Virtualization with VMware ESX Server by Al Muller, Seburn Wilson, Don Happe, Gary J. Humphrey
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Book Reviews of Virtualization with VMware ESX Server
Book Review: Great book with topics that others don't cover
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book about a month ago along with some others on VMware. It definitely covers some critical P to V methods that other books just don't cover. The writing style is pretty good too, not stuffy, and the author is very enthusiastic about VMware, and that comes across well. It is slightly more basic than some, but it's a great book for someone new to VMware who is trying to come up to speed quickly, and learn the product thoroughly. It's not filled with theory, it's got good "in the trenches" anecdotes and real world info, not conjecture put in there just to fill up space. Get it!Book Review: Sieve through to find relevant info
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is based upon ESX 2.5. There are still highly relevant parts of it with regards to tuning, performance, and general concepts. However, it's long in the tooth already--scour the earth for a book about VI or ESX3, and save your money--or better yet, download the free documentation at [...], and save up for your certification class.Book Review: VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Are you an IT professional who is managing a sprawling physical server environment? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Al Muller, Seburn Wilson, Don Happe, and Gary J. Humphrey, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows the IT professional how control both costs and headaches, architects and consultants, with an emphasis on server consolidation methodology.
Muller, Wilson, Happe, and Humphrey, begin by walking you through the GUI-based installation method for loading ESX 2.5; as well as, the tasks you'll need to perform before you install ESX and afterward. Then, the authors show you how to build a virtual machine, discuss its basic requirements; as well as, some issues to consider when building virtuals. Next, the authors review some of the advanced configuration possibilities for both your ESX Server and your virtual machines. The authors then expand on the basics of virtual networking. They continue by discussing and walking you through the concepts and methodologies for migrating your physical machines into a virtual environment. Then, the authors focus on how to achieve a successful server consolidation project, concentrating mainly on the people and process aspects of the project. They then discuss some of the very cool tools you need to manage you virtual infrastructure. Next, the authors focus on the administration of a virtual infrastructure. They then discuss some of the best practices, as well as, some that were not covered. They continue by explaining the system architecture of the ESX server to ensure you have a thorough understanding of the underlying components and their dependencies. Then, the authors focus on backup strategies and the different approaches available to ensure you can recover your Service Console and VMs after a disaster. They then focus on the commands that are most likely to be used to manage your ESX Server from the Service Console. Finally, they look at what the future holds.
In this most excellent book, you'll find a lot of step-by-step instructions with associated screenshots that will make your mental transition from the physical world to the virtual world that much easier. More importantly, you'll find that this book is very effective in articulating the people and process components of server virtualization.
Book Review: Excellent basic book on VMWARE ESX
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was exactly what I expected. A good practical reference for configuring and using VMWARE ESX. Explains the tools well without going into excessive details. This is not a technical reference, it is more of a straightforward how to book.
Book Review: Recommended for the new user, too basic for intermediate user
Summary: 4 Stars
VMware is arguably the best virtualization program available today and I would agree with that opinion. VMware ESX Server is their server virtualization product and just like all of their other products it is a stellar performer. However documentation has never been their strong point and this book tries to resolve that problem. Server virtualization allows multiple server operating systems to reside on the same physical machine and be accessed as though they were separate physical servers. This resolves a multitude of problems including situations where different software servers don't work well on the same physical server. For example, many IT departments will not put Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL on the same production server or generally don't like to run the Web Server, database server, and mail server on the same physical computer.
This book is written so the average computer administrator can easily install Vmware ESX Server on one physical computer and install as many virtual servers as needed or supported by the hardware without any problems. It even includes coverage of how to installs different server operating systems including how to install Linux on one virtual server and Windows 2003 on another on the same physical computer. However, for anything out of the ordinary the information is often not sufficiently detailed to allow the reader to completely setup the component. For example, the section on network card bonding does not contain sufficient information to actually configure it but does point the reader to a white paper on the subject. On the other hand, ESX server installation and basic administration are both well done and these subjects are the main focus of the book. If you are looking for more advanced information then this is not the book you are looking for, but if you are looking for your first book on the subject and just getting your feet wet with the product then Vmware ESX Server is highly recommended.
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