Books

Maximum vSphere is the complete, up-to-the-minute working reference for everyone who plans, implements, or runs VMware virtual infrastructure. Authored by top VMware consultant Eric Siebert, the book brings together proven best practices, tips, and solutions for achieving outstanding performance and reliability in your production environment. This book brings together crucial knowledge you won’t find anywhere else, including powerful new vSphere 4 techniques drawn from the experiences of dozens of advanced practitioners. You’ll find sophisticated, expert coverage of virtual machines, ESX/ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, networking, storage, monitoring, troubleshooting, backups, vMotion, fault tolerance, vSphere management, installation, upgrades, security, third-party tools, and more. The author takes the same hands-on approach that made his VMware® VI3 Implementation and Administration so popular. Whether you’re implementing or managing vSphere 4, upgrading from older virtualization technologies, or taking new responsibilities in any VMware environment, you’ll find this book indispensable.
 
Chapter 1: Introduction to vSphere
Chapter 2: ESX & ESXI HOSTS
Chapter 3: Virtual Machines
Chapter 4: vCenter Server
Chapter 5: Storage in vSphere
Chapter 6: Networking in vSphere
Chapter 7: Performance in vSphere
Chapter 8: Backups in vSphere
Chapter 9: Advanced Features
Chapter 10: Management Of vSphere
Chapter 11: Installing vSphere
Chapter 12: Upgrading To vSphere
Chapter 13: Creating And Configuring Virtual Machines
Chapter 14: Building Your Own vSphere Lab

Other Book Details:

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (20 Aug 2010)
Language English

Simon Seagrave and Eric Siebert have confirmation that the book is released this morning.  It will be available in both paperback and Kindle formats, an electronic version is also available on the Safari book website.
Simon has written the chapters on ‘Performance in vSphere’ and ‘Building Your Own vSphere Lab’ with Eric writing all the other chapters.  The forword is by John Troyer. 

Pearson IT Certification has released the first sample chapter of the upcoming book "VMWare High Availability Constructs" written by Duncan Epping and Frank Denneman.

Duncan Epping is a Consulting Architect working for VMware as part of the Cloud Practice. Duncan works primarily with Service Providers and large Enterprise customers. He is focused on designing Public Cloud Infrastructures and specializes in bc-dr, vCloud and VMware HA. Duncan is a VMware Certified Professional and among the first VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX 007). Duncan is the owner of Yellow-Bricks.com, one of the leading VMware/virtualization blogs worldwide (recently voted number 1 worldwide on vsphere-land.com) and co-author of the "vSphere Quick Start Guide" and "Foundation for Cloud Computing with VMware vSphere 4," which has recently been published by Usenix/Sage (#21 in the Short Topics Series). He can be followed on twitter at http://twitter.com/DuncanYB.

Frank Denneman is a Senior Consultant working for VMware as part of the Professional Services Organization. Frank works primarily with large Enterprise customers and Service Providers. He is focused on designing large vSphere Infrastructures and specializes in Resource Management and DRS in general. Frank is a VMware Certified Professional and among the first VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX 029). Frank is the owner of FrankDenneman.nl an upcoming blog which has recently been voted number 14 worldwide on vsphere-land.com. He can be followed on twitter at http://twitter.com/FrankDenneman.

When configuring VMware High Availability (HA), two major decisions will need to be made. Will I enable Admission Control? And which Isolation Response will I select? This chapter will explain both concepts in depth and make you aware of the caveats and the impact of your decisions. After reading this chapter you will be able to select the correct Isolation Response and Admission Control policy based on your requirements and constraints.

This is Chapter 5 from the upcoming book.

This new book written by Charles A. Windom and Hemant Gaidhani just got published last week and it's available at Amazon. Hemant Gaidhani says: Looks good and worth all the efforts. Click 'Look Inside' @ Amazon to get sneak preview.

Working with VMware vSphere 4, this book shows you how to virtualize Microsoft applications that require high CPU and high I/O and/or are critical applications for business operations—“Tier 1”applications. With authors who are not only insiders at VMware but who also have developed best practices for multi-tier applications for VMware environments, this book will guide you step-by-step in virtualizing the latest versions of Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, Active Directory, Windows Server, Internet Information Server, and Remote Desktop Services. The authors cover critical topics: reasons why to virtualize the application, considerations to be made when virtualizing the application, setting up a Proof-of-Concept of the application, storage, high availability, and monitoring. Material is organized such that readers can choose which chapters to read, depending on which applications they are considering to virtualize.

