Mastering VMware Infrastructure 3 (Paperback)

by Chris McCain (Author)
Key Phrases: consolidated backup, medium power, network usage, Windows Server, Back Next, Active Directory (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Cut hardware costs, expand your capacity, and manage an entire fleet of virtual machines in your enterprise with the leading virtualization solution, VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3), by applying the step-by-step instructions in Mastering VMware® Infrastructure 3. Packed with the technical details, best practices, and how-tos you need to install, configure, and run a virtual infrastructure at maximum efficiency, this guide is comprehensive and essential. Learn how to create and manage virtual networks and machines, configure every product in the VI3 suite, monitor resources and performance, maintain security, and much more.

From the Back Cover
Transform your IT infrastructure without extra hardware

Cut hardware costs, expand your capacity, and manage an entire fleet of virtual machines in your enterprise with the leading virtualization solution, VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3), and the step-by-step instruction in this must-have guide. This essential book is packed with the technical details, best practices, and how-tos you need to install, configure, and run a virtual infrastructure at maximum efficiency. You'll learn how to create and manage virtual networks and machines, configure every product in the VI3 suite, monitor resources and performance, maintain security, and much more.

Coverage includes:

• Installing and configuring the VI3 product suite, including ESX Server 3.5and ESXi, Virtual Center 2.0, VMotion, and VMware Consolidated Backup

• Creating and managing virtual networks and setting virtual switch security

• Configuring and managing storage devices, including iSCSI, NAS/NFS, and fiber channel storage

• Setting up and deploying virtual machines, including guest operating systems

• Migrating machines, from virtual to virtual and from physical to virtual

• Allocating CPU and memory and monitoring resource usage

• Backing up, restoring, and securing virtual machines and infrastructures

• Managing resource utilization with VMotion and DRS

• Managing host and virtual machine updates with VMware Update Manager

• Setting up and deploying virtual machines and guest operating systems

• Performing physical to virtual and virtual to virtual migrations using VMware Converter

• Implement disaster recovery and business continuity plans with VMware HA and VCB

Run 2 to 2,000 Virtual Servers with VI3's Robust, Scalable Tools

Partition Even Mission-Critical Physical Servers into Virtual Ones

Expand Your IT Capacity without Extra Hardware

Follow Best Practices for Monitoring Access and Protecting Data

Reinforce Your Skills with Real-World Examples

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (May 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470183136
• ISBN-13: 978-0470183137
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,310 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive; Meticulous; In Depth; and Worth It., May 29, 2008

By	Noel Milton Vega "info.ComputingArchitects.Com" (New York City) - See all my reviews

As a computing architect/engineer, I have cover-to-cover read many books
over my career. Part of my job is also to write detailed step-by-step
technical documentation for work I have done. With that as preamble, I'd
like to say that this book is extremely well written. You can tell
the author endeavored to give the complete story of the VI3 suite without
sacrificing the deep detail for each component. He succeeded. Not long
before I read Chris McCain's book, I participated in a 5 day (12hrs/day)
deeply intensive VMWare course covering the same VI3 material. I'm not
a fan of crash/boot-camp type courses, but this one was an exceptionally
thorough/good one. Well, you can pretty much replace that intensive
course with the contents of the "Mastering VMware Infrastructure 3"
book and one (and preferably two) servers qualified for ESX use. Almost
every aspect of VI3 that could be neatly partitioned off into its
own chapter and thoroughly treated, was in this book. Chapters either
cover a VI3 component and/or covers a real world best-practice use
of it. There is little hand-waiving in this book; and if you enjoy the
UNIX CLI way of doing things, as I do, you'll also appreciate the
ESX commands that are peppered throughout the book to
complement/supplement the UI screen shots. Job well done. Highly
recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good learning book, December 4, 2008

By	J. Snavely "jellybiscuit" (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is currently the best learning book on the market for VMware, better than the inappropriately named VMware Certified Professional Test Prep.

This really provides enough information to begin using the product(s) effectively and is what I would provide a staffperson with no knowledge of VMware. I appreciate that it is a softcover book, making it much easier to read for me.

The only rub here is that VMware has excellent documentation of their own. A person reading only the documentation would have more pages to read, but would come away with a higher level of knowledge. I mentioned this is the book I would use to get someone up to speed, but if their goal was to pass the VCP test, I would direct them directly to the documentation. There's really no need to read anything else.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book but the text is too small., December 1, 2008

By	Carl Soper "tech trainer" (Shelton, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've taken the VI3 course twice and this book goes into greater detail than the vendor course does. The author gives real world applications to many of the issues that VMWare administrators would face. He also presents more detailed explanations of ancilliary subjects such as SANs, command line functions and planning scenarios than you would find by attending the course.

However, the text is a little on the small side. Not enough to be much of a bother when going through the book generally, but trying to read the text in most of the screen shots without a magnifying glass is so difficult that I found myself ignoring the examples he gives. That's why I gave only four stars.

As far as the writing is concerned, I feel that the subject matter is right in line with the knowledge and skills that I know the author possesses. He has a distinct ability to explain a sometimes difficult subject in such a way that even those who are marginally acquainted with VMWare will be able to understand.

Great book, Chris! I just wish I could read it all without straining these middle-aged eyes.