Virtualization is one of the hottest topics in the tech industry today. The leader in the virtualization space at the present time is without a doubt VMware with its virtual infrastructure offering. As VMware software began to take its place in the data center and demand respect in the industry, the need for a certification path became clear. Such a certification separates those who have studied the technology and can apply it at a professional level from those who have just installed it and started messing with it. I am a big believer that there is no alternative to studying a technology thoroughly. There is only so much you can learn from installing it and using it in only a few specific circumstances, because that exposes you only to limited features and obscures you from harnessing the full potential of the software by leveraging features you probably never knew existed. For this reason and many more, I am a strong believer that you should study the software, learn it, and then use it hands on as much as possible. It is by doing this that you truly master the software.

When you have studied and understand a software, taking a certification exam becomes relatively easy. For example, if you’ve thoroughly studied, you know that the maximum amount of physical memory that ESX 3.5 supports is 256GB. However, someone who just installs the software and starts using it may not know this because the software installation does not require this knowledge at the time of installation.

This book aims to present the information you need to recap and reinforce your existing knowledge of VMware Infrastructure 3 and properly prepare you to confidently take the VCP-310 exam. The book is structured in a way to help you with your final exam preparation and contains enough information to make it a true test preparation book, but in a concise manner.