Which of the following is a supported method for monitoring the status of VMs in vSphere?

The supported method for monitoring the status of virtual machines (VMs) in vSphere is through VMware Tools heartbeat.

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhance the performance of a VM's guest operating system and provide several important functions for both the VM and the host. One of the key features of VMware Tools is the heartbeat function, which allows the management layer of vSphere to monitor the responsiveness of the VM. Specifically, the VMware Tools heartbeat sends periodic signals from the guest OS to the vSphere host, informing it that the VM is functioning properly. If these signals stop for a certain period, vSphere can determine that the VM may be unresponsive or has crashed, which is essential for troubleshooting and management purposes.

Using this method allows administrators to receive real-time data about the operational status of VMs, making it vital for effective resource management and reliability within a virtualized environment. The synchronous communication between VMware Tools and the vSphere environment enables quick identification of issues that can impact the performance of VMs.

Other methods such as host performance metrics, network utilization logs, and guest OS uptime reports provide valuable information but do not serve as direct indicators of whether a VM is operational. Host performance metrics focus more on the physical hardware and overall operational