VMware announced a new upcoming book called “VMware vSphere 5 Building a Virtual Datacenter”. You can pre-order it now over at Pearson!

The rapidly evolving field of virtualization and its many dimensions, can be confusing. This book is definitive practical guide for IT decision-makers and professionals responsible for evaluating, planning, implementing, or managing vSphere 5 in datacenter environments. Two world-class VMware virtualization consultants begin by concisely reviewing the fundamentals of modern virtualization with vSphere 5. They present overviews to the various datacenter elements-servers, storage, network, advantages, and functions; explain vSphere 5’s architecture; and discuss main components including ESX and vCenter Server. With this foundation in place, they turn to implementation, presenting concrete examples, detailed schemas, and proven best practices drawn from their extensive consulting experience.
Carefully balancing theory and practice, they demonstrate how to:

• Accurately budget, schedule, plan, and manage vSphere 5 datacenter virtualization projects
• Compare and evaluate architectural scenarios, and select the right approach for each environment and budget
• Integrate vSphere with datacenter elements including servers, storage, clusters, network infrastructure, backup, and disaster recovery plans
• Learn practical lessons from the experiences of leading enterprise customers * Implement high availability
• And much more

Table of Contents

1. Servers Virtualizations to the Cloud
2. VMware VSphere 5 Software Components
3. Storage in VSphere 5
4. Servers and Network
5. High Availability and Disaster Recovery Plan
6. VSphere5 Protection
7. Installation and Management
8. How to Manage a Virtualization Project