Virtualization Essentials

'Virtualization Essentials' provides new and aspiring IT professionals with immersive training in working with virtualisation environments. Learn virtualization skills by building your own virtual machine Virtualization Essentials, Second Edition provides new and aspiring IT professionals with immersive training in working with virtualization environments. Clear, straightforward discussion simplifies complex concepts, and the hands-on tutorial approach helps you quickly get up to speed on the fundamentals. You'll begin by learning what virtualization is and how it works within the computing environment, then you'll dive right into building your own virtual machine. You'll learn how to set up the CPU, memory, storage, networking, and more as you master the skills that put you in-demand on the job market. Each chapter focuses on a specific goal, and concludes with review questions that test your understanding as well as suggested exercises that help you reinforce what you've learned. As more and more companies are leveraging virtualization, it's imperative that IT professionals have the skills and knowledge to interface with virtualization-centric infrastructures. This book takes a learning-by-doing approach to give you hands-on training and a core understanding of virtualization. Understand how virtualization works Create a virtual machine by scratch and migration Configure and manage basic components and supporting devices Develop the necessary skill set to work in today's virtual world Virtualization was initially used to build test labs, but its use has expanded to become best practice for a tremendous variety of IT solutions including high availability, business continuity, dynamic IT, and more. Cloud computing and DevOps rely on virtualization technologies, and the exponential spread of these and similar applications make virtualization proficiency a major value-add for any IT professional. Virtualization Essentials, Second Edition provides accessible, user-friendly, informative virtualization training for the forward-looking pro Cover 1 Title Page 5 Copyright 6 Acknowledgments 9 About the Author 11 Contents 15 Introduction 19 Who Should Read This Book 20 What Is Covered in This Book 21 How to Contact the Author 23 Chapter 1 Understanding Virtualization 25 Describing Virtualization 25 Microsoft Windows Drives Server Growth 27 Explaining Moore’s Law 30 Understanding the Importance of Virtualization 33 Examining Today’s Trends 36 Virtualization and Cloud Computing 38 Understanding Virtualization Software Operation 39 Virtualizing Servers 40 Virtualizing Desktops 41 Virtualizing Applications 42 Chapter 2 Understanding Hypervisors 45 Describing a Hypervisor 45 Exploring the History of Hypervisors 46 Understanding Type 1 Hypervisors 47 Understanding Type 2 Hypervisors 49 Understanding the Role of a Hypervisor 50 Holodecks and Traffic Cops 50 Resource Allocation 51 Comparing Today’s Hypervisors 53 VMware ESX 53 Citrix Xen 55 Microsoft Hyper-V 57 Other Solutions 58 Chapter 3 Understanding Virtual Machines 61 Describing a Virtual Machine 61 Examining CPUs in a Virtual Machine 64 Examining Memory in a Virtual Machine 65 Examining Network Resources in a Virtual Machine 66 Examining Storage in a Virtual Machine 67 Understanding How a Virtual Machine Works 69 Working with Virtual Machines 71 Understanding Virtual Machine Clones 72 Understanding Templates 73 Understanding Snapshots 74 Understanding OVF 75 Understanding Containers 76 Chapter 4 Creating a Virtual Machine 79 Performing P2V Conversions 79 Investigating the Physical-to-Virtual Process 80 Hot and Cold Cloning 81 Loading Your Environment 82 Loading VMware Workstation Player 83 Exploring VMware Workstation Player 89 Loading VirtualBox 92 Building a New Virtual Machine 97 Thinking about VM Configuration 98 Creating a First VM 99 Chapter 5 Installing Windows on a Virtual Machine 105 Loading Windows into a Virtual Machine 105 Installing Windows 10 106 Installing VMware Tools 117 Understanding Configuration Options 121 Optimizing a New Virtual Machine 127 Chapter 6 Installing Linux on a Virtual Machine 131 Loading Linux into a Virtual Machine 131 Exploring Oracle VM VirtualBox 132 Installing Linux into a Virtual Machine 135 Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions 147 Understanding Configuration Options 149 Optimizing a New Linux Virtual Machine 153 Chapter 7 Managing CPUs for a Virtual Machine 157 Understanding CPU Virtualization 157 Configuring VM CPU Options 161 Tuning Practices for VM CPUs 162 Choosing Multiple vCPUs vs. a Single vCPU 163 Hyper-Threading 164 Working with Intel and AMD Servers 165 Chapter 8 Managing Memory for a Virtual Machine 167 Understanding Memory Virtualization 167 Configuring VM Memory Options 170 Tuning Practices for VM Memory 172 Calculating Memory Overhead 172 Memory Optimizations 174 Chapter 9 Managing Storage for a Virtual Machine 181 Understanding Storage Virtualization 181 Configuring VM Storage Options 186 Tuning Practices for VM Storage 193 Chapter 10 Managing Networking for a Virtual Machine 201 Understanding Network Virtualization 201 Configuring VM Network Options 211 Tuning Practices for Virtual Networks 216 Chapter 11 Copying a Virtual Machine 221 Cloning a Virtual Machine 221 Working with Templates 231 Saving a Virtual Machine State 236 Creating a Snapshot 238 Merging Snapshots 242 Chapter 12 Managing Additional Devices in Virtual Machines 245 Using Virtual Machine Tools 246 Understanding Virtual Devices 248 Configuring a CD/DVD Drive 248 Configuring a Floppy Disk Drive 249 Configuring a Sound Card 253 Configuring USB Devices 254 Configuring Graphic Displays 256 Configuring Other Devices 257 Chapter 13 Understanding Availability 263 Increasing Availability 263 Protecting a Virtual Machine 266 Protecting Multiple Virtual Machines 270 Protecting Data Centers 275 Chapter 14 Understanding Applications in a Virtual Machine 279 Examining Virtual Infrastructure Performance Capabilities 279 Deploying Applications in a Virtual Environment 284 Understanding Virtual Appliances and vApps 293 Open Stack and Containers 295 Appendix Answers to Additional Exercises 299 Chapter 1 299 Chapter 2 300 Chapter 3 301 Chapter 4 302 Chapter 5 302 Chapter 6 303 Chapter 7 304 Chapter 8 304 Chapter 9 305 Chapter 10 305 Chapter 11 306 Chapter 12 306 Chapter 13 307 Chapter 14 308 Glossary 311 Index 317 EULA 334 "More and more companies are leveraging virtualization, so it is critical that IT professionals have the latest knowledge and skills needed to work with virtualization-centric infrastructures. You'll acquire that knowledge as you work through this book and build your own virtual machine. Clear, straightforward instruction explains what virtualization is and how it works. Then you'll learn to set up the CPU, memory, storage, networking, and more. Each chapter focuses on a specific goal, enabling you to build a solid foundation in this career-essential discipline"--Back cover