I’ve done a whole bunch of posts on various topics leading up to VMworld and I thought I would aggregate them all into one post so readers who are either attending VMworld or just listening in remotely can easily read through them.

This one is for the 2017 Top vBloggers and vExperts going to VMworld, I have goodies for you and so do some vendors:

• Top vBloggers and vExperts going to VMworld I have something for you

This one details the top 30 people that I hope to run into at VMworld:

• Top 30 people I look forward to seeing at VMworld 2017

This one provides of brief overview of Zerto’s pre-VMworld new ZVR release:

• Just in time for VMworld, Zerto releases Zerto Virtual Replication 5.5

This one is for the people who can’t attend VMworld and lists all the ways you can enjoy it from afar:

• How to experience VMworld 2017 without attending it

This one provides some tips and tricks for attending VMworld that I’ve picked up after 9 years of attending it:

• Tips and tricks for surviving and enjoying VMworld 2017

This one covers my hand-picked list of the Top 20 sessions that you must see at VMworld:

• Top 20 Sessions you must see at VMworld 2017

This one provides an interesting analysis of the cost to hire the bands that have played at VMworld over the years:

• Cost of VMworld party bands 2017 edition

This one provides a good overview of the parties at VMworld along with my picks of the best ones:

• Get your party on at VMworld

This one details both online resources and VMworld events that cover VVol replication:

• Learn about VVol Replication online and at VMworld

This one covers Schedule Builder opening up for attendees:

• Schedule Builder for VMworld US now open

This one provides an overview on why there are so few sessions devoted to VVols at VMworld this year:

• Why there are almost no VVols sessions at VMworld this year

As much as everyone would love to attend VMworld many people can not go for a variety reasons but you can still get a lot out of the show even if you do not attend. I thought I’d highlight some of the many resources that are available to virtual attendees to be able to participate in the show from the comfort of your home or office.

BEAMs

BEAMs are like true virtual attendees that allow you to control a mobile robot with a monitor and camera and wander around the VMTN community area (VMvillage) and interact with people. I first saw these last year at VMworld and was a little freaked out by them but they are pretty cool. VMware has 3 of these available for remote people to sign-up and control for about 30 minutes, time slots are available Mon-Thurs starting at 8:00am through 3:30-6:30pm depending on the day.  Go sign-up now and reserve your BEAM and stalk people at VMworld.

The bloggers

There are hundreds of bloggers that write about VMware technology and there is no shortage of bloggers that attend VMworld and report on what they see, hear and experience at the show. You can expect bloggers to write about anything from thoughts and opinions on products and companies to what parties they attended to live blogging about sessions they attend. VMware has a special list of VMworld bloggers along with feeds to keep you informed of all the latest blogger posts.

My Planet vSphere-land Top 100 blogger feed is a good way to read about what is going on as reported by the bloggers. You can also keep an eye on the Planet v12n feed but  be aware that Planet v12n only keeps the latest 100 blog posts so you will want to read up on it daily and not wait until the end of the week or you’ll miss out. Here are some additional links:

• Official VMworld blog
• VMTN Blog Beat Roll-up
• Full blogger list at VMworld

Twitter

If you’re not on Twitter by now, why not? You may not be that social or the chatty type but its a great way to listen in on the thousands of people on social media all talking about VMworld. So if you don’t have an account, sign-up now before VMworld and then use the many VMworld focused twitter resources to listen in and participate in real time. The @VMworld account is the official account for VMworld so make sure and follow it, you also might follow the most popular bloggers as well to see what they are saying about VMworld. You can see the top bloggers here along with their twitter handles and also check out my list of the Top 100 VMware/virtualization people to follow.

You’ll also want to keep an eye on hashtags that flag tweets that related to a specific topic. The most used hashtag (and official) for VMworld is #vmworld, there are also hashtags specific to each session (#sessionID) and fun ones such as #vmworld3word and #vmworldselfie. VMware also has a Social Stream of Twitter feeds available that is like a giant tweet billboard that you can watch to see the latest Twitter action at VMworld.

theCUBE

Located in the VMvillage theCUBE is kind of like the ESPN of tech events and provides live coverage and interviews throughout the whole event. Hosts John Furrier, Dave Vellante and Stu Miniman interview high profile guests from VMware, partners and others and talk about all the latest trends, announcements and action that happens at VMworld. Head on over to their VMworld 2017 landing page and you can see the whole lineup of guests which includes well known people such as Pat Gelsinger, Michael Dell and Yanbing Li.

