TABLE OF CONTENTS In this chapter, we discuss some of the very cool tools you need to manage your virtual infrastructure. We ll also discuss the requirements and considerations for each. Again, your tool choice will depend on what works for you, but knowing these tools is a great start in understanding how a virtual infrastructure can be managed.
Like the construction and maintenance of anything, having the right tool for the job makes all the difference.
You ll use ISO images a lot in your virtual infrastructure. Ultimately, you ll have a small or large library of them most likely. WinISO is one of many products that allows you to create ISO images from CDs and DVDs as well as from any single file or collection of files. We chose WinISO solely because we use it and feel it s one of the better products out there for this particular task if Windows is your desktop OS. Just about any similar functioning tool will work. This type of tool is essential for working within a virtual infrastructure since you ll find the use of ISO images within an ESX environment to be critical.
What is an ISO image? (For a definition pulled from Wikipedia, see the Configuring & Implementing sidebar titled ISO 9660 Defined. ) In the context of using ISO images within a virtual infrastructure, an ISO image is a file that s basically a complete copy of the original media from which the ISO image is taken. For example, let s say you...
