A May 2008 joint white paper by VMware and Cisco that summarizes best practices for deploying VMware ESX severs in a Cisco network. Most aspects, however, apply to non-Cisco networks and storage environments. The document also serves as an introduction to ESX for network engineers or as an introduction to virtual networks for server virtualization professionals. A detailed and hands-on reference that makes day-to-day operations easier.

Virtualization of network DMZs becomes more common, this white paper helps network, security and virtualization professionals to stay (or get) on the same page. It provides descriptions of three different virtualized DMZ configurations and identifies best practice approaches that enable secure deployment.

VMware's official guide in its updated version for ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 is the more current alternative to the more thorough Department of Defense STIG. A must read when you upgrade.

A November 2008 study by VMware on 10Gb performance In ESX 3.5 Update 1

Authored by the National Security Agency, the most IT focused part of the US intelligence sector, it is shorter and more general than the Department of Defense STIG. Interesting is the treatment of Remote Access i.e. basically using the Virtual Infrastructure Console as a remote access mechanism comparable to Ctrix, VNC or Windows Remote Desktop. Released in March 2008.

Published by the US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in April 2008 this guide represents the state-of-the-art in securely configuring VMware ESX servers.

Struggling with VLAns in VMware? This 2006 white paper provides an overview of VLAN concepts and benefits and illustrates three possible ESX Server and virtual machine VLAN configurations. It then compares the advantages and disadvantages of the three possible configurations and recommends some best practices. The paper also includes configuration samples for both ESX Server and the external physical switches and concludes with a list of frequently asked questions.

A VMware white paper that describes networking concepts in VMware's leading ESX platform.

The most comprehensive survey results that are available for free plus useful insights and analysis on the state of virtual environments.

This November 2007 Lippis Report by Nathan Swartz provides a concise and visionary tour of many areas of Network Virtualization (free registration required).