Though it's easy to cover too much ground under this category, it could justifiably include compliance auditing with tools like vmSight, as well as any of the host of non-specific assessment tools that are also available.

There is currently no one-stop-shop toolset to monitor and audit virtual infrastructures, and it's easy to get off track with the tools that are available. Many VM users pick a variety of tools to use at different levels, depending on what they want to know. So, before you start putting together a monitoring solution, keep in mind specifically what you want to monitor, and remember to pick tools that work well within your specific environment.

Virtualization expert Edward L. Haletky is the author of "VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers," Pearson Education (2008.) He recently left Hewlett-Packard, where he worked in the Virtualization, Linux, and High-Performance Technical Computing teams. Haletky owns AstroArch Consulting, providing virtualization, security, and network consulting and development. Haletky is also a champion and moderator for the VMware discussion forums, providing answers to security and configuration questions.