Managing and Optimizing VMware vSphere(R) Deployments The Complete Guide to Planning, Deploying, and Operating High-Performance VMware vSphere 5 Virtual Infrastructure To make the most of VMware's vSphere 5, IT professionals need knowledge, tips, and insights they'll never find in the manualsor in any book, until now! In Managing and Optimizing VMware vSphere Deployments, two world-class VMware experts offer start-to-finish lessons for vSphere planning, implementation, operation, management, and troubleshooting: expert insights drawn from their unsurpassed "in-the-trenches" consulting experience. Writing for experienced VMware professionals, the authors focus on high-value techniques optimized for the new vSphere 5, helping you establish frameworks that support your virtual infrastructure's evolution for years to come. They present scenarios and examples drawn from real-world data, helping you address crucial issues ranging from sizing and performance to redundancy. The book concludes with a full case study that walks you through a design from inception through implementation and explores the reasons for each key decision. Coverage includes *; Building a strong foundation for virtual infrastructure: design considerations and best practices *; Smoothly integrating vSphere 5 into current environments and considerations *; Establishing a more stable infrastructure *; Choosing hardware and making optimal configuration decisions *; Transforming your VMware design from blueprint to completion *; Operating vSphere solutions more efficiently on a day-to-day basis *; Automating tasks and maximizing availability *; Streamlining the installation of updates, patches, and upgrades *; Forecasting and planning capacity on an ongoing basis to support growth *; Overcoming roadblocks on the journey to 100% virtualization *; Monitoring vSphere 5 with tools provided by VMware and its community *; Discovering the most valuable and current online VMware resources *; Examples using Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) are provided throughout the book