Introduction xv CHAPTER 1 Understanding Virtualization 1 Describing Virtualization 1 Microsoft Windows Drives Server Growth 3 Explaining Moore''s Law 6 Understanding the Importance of Virtualization 9 Examining Today''s Trends 11 Virtualization and Cloud Computing 14 Understanding Virtualization Software Operation 15 Virtualizing Servers 15 Virtualizing Desktops 15 Virtualizing Applications 17 CHAPTER 2 Understanding Hypervisors 19 Describing a Hypervisor 19 Exploring the History of Hypervisors 20 Understanding Type 1 Hypervisors 21 Understanding Type 2 Hypervisors 23 Understanding the Role of a Hypervisor 24 Holodecks and Traffic Cops 24 Resource Allocation 25 Comparing Today''s Hypervisors 27 VMware ESX 27 Citrix Xen 29 Microsoft Hyper-V 31 Other Solutions 32 CHAPTER 3 Understanding Virtual Machines 35 Describing a Virtual Machine 35 Examining CPU in a Virtual Machine 38 Examining Memory in a Virtual Machine 39 Examining Network Resources in a Virtual Machine 39 Examining Storage in a Virtual Machine 41 Understanding How a Virtual Machine Works 42 Working with Virtual Machines 43 Understanding Virtual Machine Clones 44 Understanding Templates 45 Understanding Snapshots 47 Understanding OVF 48 CHAPTER 4 Creating a Virtual Machine 51 Performing P2V Conversions 51 Investigating the Physical-to-Virtual Process 52 Hot and Cold Cloning 53 Loading Your Environment 54 Exploring VMware Player 60 Building a New Virtual Machine 63 Thinking About VM Confi guration 64 Creating a First VM 65 CHAPTER 5 Installing Windows on a Virtual Machine 71 Loading Windows into a Virtual Machine 71 Installing Windows 7 72 Installing VMware Tools 83 Understanding Confi guration Options 89 Optimizing a New Virtual Machine 95 CHAPTER 6 Installing Linux on a Virtual Machine 97 Loading Linux into a Virtual Machine 97 Installing Linux into a Virtual Machine 98 Installing VMware Tools 113 Understanding Confi guration Options 117 Optimizing a New Linux Virtual Machine 122 CHAPTER 7 Managing CPUs for a VM 125 Understanding CPU Virtualization 125 Confi guring VM CPU Options 129 Tuning Practices for VM CPUs 130 Choosing Multiple vCPUs vs. a Single vCPU 131 Hyper-Threading 132 Working with Intel and AMD Servers 134 CHAPTER 8 Managing Memory for a Virtual Machine 137 Understanding Memory Virtualization 137 Confi guring VM Memory Options 140 Tuning Practices for VM Memory 142 Calculating Memory Overhead 143 Memory Optimizations 144 CHAPTER 9 Managing Storage for a Virtual Machine 151 Understanding Storage Virtualization 151 Confi guring VM Storage Options 156 Tuning Practices for VM Storage 162 CHAPTER 10 Managing Networking for a Virtual Machine 171 Understanding Network Virtualization 171 Confi guring VM Network Options 181 Tuning Practices for Virtual Networks 187 CHAPTER 11 Copying a Virtual Machine 191 Cloning a Virtual Machine 191 Working with Templates 197 Saving a Virtual Machine State 201 Creating a Snapshot 204 Merging Snapshots 208 CHAPTER 12 Managing Additional Devices in Virtual Machines 211 Using Virtual Machine Tools 212 Understanding Virtual Devices 213 Confi guring a CD/DVD Drive 214 Confi guring a Floppy Disk Drive 215 Confi guring a Sound Card 218 Confi guring USB Devices 219 Confi guring Graphic Displays 221 Confi guring Other Devices 222 CHAPTER 13 Understanding Availability 227 Increasing Availability 227 Protecting a Virtual Machine 230 Protecting Multiple Virtual Machines 234 Protecting Datacenters 238 CHAPTER 14 Understanding Applications in a Virtual Machine 243 Examining Virtual Infrastructure Performance Capabilities 243 Deploying Applications in a Virtual Environment 248 Understanding Virtual Appliances and vApps 256 Index 261.