VI3 Recommended Reading

[jasonboche]

jgb updated 10/3/08

VMware ESX Server Advanced Technical Design Guide (for VI3)
http://www.amazon.com/VMware-Infrast...3399444&sr=8-1
This is the new ATD for ESX and ESXi 3.x and VirtualCenter 2.x platforms. Released in August 2008. 800 pages.

RapidApp's Quick Start Guide to ESX 3.0
http://www.lulu.com/content/712361
This is not the Advanced Technical Design Guide, however, those who know ESX 2.x will appreciate this book very much as it explains a lot of the differences between 2.x and 3.x. As someone who was already very well versed with ESX 2.x, I planned my organizations entire 3.x rollout based on this book. My copy is practically worn out. I take it everywhere I go.

VMware ESX Server Advanced Technical Design Guide (original edition)
http://www.amazon.com/VMware-ESX-Ser...6517839&sr=8-1
This is the ATD for ESX 2.x and VirtualCenter 1.x platforms. It is an awesome technical read. Very detailed. My copy is practically worn out. I take it everywhere I go. Although this book was written specifically for VMware ESX 2.x, much of its content and concepts still apply to VMware ESX 3.x.

VMware Documentation
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/v...pubs_35u2.html

In Particular:

Configuration Maximums for VMware Infrastructure 3
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx...config_max.pdf
Nice document which summarizes configuration maximums for both host and virtual machine. Many questions that come to mind with virtualization go something like:

"how many VMs can I run on a host?"
"how many CPUs does VMware support?"
"what is the max amount of RAM I can have in a VM?"
"how many paths to a LUN does ESX support?"
"how many hosts can I have in VirtualCenter?"

This document covers most all of it and comes in very handy when questions like these come up.

VMware Technical Papers
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/resources/

VMware White Papers
http://www.vmware.com/solutions/whitepapers.html

Hardware Compatibility Guides!
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/resources/cat/119
These are the HCLs for the product. Follow them to ensure your environment is officially supported by VMware. No production environment should stray from what's documented here.

Community-Supported Hardware/Software for VMware Infrastructure
http://www.vmware.com/resources/communitysupport/
In 2007, VMware began maintaining a web page of non-HCL hardware that works with VMware ESX. This is a list of hardware and software components that have been reported to work with VMware Infrastructure, either by the community or by the individual vendors themselves. Great for people trying to build a cheap lab out of dubious or whitebox hardware. If your hardware is not on the official VMware HCL, check this list to see if someone has reported that your particular piece of hardware works with ESX.

Additional Resources for Community-Supported Hardware/Software for VMware Infrastructure
http://www.vm-help.com/
http://www.vm-help.com/Whitebox_HCL.php
http://ultimatewhitebox.com/
http://www.vmweekly.com/articles/har..._esx_server/1/
http://www.mikedipetrillo.com/mikedv...esxi-host.html

ESXi versus ESX comparison
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mic...rnalId=1006543
What are the differences between ESXi and ESX? Read here to find out.

VMware Communities
http://communities.vmware.com/index.jspa

VMware Knowledge Base
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mic...language=en_US

Planet V12n
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/planet/v12n/
The Planet's Conversation on Virtualization - a syndication of virtualization related blogs.

[James Haynes]

Great collection of materials. one document that was helpful to me:

SAN Design and Deployment Guide, March 2007
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_san_design_deploy.pdf

hah! and nice to see petri on the VM blog pages:
From Petr.co.il: Five Reasons You Should Virtualize Your Servers With VMware Server, VMware Disk Files Explained, Understanding VMware VMX Configuration Files (see also Ulli Hankeln's sanbarrow.com)
(you can get the content here, no need to post links to internals... UTFSE.)

thanks for the compliation!!

[jasonboche]

Yep, that document is new and just came out. Very helpful.

Jas

ps. UTFSE - I think I can imagine what that is an acronym for.

[jasonboche]

Some new matierials have come out (along with a new version of ESX and VirtualCenter and all the new .PDF files that go with them). I plan on updating this thread soon with some new and updated links.

Jas

[jasonboche]

I've updated the original post in this thread with new and updated links. I'm also trying to consolidate sticky threads as well as other popular threads to lessen the number of sticky threads and to bring greater visibility to reoccurring questions in this forum.

[azn2kew]

You all might know Eric Siebert site www.vmware-land.com includes almost all links you can think of about virtualization. You can also go to www.vmware/resources to get all the best practices and white papers as well as www.vmworld.com for most recent vmworld sessions video and guides.

I would recommend this forum and VMTN as well www.vmware.com/vmtn since its only dedicated to VMware products.

Good luck!

Azn2kew

[Stephen45]

I'm new here, just getting a feel for things, and so far I've been browsing through alot of excellent reading material being shared by all.
This should keep me out of trouble for awhile. We will be migrating from ESX 2.x to 3.5 shortly, and I am sure that alot of this material will be of precious use. Have agreat day