Category: News

I’ve been maintaining the vLaunchpad using Dreamweaver which has been difficult at times so I thought I would explore other options. I’ve resisted using WordPress as I had for my main site because the page layout is kind of unique and not easily re-produced in WordPress. Well after much theme hacking I think I have it ported over to WordPress pretty well. I’ve done extensive CSS modifications to make sure I would fit as much information as possible in one area and not have to resort to lots of scrolling or multiple pages. It’s not done yet but it’s getting close, I still need to add all the blog links and do some other work to it. I’ve also moved it to the clouds, which is GoDaddy’s new hosted grid computing offering. So let me know what you think, I’m open to all your suggestions, tell me what you like, don’t like and want to see added to it. One thing you’ll notice is I added all of Hany Michael’s great vDiagrams to the sidebar for easy access to them.

So go check out the new version of the vLaunchpad and let me know what you think, just remember it’s not done yet and I have lots of changes to make to it. Thanks to the Netherlands gang (Duncan, Eric & Gabe) for their early feedback that helped me get the design right.

Due to cuts and other circumstances I will no longer be blogging at SearchVMware.com’s Virtualization Pro blog. While exploring other blogging opportunities I decided to come right back where I started, this website, vSphere-land.com. So besides my gigantic link collection you’ll be seeing lots of new content here including tips, news, reviews, opinions, top 10 lists and much more. For starters I’ll be doing a series documenting a new project from start to finish that I’m the lead on which is a Lotus Domino virtualization project.  So stay tuned for lots of great content coming from this site.

As I previously mentioned two randomly chosen voters in the top blog survey would win a copy of TrainSignal’s vSphere DVD training course. I exported the voting results to Excel and then used a random number generator to pick two row numbers and the winners are:

• mcgivern_jon at emc dot com from Westborough, MA
• brian_alexander at mentor dot com from Longmont, CO

David Davis from TrainSignal will be contacting you, thank you for your participation in the voting!

2009 was a very busy year for me so I thought I would recap what I did and wrote during 2009. For starters I wrote a book that was published by Pearson Publishing entitled VMware VI3 Implementation & Administration. Having enjoyed that experience I also started writing a 2nd book on vSphere that will be published in 2010. It seems like I’ve been writing non-stop, besides the books I also write blog posts and tips for at least 6 different Tech Target websites. I am a member of the Server Virtualization Advisory Board for SearchServerVirtualization.com and also write a regular column for SearchVMware.com entitled Virtualization Viewpoints.

I was commissioned by Veeam to write a white paper for them to coincide with their new Veeam 4.0 product launch. I was named as one of the 300 vExperts by VMware in Fed. 2009. I attended VMworld this year as a member of the press and was again a judge for the Best of VMworld awards in the Security category. Besides all that I still find time to maintain this website, sorting through links and collecting and posting them is very time-consuming. Below is a list of some of work of mine that was published in 2009:

