Which vSphere component handles security and user permissions?

The vCenter Server is the component specifically designed to handle security and user permissions within a vSphere environment. It acts as a centralized management platform that oversees the entire virtual infrastructure, providing authorization and access control functionalities for all managed resources, including ESXi hosts, virtual machines, and other components.

Through vCenter Server, administrators can define roles and permissions, assign them to users or groups, and manage the security settings for the environment. This capability is vital for ensuring that only authorized personnel can access sensitive configurations or perform critical actions, thereby enhancing the overall security posture of the virtualization environment.

In contrast, the ESXi host focuses on hardware access and resource management but does not provide the centralized permission management that vCenter Server offers. vSAN is designed for storage virtualization and does not handle user permissions directly, while VMware Tools are a suite of utilities that improve the performance of virtual machines but have no role in security or user permission management.