Virtualization Essentials, 2nd Edition

Very concise, but maybe won't give you the biggest bank for your buck if you don't know much about how computers work already. Absolutely great book though, easy read and the chapters stray from being verbose.

Good book. Easy to read. Got an A in the class.

The first thing they did when computers went mainstream was fire all the proof readers and editors....that said....it is as well written as it can be since so few people take a writing course and believe spell check is the god of the written word. If you need this book for a class get the cheapest version since well written it is not...easy to understand it is not, repetitive it is in spades!.

Very concise and easy to read. Not a lot of fluff. Later chapters dig in to how to optimize. very good book.

Great book for my class at ivy tech.

It's a good beginners overview of virtualization with a focus on VMWare player and virtual box. The content is pretty good in that regard; however, there is at least one important glaring error in the side panel discussing memory that should have been fact checked by the editor. The author of the side note conflates significantly faster but temporary Random Access Memory (RAM, SDRAM, etc) with much slower persistent storage such as hard drives (HDDs), Solid State Drives (SSDs), Flash memory cards, or NVRAM. The statement in the side note comparing an Apple iPad's 128GB of flash memory to the main memory (RAM) of any other computer is incorrect. A quick check of Wikipedia for that model shows that the A7 processor used in the referenced iPad had a maximum of 1 or 2 GB of actual Random Access Memory etched on the chip. That 1 or 2 GB value is the one that should be used for comparison to a laptop or desktop possessing the typical 2, 4, 8, or 16 GB of memory. There were a few more errors of a similar nature throughout the book in addition to a number of significant proofreading errors that all should have been caught. That said, it's no where near as horrible (proof reading wise) as most of the self (and even professionally) published electronically distributed material on line and even in kindle books.

Easy to read and practical overview of the subject. Very approachable and instructive for people new to virtualisation and it covers a range of topics and practices in the area.

The structure of this book makes sense for the topic, the information conveyed is relevant, useful, and, for the most part, at the right level of abstraction. It provides not only the broad picture of virtualization, but also the information you need to know to dig deeper on more specialized topics.

I come from no virtualisation background and found the book to be easy to read and comprehend. Appreciate books still printed in the United States and this is one of them. Nice spacing, text size is not too small, easy to grab and hold the book while reading. Book definitely targeted at beginners and if you already are a professional in this field, the book is not for you. My main concern is (like other reviewers mentioned) that, yes, it needs updating. Not in the context of the technology and its deployment but things like: software version numbers illustrated, talks about "...in 2010 the use of virtualisation is this..." when it's 2019 at the time of this review. I believe if the publisher released Third Edition now (especially in this fast evolving IT generation), this book will be 6 stars. Book's easy to read, keeps you engaged, and content flow is in the right direction. If I have to get extra picky about this book, well, they could've printed in colour but then that will increase the cost of the paperback book. Happy reading.

As a long term IT dabbler and enthusiast I have enjoyed this book. It serves as a good introduction to Virtualisation and a handy reference. Matt Portnoy obviously knows his stuff and manages to get this subject across without making it too dull or dry. We start with what a virtual machine is and progresses through to networking and beyond. I agree with others that a lot of the information is fairly easily on the Internet I find having a book with it all in very very handy to have, this is a great book, informative, accurate and well laid out.

Virtualization Essentials is a fine introductory text and really hits its target audience spot-on. The initial chapters explain where virtualization came from, and why it has become so important in cloud technology today. It explains the difference between the virtualization that underpins cloud technology and the desktop packages like VMWare Player that we use to host operating systems in our desktop environment, and then goes on to practical exercises that you can walk through yourself using freely downloadable software. Later chapters zoom in to the specific details of tuning memory, CPU and peripherals (sound, USB, networking etc) and there is even a little about containers. If you just want a start in understanding how to use virtualization from a technical point-of-view, this is an ideal book; also if you just want to understand virtualization from a management point-of-view, then a read through the first three chapters and a leaf through the rest of the book will stand you in good stead.

As a relative novice in the concepts of virtualization, I found this to be a clear and well structured introduction. It focuses on VMWare but the majority of the concepts are generic and applicable to other virtualization environments. It's particularly strong on explaining the advantages and history on virtualization though perhaps more could have been said on any drawbacks and performance limitations that might be involved. I find myself better informed after dipping into the content and if I found myself involved in projects to put together virtual environments to support legacy unsupported software for my industry then I will feel much better prepared to do so. Solid.

I am an IT professional and use Virtual Machines on a regular basis. I have enjoyed this book and find it a useful reference. Its easy to understand and explains the basics clearly. It make a very goof introduction to those wanting to learn about virtual machines and how to set them up. What I found useful was that it explains how things work such as Hypervisiors, Virtual Storage, Cloning and creating Templates. There are exercise to follow throughout to get you started and so that you can experiment and learn through "doing" rather than just reading. It makes a good resource to have on hand as I find even the most knowledgeable people always need a good reference to refresh their memory. It suitable for students and I would recommend it for anyone new the Virtualization software such as Vmware and Virtual Box