Live streams

VMware doesn’t live stream breakout sessions but they do live stream the 2 main general sessions which are where all the new product announcements are made. The opening general session (Monday 9:00-10:30am PDT) is historically more focused on VMware’s high level vision and strategies as heard from Pat Gelsinger and Sanjay Poonen. The 2nd general session (Tuesday 9:00-10:30am PDT) is more focused on the details and specific products and technologies and typically features more techie speakers such as Ray O’Farrell and  Kit Colbert. The Thursday general session is more a fun one without VMware speakers and featuring super smart folks from places like MIT and Stanford to talk about cool hi-tech science and technology, this one is not live streamed.

There is no need to sign-up to view the general sessions live, just head on over to the general session page and click on the calender invite for them. Note the invite doesn’t have a specific link to view the session it’s just a reminder for them, if you go the the main VMworld.com page right before each general session starts there should be a link there to view it live.

YouTube/Videos

In prior years VMware had a camera crew roaming around VMworld recording content for VMworld TV which was narrated in part by the famous Mr. Sloof. Every day they featured a nice roll-up of the days happenings. Unfortunately VMware decided to not do that at the US show last year (they did have it at Barcelona) and I suspect they won’t again this year at the US show. [edit: sounds like they might be doing it at the US event minus Mr. Sloof though] However they still do have a YouTube playlist for VMworld 2017 that currently feature videos like “Top Reasons to attend VMworld 2017” and “VMworld 2017 Highlights” but I suspect they will still be posting video content there throughout the show so keep checking that playlist and subscribe to the VMworld YouTube account to see what they post this year. If you miss the general session live streams the recordings of them should be available shortly afterwards on the YouTube channel. Also check out the Social link on this page which aggregates Facebook, Instagram and Twitter videos tagged with #VMworld.

vBrownBag

What is a BrownBag? It’s what you pack your lunch in so you can bring it somewhere and eat while doing something. As it relates to technology that “doing something” is watching someone speak on a specific topic, essentially a lunch and learn. The vBrownBags have been around for many years and were born as a podcast series for virtualization experts to share knowledge and experiences with others. That has since carried over to live events and you can find vBrownBags usually at VMUG Usercon’s and VMworld events.

The vBrownBag sessions will be held throughout each day at VMworld inside the VMvillage area and will feature vExperts, bloggers, product experts and more talking on a variety of topics. You can view the entire vBrownBag schedule here in the Content Catalog (there are 80 of them!) and you don’t have to be there to watch them as they will also be live streamed. So don’t miss these informal, educational sessions where you’ll learn all sorts of great stuff, just be sure and pack your own lunch.

VMTN Homepage Takeover

VMworld will be taking over the main VMTN communities page which will aggregate all sorts of content such as  livestream videos, VMworld social, live podcasts, blogs, {code}fest updates, and links to the forums with information on the latest VMware announcements. So bookmark this page and check it daily during VMworld.

View recorded sessions

Almost all breakout sessions at VMworld are recorded as it’s impossible for attendees to see more than a small fraction of the amount of total sessions (700+). The recordings allow attendees to watch each session after the event is over to check out all the great sessions that they could not attend while at the event. The audio for all sessions is recorded and presented along with the slides for each session, in some cases for more popular sessions they have video recorded them as well at past VMworlds.

In the past the session recordings were only meant for registered attendees and were posted soon after the show ends but starting last year VMware opened them up to everyone right after the show was over. You’ll probably have to wait a few days/weeks for them all to get posted on the VMworld website, note there old session viewing page is gone and replaced with a new session on-demand library. Right now the default channel shows 2016 sessions but you can change the year in the link or search to see other years sessions as well. VMware also tends to post some of the popular sessions on the VMworld YouTube channel as well quicker than they post in the on-demand library like this playlist of 38 sessions from VMworld 2016.

As you can see not attending VMworld doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all the exciting action that occurs there. The one thing you do miss out on (besides the parties) that is hard to re-create virtually is the face to face networking but their is plenty of options available that allow you to soak in the conference and still get good value out of it from afar. So if you can’t attend be sure and check out the resources that we covered here and look on the bright side, you’re also missing out on the hot Vegas heat, the mediocre lunches and the hangovers.

