VMware Infrastructure 3

Nice overviews: VI3, ESX 3i, VCB, and more

David Davis at Petri IT Knowledgebase has been writing some good articles recently on VMware — nice intros for the newcomer, and if you go take a look at the full list, getting into some advanced topics as well.

Link: How will VMware ESX Server 3i Change the future of Virtualization?

You are probably already familiar with what VMware ESX
Server is, how it is revolutionary, and how virtualization is changing
server infrastructure forever. Perhaps you are already an ESX Server
user, perhaps not. Either way, the latest version of ESX Server, 3i
(currently in Beta) could go even farther than ESX Server 3, in
changing the face of your server infrastructure. Let me show you how…

Link: How to choose the right VMware Infrastructure ESX Edition for you.

In our previous article, "VMware
Versions Compared
", we compared the various products in VMware’s
product line. For example, the difference between VMware Server,
Workstation, and Server ESX. In this article, we will focus specifically
on the VMware ESX product line and the VMware virtualization suite
called VMware Infrastructure. With a variety of VMware
Infrastructure suites and ESX Server product options, it is difficult to know which is
right for you. Let’s find out…

Link: How to Secure your VMware ESX Server.

As
VMware ESX is loaded directly on hardware and is its own virtualization
operating system, there are a number of factors to consider when
securing it. While, due to its design architecture, ESX is inherently
secure, there are still a number of security factors to consider. In
this article we will cover the vulnerability points of ESX and how you
can ensure that your ESX Servers are as secure as they can be.

Link: How can the new features in VMware Workstation version 6 help me?.

In
summary, VMware Workstation is, in my opinion, the most powerful
desktop virtualization package available. The new features in version 6
just "up the ante". While it isn’t free, like VMware Server is,
Workstation has enough features to justify the cost. The more I use
virtualization software, the more I find uses for it. It has gotten to
the point where I don’t know what I did without it. Try out VMware
Workstation and I think you will come to the same conclusion.

Link: 3 VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) utilities you should know.

In
our previous article, "What you need to know about VMware Consolidated
Backup (VCB)", we provided an overview of how VCB can help you. In this
article, we will explore the command line utilities provided with VCB.
There is no GUI interface for VCB so these tools are THE tools that you
get with VCB. Because of that, if you are using VCB, you must know how
to use these CLI tools well. Let’s take a look…

Good stuff.