Oracle VM Manager 2.1.2 Book Review

A powerful virtual manager is essential for businesses who seek stability for their online or local applications. With a reliable virtual manager, developers will be able to partition the server capacity in order to properly distribute support for each user. Stability of each user is highly possible even though network administrators use a single server for various servers.

One of the most sought after server virtualization tool was developed by Oracle. The Oracle Virtual Manager is a free virtualization tool and it has become the standard for many web developers and system administrators. The tool is powerful enough for any business setting but simple enough for many administrators and web developers to understand. This book aims to explain the basics of Oracle Virtualization Manager while slowly delving into the specific functions that could help businesses in their server virtualization needs.

First Impression of the Book

The book has an impression of providing a lot of information for beginners. It has more than 200 pages of instructions related to virtualization, Oracle and functions related to Oracle VM. A quick browse of the book will reveal step by step instructions, graphs and screenshots on how to deal with virtualization. The first impression of the book is very good as it offers a lot of information even with quick scanning.

The Author

Database administrators who have been working in the industry for years will most likely recognize the name Tarry Singh. One of the most recognized database administrators in the world, Singh has worked for Oracle for many years during the pivotal developments of the database tool. He is also a well known CTO as he has focused his efforts in various NGOs around the world. Aside from this book, Tarry Singh can also be followed in his blog http://www.ideationcloud.com where he constantly talks about cloud computing and other online ventures and mergers in the market.

The Chapters

The book is divided into eight chapters with an index and a preface. The following is a short discussion of each chapter.

Chapter 1: Introduction to VM

The first chapter, as the name suggests, provides a detailed discussion on the history and the necessity of Virtualization. The reader is also introduced to the three basic components of Oracle VM and their uses: Manager, Server and Agent.

Chapter 2: Installing Oracle VM Manager

This chapter is a must read if you're just new in database administration. On the other hand, those who have used Oracle for years can also browse through the chapter as it also provides details on how to properly upgrade the server to the latest version. Uninstalling instructions are also indicated.

Chapter 3: Installing Oracle VM Server

This is a unique feature of the book: instead of combining the instructions in one chapter, the author opted to separate the instructions for the VM server. This is an advantage for those who wanted to learn more about the VM server. The interesting part of the book is the cloud installation techniques. More information could have been given but they are more than enough for installation.

Chapter 4: Oracle VM Management

The 4th chapter in the book is a little bit extensive as it deals with the actual use of virtualization manager. The chapter is basically about starting various server pools for various users. The bare essentials for Oracle VM are quite extensive and they are discussed in this chapter.

Chapters 5-7: Managing Virtual Machines with Oracle VM Manager (Parts 1 to 3)

These chapters are the most important chapters of the book. Beginners will treat these chapters as a true eye opener on what Oracle VM can really do to a single server. Almost every practical functions related to Oracle VM is extensively discussed in these chapters.

To be specific, Chapter 5 provides a general overview of Oracle VM. Readers will be provided with basic information needed in order to understand an existing virtual machine and on how to start their preferred form of VM. Experienced users can skip the chapter but would be interested in the part wherein the book extensively details how VMs are created.

Chapter 6 is a very interesting chapter since it provides a highly detailed instruction on how to remotely work with Oracle VM. Take note on how the book discusses on cloning a specific virtual manager.

Chapter 7 basically deals on the advanced techniques on Oracle VM. The images and ISOs related to VM are lengthily discussed in this chapter. Take note of the images and ISOs as they will really help every database administrators in cloning and manipulating VMs.

Chapter 8: Troubleshooting and Gotchas

The last chapter only deals with the basic problems developers might encounter while working with Oracle VM. The book only covers failed guest creation, too much time to log in to the manager, not enough disk space and trouble with remove log-in.

The appendix is a nice addition to the book as it provides the basic commands when working with the VM. This can be treated as a "cheat sheet" when working with Oracle VM.

Scope of Discussion

The book is generally for beginners. Its basic discussion on virtualization; set-up and basic troubleshooting are too familiar for developers who have been working with Oracle VM manager for a few years. However, there are portion in the book that provides fresh information for those who have worked with Oracle VM manager for a few years. Chapters 5 to 7 is highly recommended for those who wants to brush up on their basics on working with Oracle VM manager.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the book is a good beginner’s book and a smart reference for experienced database administrators. Those who are starting to learn database administration will get more than basic help on how Oracle VM Manager works. The only small downside of the book is that it doesn't provide enough information on troubleshooting. But the last chapter still provides the basics on how to work with the unexpected results when working with Oracle VM Manager. Finishing the book with a cheat sheet in the form of tools is highly commendable.

This Book is available for purchase at packtpub.com

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