vmexplorer

Book Review – “Critical VMware Mistakes You Should Avoid – Larry Loucks”

Posted on February 2, 2012 Updated on February 2, 2012

On a plane flight to and from California (~4 Hours) I took some time to do a quick read. The book I read was “Critical VMware Mistakes You Should Avoid” by Larry Loucks, and the length 128 Pages. This book documents mistakes made by others and how to avoid them. It does a pretty decent job of this and it documents the issues and solutions in an orderly manner. I can see how this book is an eye opener for some. It gives you enough awareness to start looking for issues brought up and some references to follow.

Here is my take on this book…

Beginner – You’re going to love this book, it is a great primer into the main issues around virtualization. I would recommend it for beginners and even up to CxO’s.

Intermediate – You’ll find some “hey I didn’t know that” and occasionally you might think “I understand what they mean, but I have to tweak what he’s saying to match my environments design”. I would only recommend this book if you need a refresher or basic reference guide to remind you about issues.

Advanced – You will be bored by this book, recommend it to beginners and help the community grow.

The book makes great points about the types of users he has encountered – You get thrown into virtualization, you start out great, but then issues arise, consultants come in to solve issues, some write books about their experiences (hence this book), and everyone learns in the end. In running a VMUG for a few years I’ve talked with my fair share of new users. Occasionally thinking “You did what?” but the point is we all were there at one time, we all learned, and so did our knowledge around virtualization. If your one of those advanced users remember this and help others learn. I see this book as a helping hand and a beginners starting guide that is well written and will help others learn.

Great Job Larry… and thanks for giving back to the virtualization community!