Another year, another VMworld, for me this VMworld will be number 10, my first one was in 2008 in Las Vegas. I remember that experience fondly as it was more intimate back then when it was a lot smaller. Over the years I learned many lessons about attending VMworld so I thought I’d pass that on to you:

• If you’re a blogger make sure you sign up here to get your blog added to the blogger list/feed for VMworld. Even if you’re not a blogger you can use that page to follow the feed of blogger posts at VMworld as the bloggers are your eyes and ears at VMworld that you can live vicariously through to enjoy the event. Also here’s another page on the VMworld blog devoted to bloggers at VMworld.
• Set your priorities and expectations ahead of time, VMworld has plenty to offer and you’ll get as much out of it as you put into it. Sessions are at the bottom of the priority list for me, things like networking and going through the Solutions Exchange are at the top. If you make a schedule it will be challenging to keep it as there are plenty of distractions at VMworld. Be realistic and don’t try and cram your schedule so full that you stress yourself out and are rushing to get to everything. Relax, enjoy yourself and have fun.
• The sessions, so many to choose from (over 450 this year!), so little time, you’ll be lucky if you can attend more than a dozen of them. They’re just so much other stuff to do there its hard to find time to go to sessions. I recommend you pick a few that you really want to see and don’t sweat it if you miss some, remember they’re all recorded and you have plenty of time to see them after VMworld. I usually choose based on certain people that I want to hear speak and meet after the session. After all you can always hear the session later but you can’t meet the speaker after VMworld is over.
• The labs are a great place to get hands on experience with both VMware and partner products and solutions. The labs are all based in VMware’s lab cloud environment and they are all self-paced. Most of the labs are available 24×7 via the cloud so you don’t need to feel the urgency to take them at VMworld. Still it’s always good to get some hands on so if you have some free time be sure and take a few. In addition VMware and partners staff the labs with experts on each course to assist you and answer questions if needed which is good incentive to take them at VMworld.
• The parties, there are no shortage of them, my inbox always fills up with party invitations each year and trying to pick and choose which ones you want to attend can be even more challenging than picking which sessions to see. There is a pretty comprehensive list of them here. Kicking off the event is the official Welcome Reception in the Solutions Exchange from 5-7:30pm on Sunday. There is lots of food, beer & vendors so its a good way to start the evening. Afterwards on Sunday is the annual big VMunderground warm-up party, at the Beerhaus from 7:00-11:00pm, cost is $40 and you have to buy tickets for it. You can read my full VMworld 2017 party overview here and hit up the vendors for invites.
• The networking, that’s what VMworld is all about, don’t be a hermit and don’t be afraid to talk to people. People like William Lam, Chris Wahl, Scott Lowe and Duncan Epping aren’t surrounded by security guards and are down to earth guys who will talk to anyone. So go say high, introduce yourself and have a conversation, you’ll be very glad you did so afterwards. Don’t know where to find people? Well parties are a good place to start, everyone seems to gravitate there. Do yourself a favor and get on twitter if you’re not already and you’ll know in real time whats going on. The official VMworld hashtag is #vmworld and many of the sessions have their own hashtags, make sure and follow the official @VMworld account also. There is also the VMvillage social hub which is a good place to socialize and meet the bloggers and chill out. They also have lounging areas, refreshments, games, entertainment and tech talks/podcasting going on in the VMvillage. Be sure and check out the VMworld social media & community page which has a lot of good info and links on it.
• Plan your trip appropriately, you’re going to be on your feet a lot at VMworld, you better have comfortable shoes or you’re going to have real sore feet. Don’t by a pair of new spiffy shoes right before VMworld without breaking them in, you’ll regret it! Pack light if you can, you might want to being an extra bag, there are lots of prize giveaways and free swag all over the place so I can almost guarantee you’re going to go home with more than you came with. Also don’t forget you’ll be bringing an extra backpack home with you, I tend to fill-up a box with all my extra stuff and ship it back, there is a FedEx office onsite in Mandalay right by the VMworld entrance. If you’re going to walk around with a back pack don’t stuff it too much, its going to get awfully heavy after wearing it a few hours. I travel light and don’t want a full laptop to lug around, I bring a netbook, iPad and smartphone and choose the one I want to carry for what I need to do at the time. Don’t forget power, especially for your phone, I carry a few portable battery chargers so I can charge it as needed without an outlet.
• VMware makes a point to show off their talent at VMworld, this means those geeky developers that are normally locked up all day making the next version of vSphere are there and usually available to talk to. What better person to ask your HA question than someone who actually developed the feature. VMware has lots of other smart people there so be sure and check out the VMware booths in the Solutions Exchange to meet them. It’s not just VMware that has their smartest and brightest at the show though, most of the vendors have their best people there also so go by your favorite vendors and talk them up and get your questions answered.
• The Solutions Exchange is like a Super Walmart, everything you can possibly need for VMware products all under one roof, take your time, stroll around and I guarantee you’ll see many cool products that you probably never knew existed. VMware has an incredibly rich ecosystem of vendors that can help solve your pain points and enhance your environment. Do make a point of spending plenty of time there, besides learning a lot you’ll leave with pockets stuffed with vendor swag. Besides the Welcome Reception on Sunday there is the Hall Crawl on Tuesday from 4-6pm where you can get free booze from certain vendors that offer it.
• If this is your first time at VMworld it can be a bit intimidating, especially when it comes to finding your way around, it took me quite a while to be able to navigate the sprawling Mandalay Bay maze with ease. If you get there on Sunday try and pick up your badge then rather than fight the crowds on Monday. Walking around and trying to get your bearings can help, be sure and use the maps that are published on the VMworld 2017 smartphone app and in the docs you are given when you check in to see where everything is. You can even enable location alerts and bluetooth prompts to help guide you around. If you need information don’t hesitate to ask someone, or even better trying tweeting it and you might get a quick answer. The more social you can be at VMworld especially if its your first time will really help you out as us virtualization folks are a friendly lot that don’t bite and are glad to help out a vComrade.