• Everything you need to know about vSphere and data storage (SearchStorage.com magazine)
• VMware 2009: Never a dull moment (SearchVMware.com)
• The Mechanics of VMware GO (SearchVMware.com)
• A review of VMware disk-to-disk backup apps: Veeam, Vizioncore, PHD Virtual and VDR (SearchDataBackup.com)
• Virtual-to-physical conversions: Why and how (SearchVMware.com)
• VMware vShield Zones: What it is and how it works (vShield Zones Pt. 1) (SearchVMware.com)
• Installing and configuring vShield Zones (vShield Zones Pt. 2) (SearchVMware.com)
• Quick tips for managing vShield Zones (vShield Zones Pt. 3) (SearchVMware.com)
• Determining the right size for your VMware VMFS data stores (SearchVMware.com)
• Virtualizing may cost more, but the benefits are worth it (SearchVMware.com)
• Choosing a virtual disk type for VMware ESX: Raw, thick and thin disks (SearchVMware.com)
• VMware vSphere: Got 64-bit hardware? (SearchVMware.com)
• Blades vs. rack servers: Basic purchasing principles still apply (Choosing hardware for virtual servers series Pt. 1) (SearchServerVirtualization.com)
• Selecting CPU, processors and memory for virtualized environments (Choosing hardware for virtual servers series Pt. 2) (SearchServerVirtualization.com)
• PowerShell scripting with VMware ESX tutorial: Installing and using the PowerShell tool (PowerShell series Pt. 1) (SearchVMware.com)
• PowerShell scripting for VMware ESX: Using Quest’s PowerGUI PowerPack script editor (PowerShell series Pt. 2) (SearchVMware.com)
• What is Changed Block Tracking in vSphere? (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Does virtualization really reduce administrator headcount and workloads? (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Several ways to explain virtualization to a non-techie person (Virtualization Pro blog)
• What are IP Pools and vApps? (Virtualization Pro blog)
• What is virtualization? (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Removing old hardware after a P2V conversion (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Are you taking advantage of VMware knowledge on the Web? (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Virtualizing Lotus Domino servers: Support concerns (Virtualization Pro blog)
• The process behind judging the Best of VMworld awards (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Using Storage VMotion to keep critical servers up when shared storage is down (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Scheduling virtual CPUs (Virtualization Pro blog)
• More details on VMware’s Fault Tolerance feature (Virtualization Pro blog)
• The key to successfully virtualized Domino servers (Virtualization Pro blog)
• VMware’s hardware compatibility list (Virtualization Pro blog)
• VMware Fault Tolerance: What it is and how it works (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Pointers for using thin-provisioned disks (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Troubleshooting mysterious VM resets (Virtualization Pro blog)
• What it means to be a vExpert (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Virtualizing Lotus Domino servers (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Lord of the virtual rings: Why hardware matters to your VMs (Virtualization Pro blog)
• A brief history of VMware (Virtualization Pro blog)
• Defragmenting virtual machine disk files (Virtualization Pro blog)

Here they are, the current top 20 VMware & virtualization related bloggers:

Can anyone knock Duncan Epping from the top spot? Chad Sakac made a run up to the #3 position in the last vote, can he go any higher? Interesting enough, Scott Lowe in the #2 position now works for Chad Sakac, can Scott stay ahead of his new boss? There are also many new bloggers out there producing some great content who could make the list like Hany Michael, Scott Sauer/Aaron Sweemer, Maish Saidel-Keesing, Scott Drummonds, Frank Denneman and Steve Chambers. Your votes will decide the winners and help decide the Top 25 bloggers. I’ve decided to expand the Top 20 to the Top 25 because there are so many great blogs out there.

So here’s how it works, you pick your top 10 favorite blogs, the survey will be open for two weeks. Once all the votes have been cast I’ll add them up and using weights (#1 vote = 10 points, #2 vote equals 9 points, etc.) and calculate the Top 25 blogs. Because of the cost of the online survey tool I’ve acquired a sponsor to help cover the costs. TrainSignal is the sponsor of this survey and as an added bonus they are giving away two copies of their awesome vSphere DVD training course to two voters who will be randomly selected. to vote you simply number your 10 favorite blogs from 1 to 10 with 1 being your most favorite blog. Your numbers must add up to 55 (1 through 10 added together) and we have controls in place so you can only vote once. The top 10 winners will receive a graphic image with their place number that they can display on their website.

When casting your vote we hope you are fair and use the following guidelines:

• frequency (how often they post)
• quality (how well the posts are)
• length (how long the posts are)
• longevity (how long they have been blogging for)

Please note for added protection this time against duplicate votes I’m now using IP address protection which limits one vote per IP address. While this method is more effective then using cookies it may prevent multiple users in corporate environments that use NAT from casting votes. As a workaround to that situation you can have people vote from a mobile device or home computer instead.

So bloggers, start your engines and let the voting begin, you can go to http://vote.vsphere-land.com or click the below link to cast your vote…

Click here to vote