Mastering VMware Infrastructure 3 (Mastering)

I've taken the VI3 course twice and this book goes into greater detail than the vendor course does. The author gives real world applications to many of the issues that VMWare administrators would face. He also presents more detailed explanations of ancilliary subjects such as SANs, command line functions and planning scenarios than you would find by attending the course.

However, the text is a little on the small side. Not enough to be much of a bother when going through the book generally, but trying to read the text in most of the screen shots without a magnifying glass is so difficult that I found myself ignoring the examples he gives. That's why I gave only four stars.

As far as the writing is concerned, I feel that the subject matter is right in line with the knowledge and skills that I know the author possesses. He has a distinct ability to explain a sometimes difficult subject in such a way that even those who are marginally acquainted with VMWare will be able to understand.

Great book, Chris! I just wish I could read it all without straining these middle-aged eyes.

I have used this book constantly, it is a great book which is laid out very well. I think it is a book for newbies and experts... as he seems to cover the topics very well and in depth.

I used this book for preparing for VCP exam (Oct 2008) and found this very helpful in understanding the concepts as well as from exam point of view.

This is an excellent book. Still reading it, but the information presented is easy to understand and the technical material is very good. The book summarizes each section and provides very good tips throughout the book which are applicable and type of best practices.

This book is a complete reference of ESX 3.0. Published this year, 2008, it provides the most up-to-date information on the topics that you would need to run your VMware environment. For example, I wanted to find out how VMware Consolidated Backup works; Chapter 10 answered my question with a ready-to-use example. The writing is very clear and on-target. I did not have the benefit of a training course before our system was brought up but now with this book I do not feel it is necessary.