Book Review: Instant VMware vCloud Starter

Full disclosure: Packt Publishing gave me a free copy of the book in order to review it.

So before receiving this book, I hadn’t taken the time to get cozy with vCloud Director.  It was on my list of things to do.  Quite honestly, I knew I would be left with Google to find my way with vCD.  Fortunately, Packt offered up this gem just in time.  This is the first time I’d read one of Packt’s “Instant Starter” books.  I didn’t know exactly what to expect but I ended up pleasantly surprised.  The book reads a lot like installation notes, like those one would create at work, only better.  There are good screenshots throughout as well as explanations of each component.  It’s as if the author walks you up to a summit, points to interesting objects on the horizon, then encourages you to explore them on your own.  This is the first type of book I’ve read like this.  It gets you up and running but leaves many features untouched, but gives you explicit exercises to perform afterward.  So it’s almost like a teaser, in that it gives you a taste of vCloud, a slice, but leaves the rest of the pie for you to finish later.  I used it to get my vCloud environment running in Workstation in no time.  I’ll admit, though, that I was left with wanting more. I had to keep reminding myself of the intention of the author – it wasn’t to walk through every installation and certainly not every configuration piece. It was to bring the reader to a certain point, then let them discover the rest on their own. So in that light, this book meets its goal. I’m impressed with this book and am grateful to Packt for letting me review it. Check the book out here: Instant VMware vCloud Starter

Cheers, Mike

Google