This new book with essential information on how to protect data in will be released on August 2, 2010

Virtualization is changing the data center architecture and as a result, data protection is is quickly evolving as well. This unique book, written by an industry expert with over eighteen years of data storage/backup experience, shows you how to approach, protect, and manage data in a virtualized environment. You'll get up to speed on data protection problems, explore the data protection technologies available today, see how to adapt to virtualization, and more. The book uses a "good, better, best" approach, exploring best practices for backup, high availability, disaster recovery, business continuity, and more.

Covers best practices and essential information on protecting data in virtualized enterprise environments Shows you how to approach, protect, and manage data while also meeting such challenges as return on investment, existing service level agreements (SLAs), and more Helps system and design architects understand data protection issues and technologies in advance, so they can design systems to meet the challenges Explains how to make absolutely critical services such as file services and e-mail more available without sacrificing protection Offers best practices and solutions for backup, availability, disaster recovery, and others This is a must-have guide for any Windows server and application administrator who is charged with data recovery and maintaining higher uptimes.

Mike Laverick has released his newest book “Administering VMware Site Recovery Manager 4.0” and you don’t have to pay for it, well it would be a great if you donate at least 10$ to Unisef.

This book will teach you how to install and configure VMware’s Site Recovery Manager product. It also covers in detail the failover and failback processes and Mike will guide you step-by-step through the setup of the product. This book in not filled with project management padding that typifies a lot of IT books. It’s practical and technical, and assumes you are already pretty familiar with VMware vSphere4. In This book you will learn the strengths and weaknesses of Site recovery Manager, and Mike will show you the common pitfalls and errors that can happen, and also more importantly why they happen, and how to fix them.

Foundation for Cloud Computing with VMware vSphere 4, by John Arrasjid, Duncan Epping, and Steve Kaplan, is now online for members and available for purchase. Virtualization is recognized as a foundation for Cloud Computing. This book is an overview of the VMware technologies and how they can support the various services and management pieces required for Cloud architecture. Without diving overly deeply into specific design patterns, it provides insight into the tools to fit your design criteria.

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/01/28/foundation-for-cloud-computing-with-vmware-vsphere-4/

vSphere 4.0 Quick Start Guide continues from an idea started several years ago by a few engineers. The idea was simple, provide an easy to use reference guide for all level administrators, consultants and architects. Recently VMware introduced many new features in vSphere 4.0 and with this handy pocket guide you will learn about each of these new features. With each chapter, the pages in this essential guide will answer common questions while giving you unprecedented insight into: Expert tips & tricks Pitfalls to avoid RemoteCLI & PowerCLI (PowerShell) scripts Configuration how to’s Virtualization best practices.

Dave Mishchenko
Duncan Epping
Bernie Baker
Thomas Bryant
Stewart Radnidge
Alan renouf

This book provides a look into real-world use of VMware ESX and ESXi, with step-by-step solutions for problems that occur in a wide range of environments. Written by experts with experience using VMware in a production environment, VMware Cookbook shares tips and tricks earned through trial and error, and supplies the background information you need to apply them.
 
If you want to gain insight into the real-world uses of VMware ESX and ESXi, this book provides scores of step-by-step solutions for working with these products in a wide range of network environments. You'll not only learn the basics -- how to pool resources from hardware servers, computer clusters, networks, and storage, and then distribute them among virtual machines -- but also the stumbling blocks you'll encounter when you monitor systems, troubleshoot problems, and deal with security.

In addition to the recipes, VMware Cookbook includes background information to help you determine your virtualization needs. You'll come to view VMware as part of the real environment, alongside operating systems, storage, and logical and physical network components.

By Ryan Troy, Matthew Helmke
Publisher:O'Reilly Media
Released:October 2009
Pages:304

The VMware vSphere 4 Implementation book is written by fellow VMware vExpert and VCI Mike Laverick, this is an in-depth implementation guide to VMware's new suite of virtualization technologies, vSphere4. The book provides best practices for deploying the vSphere product in real-world enterprise environments. You will get insider tips for planning, designing, implementing, and securing a virtual infrastructure and automating tasks and procedures.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071664521/ref=pe_606_13392720_pe_ar_d1

In VMware VI and vSphere SDK: Managing the VMware Infrastructure and vSphere, Jin walks you through using the VMware VI SDK and the new vSphere 4.0 APIs to automate the management of ESX servers, ESX clusters, and VirtualCenter servers in any environment–no matter how complex. Drawing on his extensive experience working with VMware enterprise customers, he places the VMware VI SDK in practical context, presenting realistic samples and proven best practices for building robust, effective solutions. He demonstrates how to manage every facet of a VMware environment, including inventory, host systems, VMs, snapshots, clusters, resource pools, networking, storage, data stores, events, alarms, users, licenses, and scheduled tasks.

http://www.amazon.com/VMware-VI-SDK-Mastering-Infrastructure/dp/0137153635

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Drive Even More Value from Virtualization: Write VMware Applications that Automate Virtual Infrastructure Management.

