Remember when server virtualization was still new and untested and we (endearingly) referred to the skeptics as “server huggers”? You know the type. They’d walk into the server room and say “which server is mine?” You could always answer in
Category Archives: blog
It’s Christmas in August for VMware Customers
Some huge announcements were made at VMWorld today, many of which will be warmly received by VMware customers. I’m not referring to some of the great new features like the vSphere 5.1 web client, but things like new product entitlements,
VMware vSphere 5.1 Feature Preview
vSphere 5.1 might technically be a “minor” update, but just like vSphere 4.1 there are some very significant new features – many around increased scalability and improved operations. I had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with
Certification Challenge Update
A few months ago I posted a note on my certification adventure and thought I’d post a brief update. My feelings on certification are mixed. A decade ago I had the highest certifications available from Microsoft and Novell but at
The Storage Hypervisor Part 2 — Flash Pools
In Part 1 of this series we talked about how ONTAP could be seen as a storage hypervisor and how the benefits of this could mirror the benefits of a compute hypervisor like VMware vSphere. The key ingredient is a
The NoCloud Organization — Part 2
In Part 1 of the NoCloud organization I discussed how complex today’s IT systems can be and I mentioned an organization that believed that if they purchased everything from a single vendor that it would make it easier for them
My Big Certification Adventure (and Challenge)
My opinions on the value of certification have evolved over the years. 10 years ago I had the highest certifications available from both Microsoft and Novell, but after both making key career achievements as well as observing others who were “certified”
Dell XPSz Laptop (It’s Thin and Fast)
Many of us in the IT field need laptops for our profession so I thought I would review my experience so far with the MacBook-like Dell XPSz. I recently accepted a new opportunity which required me to provide my own
Installing VMware Tools on CentOS
There’s more than one way of course but I ended up using the following series of commands with good results. Before you begin make sure that the proper Linux distro is selected in the virtual machine’s configuration (options tab, guest
Virtualization Myths and Realities
One of my several motivations for this blog was to debunk myths that served as barriers to the adoption of virtualization. EVERY time I was given the opportunity to move beyond fears and demonstrate what could be done with virtualization,
