Acknowledgments What a journey it has been the last few years since my previous Mastering vSphere book. When completing the last book, I had just moved to Palo Alto, California from Australia and was awaiting the arrival of my second child. The opportunity had come up to work out of VMware's headquarters on a beautiful campus not far from Stanford University. However, after a fantastic 2.5 years in the US, it was time to move back closer to our family in australia When writing my last book, I spoke about my wife being my rock, and that has not changed. Our life is somehow even more chaotic with three kids, yet she amazingly handles it all in her stride. Nat, you are still my everything I owe you more than I could possibly repay, but I hope a remote tropical holiday for two might be a good first step Thanks to my fellow authors, work mates and good friends, Mike Brown, Blair Fritz, and Ryan Johnson. You guys really knocked it out of the park with your contributions. Your dedica- tion to refining and (re)writing your respective sections reinforces my respect for you as VMware authorities. The content of this book is so much better thanks to your involvement. even if you didn't know what you were getting yourselves into I'd also like to thank our technical editor, Rebecca Fitzhugh. Thanks for keeping us honest, Rebecca. Your technical review was most appreciated, and the feedback rightfully kept us on our toes Once again, the team at Wiley /Sybex have been so supportive. Jim Minatel, thank you for your guidance and direction. Stephanie Barton, thank you for graciously coming back and keeping our rambling streams of consciousness somewhat cohesive for a third time. Also, to Athiyappan Kumar and the rest of the team, thank you for all that you did to ensure the quality of this work. Your attention to detail is second to none As always, I'd like to thank the VMware community as a whole. To all the bloggers, speakers, tweeters, and podcasters: without you all, I would never have started down this virtual road nick marshallAcknowledgments What a journey it has been the last few years since my previous Mastering vSphere book. When completing the last book, I had just moved to Palo Alto, California from Australia and was awaiting the arrival of my second child. The opportunity had come up to work out of VMware’s headquarters on a beautiful campus not far from Stanford University. However, after a fantastic 2.5 years in the US, it was time to move back closer to our family in Australia. When writing my last book, I spoke about my wife being my rock, and that has not changed. Our life is somehow even more chaotic with three kids, yet she amazingly handles it all in her stride. Nat, you are still my everything; I owe you more than I could possibly repay, but I hope a remote tropical holiday for two might be a good first step. Thanks to my fellow authors, work mates and good friends, Mike Brown, Blair Fritz, and Ryan Johnson. You guys really knocked it out of the park with your contributions. Your dedica￾tion to refining and (re)writing your respective sections reinforces my respect for you as VMware authorities. The content of this book is so much better thanks to your involvement. . . even if you didn’t know what you were getting yourselves into! I’d also like to thank our technical editor, Rebecca Fitzhugh. Thanks for keeping us honest, Rebecca. Your technical review was most appreciated, and the feedback rightfully kept us on our toes. Once again, the team at Wiley/Sybex have been so supportive. Jim Minatel, thank you for your guidance and direction. Stephanie Barton, thank you for graciously coming back and keeping our rambling streams of consciousness somewhat cohesive for a third time. Also, to Athiyappan Kumar and the rest of the team, thank you for all that you did to ensure the quality of this work. Your attention to detail is second to none. As always, I’d like to thank the VMware community as a whole. To all the bloggers, speakers, tweeters, and podcasters: without you all, I would never have started down this virtual road. —Nick Marshall