VMware VI and vSphere SDK: Managing the VMware Infrastructure and vSphere

Companies running VMware have already achieved enormous gains through virtualization. The next wave of benefits will come when they reduce the time and effort required to run and manage VMware. The VMware Software Development Kit (SDK) includes multiple application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow administrators to do just that. Until now, however, these APIs have been poorly documented and understood. In VMware VI SDK, VMware senior technical staffer Steve Jin thoroughly demystifies the entire VMware VI SDK and offers detailed, task-based coverage of using its new APIs to manage VMware more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Jin walks you through using the VMware VI SDK and the new vSphere 4.0 APIs to automate the management of ESX servers, ESX clusters, and VirtualCenter servers in any environment–no matter how complex. Drawing on his extensive experience working with VMware enterprise customers, he places the VMware VI SDK in practical context, presenting realistic samples and proven best practices for building robust, effective solutions. He demonstrates how to manage every facet of a VMware environment, including inventory, host systems, VMs, snapshots, clusters, resource pools, networking, storage, data stores, events, alarms, users, licenses, and scheduled tasks. Coverage includes

• Understanding how the VI SDK fits into your VMware environment
• Discovering the VI SDK from the bottom up, setting up the development environment, and running your first applications
• Using the author’s new Java-based Managed Object API to write shorter, more readable, more maintainable code
• Retrieving properties and searching managed entities using PropertyCollector and SearchIndex
• Developing powerful applications that integrate multiple API features and run on top of or alongside VMware platforms
• Using the VMware VI SDK to monitor performance
• Scripting with the VI SDK: building solutions with VI Perl, PowerShell, and Jython
• Avoiding the pitfalls that trip up VMware VI developers

This book will be an indispensable resource for all VMware administrators who want to get more done in less time; for hardware vendors who want to integrate their products with VMware; for ISV developers building new VMware applications; and for every professional and student seeking a deeper mastery of virtualization.

About the Author

Steve Jin is a senior member of technical staff at VMware, where he provides guidance to strategic partners, such as IBM, HP, Dell, NetApp, BEA, who build applications using VI (vSphere) SDK. In his spare time, he created VI (vSphere) Java API opensource project (http://vijava.sf.net), which is widely used by various commercial companies and developers. Jin received his BA, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in control theory (EE) from prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. Prior to his current job, Jin worked at IBM Research, Rational Software, and ASDC in various engineering and management roles.

Jin is the author of two software engineering books published for the Springer Tsinghua Press and the China Electronics Industry Press.

Product Description: The only authorized guide to VMware--the market-leading virtual infrastructure solution. VMware is the industry innovator in virtualization--the cutting-edge technology that makes it possible to run multiple operating systems and applications on the same computer at the same time. This hands-on guide explains how to use VMware VI 3.x.

VMware Infrastructure 3.x: The Official Guide shows you how to deploy, configure, and maintain a virtualized environment. You will get details on VMware ESX Server 3i, the next-generation thin hypervisor to be integrated in server hardware from Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, and others. The book incorporates tips, tricks, and best practices derived from VMware and it’s professional services as well as lessons learned from VMware and it’s enterprise customers.

Release Date: October 14, 2009
Author Kenton: Gardinier

I've just received the official VMware vSphere: Fast Track and Manage Availability training guides.

VMware vSphere: Fast Track

This intensive, extended-hours training course focuses on installing, configuring, managing, and troubleshooting VMware vSphere. It combines the content of the VMware vSphere 4: Install, Configure, Manage course with advanced tasks and skills for configuring a highly available and scalable virtual infrastructure. Upon completing this course, you can take the examination to qualify as a VMware Certified Professional.

Course Objectives:

• Install and configure VMware ESX™/ESXi, vCenter™ Server, and the vSphere Management Assistant
• Configure, manage, and troubleshoot ESX/ESXi networking and storage
• Create, configure, migrate, manage, convert, and monitor virtual machines and virtual appliances
• Scale the vSphere virtual infrastructure
• Implement business continuity solutions
• Manage changes to the vSphere environment

VMware vSphere: Manage Availability

This hands-on training course equips system administrators with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to achieve competence in building and running a highly available VMware vSphere 4 virtual infrastructure. At the end of the course, you should be able to understand the functionality in vSphere and be able to:

• List the components of business continuity
• Describe Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 cluster configurations
• Configure a VMware High Availability (HA) cluster using nondefault options
• Deploy fault-tolerant virtual machines using VMware Fault Tolerance (FT)
• Deploy VMware vCenter™ Server Heartbeat