This book will detail the default and custom installation of VMwares ESX server as well as basic and advanced virtual machine configurations. It will then walk the reader through post installation configurations including installation and configuration of VirtualCenter. From here, readers will learn to efficiently create and deploy virtual machine templates. Best practices for securing and backing up your virtual environment are also provided. The book concludes with a series of handy, time-saving command and configuration for: bash shell keystrokes, Linux commands, configuration files, common/proc files, VMware ESX commands, and troubleshooting. *Follows Syngress' proven "How to Cheat" pedagogy providing readers with everything they need and nothing they don't *Gartner has stated that if companies have not begun or have planned to begin a virtualization effort; they are quickly falling behind the mainstream for IT organizations *Currently, VMware has 2.5 million users and more than 5,500 enterprise server customers for their products.