VMworld is four short days and will fly by before you know it, so be sure and make the most of it and soak up the incredible amount of knowledge that will be available both formally through labs and sessions and informally through talking to others. More than anything, enjoy the show, I hope to meet many of you there!

I’ve looked through the whole VMworld Content Catalog and picked out my top 20 sessions that I feel are worth seeing and I thought I would share it with you. A few disclaimers though:

1. There is no way you are going to be able to see 20 sessions at VMworld, so pick the ones you like most and have the speakers you’d like to see in person and prioritize those. Watch the recordings of the others afterwards.
2. I’m a bit biased towards storage sessions, but hey storage is pretty damn interesting these days.
3. I’m also a bit biased towards the sessions I’m presenting in, so that’s just me but I’d love to see you at them and we’ll do our best to give you a great educational session.

So now in no particular order (well maybe a bit alphabetically as that’s how the Content Catalog is listed), but I’ll start with mine though. First up is a great deep dive on VVols replication, this one will be super techie and deep and we promise not to put you to sleep.

Next we have a VVols panel session with some VVol industry veterans and VMware’s VVol product manager, bring the tough questions for us, we can handle them, if we can’t Pete Flecha will drink a shot.

Next up this one sounds uber geeky, hear deep storage info directly from VMware’s storage vWizard and one of Pure’s technical geeks.

Next up, an Encrypted vMotion deep dive and a glimpse into the vMotion crystal ball, sounds fun.

Now we go extreme with NVM. this should be super techie, there is like 8-9 different Extreme series sessions at VMworld. So if you are into extremes there are plenty to choose from.

Next for security geeks, this one sounds interesting as to how software-defined is changing the way we think about security.Now we go the the clouds, I’m sure AWS will be a hot topic at VMworld this year, who better to hear about it from then Frank & Emad.

Next we go to get educated on NVMe and how it’s changing the storage landscape, is Flash dead already?

Now we dive into scripting with PowerCLI, every good admin needs some scripting skills and this session looks to hone yours.

Next up more NVM! You can never get too much NVM, this one looks to answer the tough NVM questions.

Now it’s vSAN time, there are like a billion vSAN sessions at VMworld so you can easily overdose on them. I thought I’d pick out a few of the more interesting ones like this one from VMware’s storage godfather.

Next what do you know, more vSAN, at least you’ll know 10 more things about it after this session, and hey it’s Duncan and Cormac, that’s all you really need to know.Now we go back to security, this one looked like a good overview on VMware’s impact on Windows security which we know is the world’s most secure OS 😉

Next there is the Rocky Mountain Way and then their is the VCDX Way, if you are upgrading vSphere you probably want to do it the VCDX Way.

Now you have the 3rd annual (or is it 4th) Patrick & Pete VVol technical deep dive show (PPVVTDD). Here directly from the VVol guru’s at VMware on everything related to VVols.

Next up we head back to the clouds to learn more about AWS from a storage and availability perspective and how to keep all your bits and bytes safe in the cloud.

Now we have, wait for it, more vSAN! As a storage guy I love I/O’s so this one sounds mega geeky and interesting, I always wondered what I/O’s did for fun.

Next more security, I forgot to mention I’m really into security also. What do you get when you combine a security geek with a vSAN geek? Why this session, should be a good one and you can leave feeling much more secure about yourself and your VMs.

And finally let’s end on a storage session packed full of all sorts of best practices, because you always wanted to know the answers to the ultimate vSphere storage questions (spoiler: it’s 42). You can tell this one will be popular as it’s scheduled on 2 different days.

Well that’s my list, there are a ton of other good sessions at VMworld, so go there and enjoy them and have fun!