Books
Mastering VMware vSphere 5 – Virtualization is hotter than ever. VMware vSphere is the most widely deployed virtualization platform, and this indispensable book by VMware vExpert and VCDX Scott Lowe is your key to harnessing the newest version.
You’ll learn how to install, configure, operate, manage, and secure the latest release.
Using step-by-step instruction and real-world examples, he takes you under the hood of VMware vSphere 5 and shows you how to get the very most out of all its components. Learn how to install, configure, operate, monitor, secure, and automate your virtual infrastructure from a leading expert and with the leading virtualization solution.
The book just went out at Amazon.. Read more…
VMware vSphere 5 Clustering Technical Deep Dive – New book from Frank Denneman and Duncan Epping.
Zooms in on three key components of every VMware based infrastructure and is by no means a “how to” guide. It covers the basic steps needed to create a vSphere HA and vSphere DRS cluster and to implement vSphere Storage DRS. Even more important, it explains the concepts and mechanisms behind HA, DRS and Storage DRS which will enable you to make well educated decisions. This book will take you in to the trenches of HA, DRS and Storage DRS and will give you the tools to understand and implement e.g. HA admission control policies, DRS resource pools, Datastore Clusters and resource allocation settings. On top of that each section contains basic design principles that can be used for designing, implementing or improving VMware infrastructures and fundamental supporting features like (Storage) vMotion, Storage I/O Control and much more are described in detail for the very first time. Read more – >
Professional vSphere 5: Implementation and Management - This book is written by John Hales, Brian Eiler and Steve Jones. The book will be published in near future, but you can already order your copy now. VMware vSphere 5 , is VMware’s first cloud operating system. Building on the power of VMware Infrastructure, VMware vSphere 5 reduces capital and operating costs, and increases control over IT infrastructures while preserving the flexibility to choose any OS, application and hardware.
This book provides vSphere administrators with essential guidance in implementing and managing VMware’s vSphere product suite. This guidance has been battle tested in virtual environments big and small. It also provides actionable advice for the day to day operational maintenance and common pitfalls to avoid for first time vSphere administrators. Best of all, the companion DVD contains an introductory version of Train Signal’s vSphere training DVD that provides additional hours of vSphere training. Read more – >
vSphere PowerCLI Reference – Luc Dekens, Alan Renouf (alias Virt-U-Al), Glenn Sizemore, Anrim van Leishout, Jonathan Medd.
I also got a copy and I did a review of the book which you can read on this blog post here. And below a sample review from Amazon. Read more ->
Although I know vSphere inside out I am a novice when it comes to PowerCLI. The main reason being that I never gave myself the time to actually learn PowerCLI as I figured I could do things faster using the UI. Although this might be true in some cases the first thing the book tought me was that my perception was wrong. The book shows you how to optimize your day-to-day operations by taking advantage of what PowerCLI has to offer out of the box, but it also teaches you how to create your own functions. The amount of examples in there in terms of PowerCLI scripts are such a valuable asset that I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning PowerCLI and/or optimizing their operational procedures.
HA and DRS Deep Dive - The authors Frank Denneman and Duncan Epping did a common effort to bring this book to life in a very short period of time.
Frank Denneman:
It will explain the concepts and mechanisms behind HA and DRS like Primary Nodes, Admission Control Policies, Host Affinity Rules and Resource Pools. On top of that, we will include basic design principles to support the decisions that will need to be made when configuring HA and DRS or when designing a vSphere infrastructure.
Duncan Epping:
It covers the basic steps needed to create a VMware HA and DRS cluster, but even more important explains the concepts and mechanisms behind HA and DRS which will enable you to make well educated decisions. This book will take you in to the trenches of HA and DRS and will give you the tools to understand and implement e.g. HA admission control policies, DRS resource pools and resource allocation settings. Read More – >
Mastering vSphere 4 – Scott Lowe. – Shows administrators how to use VMware to realize significant savings in hardware costs while still providing adequate “servers” for their users.
Using step-by-step instruction backed by real-world scenarios, this book takes you under the hood of this powerful VMware suite, clearly explaining all of the components and how you can get the most out of them. Discover how to reduce your overall server footprint, expand capacity, optimize performance, track cost savings, and more with this in-depth guide.
Increase Capacity with Scalable, Robust Virtual Solutions, Get the Very Most out of a vSphere 4 Infrastructure, Reduce Your Overall Server Footprint and Cut Costs, Secure Your Virtual Network and Monitor Performance, Reinforce Your Skills with Real-World Examples. Read More – >
VMware vSphere 4 Implementation – by Mike Laverick. Design and deploy a high-performance cloud-based enterprise IT platform with guidance from a VMware expert. Featuring tips, techniques, and best practices.
You’ll be able to see in clear manner how to dramatically cut hardware costs, maximize computing power, and centralize system administration. Configure hardware and storage devices, build virtual machines and networks, install guest operating systems, and import physical machines. Security, disaster recovery, performance tuning, and system updates are also covered in this comprehensive resource.
Mike Laverick over at rtfm-education.co.uk is well known person in the Virtualization community.
Maximum vSphere – Eric Siebert, Rich Brambley and Simon Seagrave did a good job by writing this book which brings in some best how-to tips on managing, installing, administering or backing up of a VMware vSphere Infrastructure.
A sample review from Amazon:
This is covering from all levels of skills Beginner,Intermediate and Experts. The day I received this book I couldn’t find time to read it, but the day I started reading this book I couldn’t find time for other activities. I am going to add more and more vsphere(Under Development) to my website [...] based on the knowledge I am gaining from this book. I personally recommend to any folks trying to have a overall and performance insight of vsphere-4,4.1. Thanks to Eric Siebert and his team for getting this book out with most valuable information at the right time.
