VMware has all this information for you.
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/
There are also hundreds of blogs, both by VMware( http://blogs.vmware.com/ ) and individuals that will provide you official and non-official resources to answer your questions.
This link should provide you the VMware white papers on performance: http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/cat/91,203,96
Begin by reading those and with that information you should understand the why and how that you are desiring.