Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5

Book description

The 2013 edition of the bestselling vSphere book on the market

Virtualization remains the hottest trend in the IT world, and VMware vSphere is the industry's most widely deployed virtualization solution. The demand for IT professionals skilled in virtualization and cloud-related technologies is great and expected to keep growing. This comprehensive Sybex guide covers all the features and capabilities of VMware vSphere, showing administrators step by step how to install, configure, operate, manage, and secure it.

This perfect blend of hands-on instruction, conceptual explanation, and practical application is reinforced with real-world examples. Led by Scott Lowe and Nick Marshall, both VMware vExperts, the author team provides expertise that will prepare IT professionals to excel in using this virtualization technology.

  • Virtualization is seen as a "best practice" for high availability and disaster recovery solutions, as well as for applications such as Exchange Server and SharePoint

  • IDC estimates that there are as many as 7 million jobs available worldwide in virtualization and cloud technology

  • Provides hands-on instruction in all the latest features and capabilities of VMware vSphere, with both conceptual explanations and practical applications

  • Author team is lead by Scott Lowe and Nick Marshall, well-known VMware experts and popular bloggers

  • Mastering VMware vSphere provides what every virtualization professional needs to know.

    Table of contents

    1. Cover Page
    2. Title Page
    3. Copyright
    4. Wiley
    5. Dedication
    6. Acknowledgments
    7. About the Authors
    8. About the Contributors
    9. Contents at a Glance
    10. Contents
    11. Foreword
    12. Introduction
      1. What Is Covered in This Book
      2. The Mastering Series
      3. The Hardware behind the Book
      4. Who Should Buy This Book
      5. How to Contact the Authors
    13. Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 5.5
      1. Exploring VMware vSphere 5.5
      2. Why Choose vSphere?
      3. The Bottom Line
    14. Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi
      1. Planning a VMware vSphere Deployment
      2. Deploying VMware ESXi
      3. Performing Post-installation Configuration
      4. The Bottom Line
    15. Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server
      1. Introducing vCenter Server
      2. Choosing the Version of vCenter Server
      3. Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment
      4. Installing vCenter Server and Its Components
      5. Installing vCenter Server in a Linked Mode Group
      6. Deploying the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance
      7. Exploring vCenter Server
      8. Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory
      9. Exploring vCenter Server's Management Features
      10. Managing vCenter Server Settings
      11. vSphere Web Client Administration
      12. The Bottom Line
    16. Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools
      1. vSphere Update Manager
      2. Installing vSphere Update Manager
      3. Configuring vSphere Update Manager
      4. Creating Baselines
      5. Routine Updates
      6. Upgrading Hosts with vSphere Update Manager
      7. Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade
      8. Investigating Alternative Update Options
      9. vCenter Support Tools
      10. The Bottom Line
    17. Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks
      1. Putting Together a Virtual Network
      2. Working with vSphere Standard Switches
      3. Working with vSphere Distributed Switches
      4. Examining Third-Party Distributed Virtual Switches
      5. Configuring Virtual Switch Security
      6. Looking Ahead
      7. The Bottom Line
    18. Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices
      1. Reviewing the Importance of Storage Design
      2. Examining Shared Storage Fundamentals
      3. Implementing vSphere Storage Fundamentals
      4. Leveraging SAN and NAS Best Practices
      5. The Bottom Line
    19. Chapter 7: Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity
      1. Understanding the Layers of High Availability
      2. Clustering VMs
      3. Implementing vSphere High Availability
      4. Implementing vSphere Fault Tolerance
      5. Planning for Business Continuity
      6. The Bottom Line
    20. Chapter 8: Securing VMware vSphere
      1. Overview of vSphere Security
      2. Securing ESXi Hosts
      3. Securing vCenter Server
      4. Securing Virtual Machines
      5. The Bottom Line
    21. Chapter 9: Creating and Managing Virtual Machines
      1. Understanding Virtual Machines
      2. Creating a Virtual Machine
      3. Installing a Guest Operating System
      4. Installing VMware Tools
      5. Managing Virtual Machines
      6. Modifying Virtual Machines
      7. The Bottom Line
    22. Chapter 10: Using Templates and vApps
      1. Cloning VMs
      2. Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines
      3. Using OVF Templates
      4. Working with vApps
      5. Importing Machines from Other Environments
      6. The Bottom Line
    23. Chapter 11: Managing Resource Allocation
      1. Reviewing Virtual Machine Resource Allocation
      2. Working with Virtual Machine Memory
      3. Managing Virtual Machine CPU Utilization
      4. Using Resource Pools
      5. Regulating Network I/O Utilization
      6. Controlling Storage I/O Utilization
      7. The Bottom Line
    24. Chapter 12: Balancing Resource Utilization
      1. Comparing Utilization with Allocation
      2. Exploring vMotion
      3. Ensuring vMotion Compatibility
      4. Using Storage vMotion
      5. Combining vMotion with Storage vMotion
      6. Exploring vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler
      7. Introducing and Working with Storage DRS
      8. The Bottom Line
    25. Chapter 13: Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance
      1. Overview of Performance Monitoring
      2. Using Alarms
      3. Working with Performance Charts
      4. Understanding vCenter Operations Manager
      5. Working with resxtop
      6. Monitoring CPU Usage
      7. Monitoring Memory Usage
      8. Monitoring Network Usage
      9. Monitoring Disk Usage
      10. The Bottom Line
    26. Chapter 14: Automating VMware vSphere
      1. Why Use Automation?
      2. vSphere Automation Options
      3. Automating with PowerCLI
      4. Using vCLI from vSphere Management Assistant
      5. Using vSphere Management Assistant for Automation with vCenter
      6. Leveraging the Perl Toolkit with vSphere Management Assistant
      7. Automating with vCenter Orchestrator
      8. The Bottom Line
    27. Appendix: The Bottom Line
      1. Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 5.5
      2. Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi
      3. Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server
      4. Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools
      5. Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks
      6. Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices
      7. Chapter 7: Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity
      8. Chapter 8: Securing VMware vSphere
      9. Chapter 9: Creating and Managing Virtual Machines
      10. Chapter 10: Using Templates and vApps
      11. Chapter 11: Managing Resource Allocation
      12. Chapter 12: Balancing Resource Utilization
      13. Chapter 13: Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance
      14. Chapter 14: Automating VMware vSphere
    28. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: November 2013
    • Publisher(s): Sybex
    • ISBN: 9781118661147