The Book of VMware: The Complete Guide to VMware Workstation (Paperback)

by Brian Ward (Author) "VMware Workstation provides virtual hardware on top of a host computer's real processor and memory..." (more)
Key Phrases: guest operating system, vmmon module, vmware workstation, Device Manager, Red Hat, Window System (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
There's only so much you can do by multitasking applications. Frequently, you just need another computer for testing software, trying out network configurations, or doing any of a dozen things that engineers and administrators need to do. VMware allows you to run several virtual machines on one physical computer, each completely independent of the others at all levels and each potentially running a different operating system. The Book of VMware provides full documentation on running both versions of this tremendously useful utility--Windows and Linux--and goes into great detail on how it goes about dividing the resources of a single physical box. If you want to know how the Linux version of VMware manages the file systems of a Windows guest operating system, or how USB devices are shared across multiple virtual machines, this book is the single best resource for you.

Brian Ward's prose style is pretty dry; you won't read this one from front to back, and it's unlikely you'll even read a chapter straight through unless you're encountering a problem and want to know everything potentially related to it. More likely, you'll use the index to locate Ward's coverage of FreeBSD disk-lettering schemes (or whatever) and read the several pages of text and illustrations he devotes to the matter. This is a specialized reference book, and a very good one. --David Wall

Topics covered: All aspects of VMware 3.0 Workstation (from VMware Corporation) for both the Windows and Linux versions of the software. Coverage of the two variants is approximately equal. In addition to explaining how to install both kinds of VMware, the author shows how guest systems behave--in terms of disk usage, driver compatibility, device sharing, networking, and all other major systems--in both environments. There's great coverage of FreeBSD as a guest system.

Review
"A great introduction to VMware Workstation. . . ." -- Edouard Bugnion, Co-founder and Chief architect at VMware, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: No Starch Press; 1 edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886411727
• ISBN-13: 978-1886411722
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #544,690 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The magic of VmWare explained/, March 21, 2002

By	Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I was asked to teach a class on various operating systems such as Windows 3.X, Windows 9X, NT, 2000, XP and Linux. The class was to go over the basic of each OS and the kicker was the class was to be 3 days long. With that many OSes it would have taken 3 days for installs alone, until I found VmWare.

With a basic understanding of the application I managed to teach the class, if I had this book then I would have been able to do so much more. Ward has simply put together the best book on the subject matter that I ever come across.

Starting right of the books delves into the virtual machine and the requirements for install and configuration. The author explains in detail what each version requires in order to have it working properly. Then there is over 100 pages just on the different guest system setups and configurations, again the author attention to detail makes this some of the most interesting reading of the book.

Then the book work with networking and stand alone operations making sure you have a good understanding of the differences. Finally the author gives several pages to the troubleshooting of the application. You have tips and tricks for each OS and hints to avoiding problems before they happen.

Overall this book has already given me several tips and tricks to enhancing the classes I am teaching and I am sure that I will find many others before I am through. Excellent work and if the application gets updated I certainly hope the book does as well.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rough around the edges, but otherwise a decent reference, September 24, 2003

By	Danny Faught (Fort Worth, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a nice companion for the sparsely documented VMware software. I've used VMware since version 1, and while it's a fabulous tool, I've always been frustrated by features that I only knew about by reading the support knowledge base. I learned about some very useful features in the book that I hadn't discovered before, such as the ability to mount an ISO image as if it were a real CD-ROM device.

The writing is a bit unpolished, and could have benefited from more editing. Also, note that the book covers VMware version 3, while the only version you can buy now is version 4. I think the book is still largely relevant for version 4.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A useful resource for the dedicated programmer, May 6, 2002

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

The Book of VMware: The Complete Guide To VMware Workstation by Linux expert Brian Ward is a comprehensive guide to making the most of the VMware Workstation product. Individual chapters cogently address the VMware virtual machine from its floppy drives and serial ports to its USB interface and peripherals, how to install, configure, and operate VMware, Windows, Linux, and other guest operating systems, network file transfer, troubleshooting and much more. The Book Of VMware is a truly excellent and useful resource for the dedicated programmer wanting to implement and utilize VMware.