedded adapters are the most common type of adapter implementation.