Virtualization Essentials

by Matthew Portnoy

Learn the fundamental concepts and skills by building your own virtual machine Virtualization is more important than ever, it's how the Cloud works! As virtualization continues to expand, millions of companies all over the world are leveraging virtualization. IT professionals need a solid understanding of virtualization concepts and software to compete in today's job market. The updated new edition of Virtualization Essentials teaches you the core concepts and skills necessary to work with virtualization environments. Designed for new and aspiring IT professionals alike, this practical guide offers an applied, real-world approach to help you develop the necessary skill set to work in Cloud computing, the DevOps space, and the rest of the virtual world. Virtualization Essentials simplifies complex concepts to ensure that you fully understand what virtualization is and how it works within the computing environment. Step by step, you’ll learn how to build your own virtual machine, both by scratch and by migrating from physical to virtual. Each user-friendly chapter contains an overview of the topic, a discussion of key concepts, hands-on tutorials, end-of-chapter exercises, review questions, and more. Virtualization Essentials is an invaluable ‘learn-by-doing’ resource for new and aspiring IT professionals looking to gain a solid foundation in virtualization. It is also an excellent reference for more experienced IT admins responsible for managing on-premise and remote computers and workstations.

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2012

Reviews

[Balhau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this is a nice book. However not enough to get four stars because of some biased approach. I don't blame the author to use the VMWare software to exemplify the concepts of virtualization however in some parts we see that some other tools and some other approach could, and in my opinion should, be done. The book give a nice overview about the main challenges we face when designing a virtualized environment, however, and again, in my opinion the some more practical attention could be given to the "type one" hypervisors. The book is well written and a very good one for people who's not very familiar with the concepts, however is a little bit disappointing to more knowledgeable people who have more technical interest in how things work in a lower level.

[Rasika Dekhane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Must Read book as you consider Virtualization!

[Chantelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most comprehensive or detailed book on the subject, but it covered the basics and I learned a few things I didn’t know about how virtual machines and virtualization works.

[mjb2kmn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should be titled: Overview of VMWare. There is a little mention of other products but none very useful. Very nice printing with with quality screenshots, also not useful. Detailing step by step every screen and option in a setup wizard is completely unnecessary. The high level "managerial" overview is understandable given the "essentials" part of the title, but this book still has too much fluff.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virtually, Great!

If you are hoping to learn about computer virtualization - then this is the book for you!

I got a lot out of this book, and found it is a great companion to some of the cybersecurity learning I am doing too.

Great writing and lots of great step-by-step instructions to make sure you are set up!

Check it out!

4.6/5

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a solid foundation for understanding the basics of virtualization and the principles behind it. The book also includes a detailed guide and step-by-step tutorials on how to create and configure virtual machines on your own computer, which makes it very practical for beginners.

However, because we live in an era where technology is constantly evolving, some of the information in the book has started to become outdated, and certain parts are no longer fully relevant. Despite this, the book remains a useful introduction to virtualization and its core concepts.

[Sateesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fully focused on server virtualization , also IMHO this is too basic.

[Indi · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's fine, but there are a lot of unnecessary and specific analogies that don't make sense "unless you're a nerd" yet are assumed to be universal in nature.

[Taylor Leick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always good to read a textbook on the industry you've been working in. I still had a bit to learn, but knew enough to contextualize or even fill in the gaps in other areas.

[Favio Escalon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my Linux and Virtualization class. I really had no idea of the concept. I had previously heard what virtualization was and how it was used mainly for cybersecurity but after reading this book, I have a very good understanding of what it is and how it is pretty much used everywhere in the modern world. For anyone interested in learning about IT or any student out there this book is a 10/10. Not a long read or boring in any way.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virtualization brought unprecedented cost reduction and agility to IT infrastructure - decimating hardware manufacturers on its path. IBM, for example, is shrinking for 4+ years in a row because of it. I first heard of VMWare about 7 years ago working on data center migration. Didn't make big impression. That all changed with Cloud, but didn't make clear connection with Virtualization until this book. Four key areas - CPU, Memory, Storage, Network. Also, Virtual Machine and Containers. This book was a great intro - rather repetitive, but explains the concept without being too technical.

[Flavius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good entry level book for virtualization