Are you going to VMworld 2011 in Las Vegas and finding yourself a little overwhelmed trying to select which sessions to attend?

Don’t worry — it’s happened to all of us.  There’s a lot of great content this year (as always) and it can be challenging to choose.  To help you out, I offer:

GeekFluent’s Top VMworld Session Choices

I’ve seen a few lists like this out there.  Mine’s going to be a little different in that I’ve divided it into six “areas of interest”, i.e.: “if you’re interested in Topic X, I’d recommend these sessions”.

Areas of interest are offered in the order I thought of them, with the exception that the last area is a sort of “catch-all”.  Sessions are listed in alphabetical order by Session ID.  You should be able to copy and paste the Session ID into the VMworld Schedule Builder to get more info and register for that session (you’ll need to be signed in to the site).

Desktop Virtualization

Whether you’ve already virtualized every one of your organization’s desktops, or are planning a future VMware View project, you’ll likely enjoy these sessions:

• BCO2479 – Understanding VMware vSphere Stretched Clusters, Disaster Recovery, and Planned Workload Mobility
• EUC1226 – Troubleshooting VMware ThinApp Applications
• EUC1683 – Lessons Learned Deploying and Managing 3,000 Virtual Desktops
• EUC1543 – Deploying VMware View Across the LAN and WAN: Real-World Experiences and Tips
• EUC1656 – Modernize the Desktop for Better Patient Care
• EUC1987 – VMware View PC-over-IP Performance and Best Practices
• EUC2054 – Uplevel Your VMware View: Security and Compliance for a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Deployment
• EUC2103 – Storage Tips and Best Practices for VMware View Desktop DeploymentsEUC2866 – View Troubleshooting: Looking Under the Hood
• EUC2400 – Your Journey Starts Here: Pragmatic Steps for Desktop Virtualization Success
• EUC2692 – Rethinking Storage for Virtual Desktops
• EUC2846 – View Enterprise Architecture Design and Implementation Best Practices
• EUC2866 – View Troubleshooting: Looking Under the Hood
• EUC2904 – Optimizing the Network for VMware View
• EUC3163 – VMware View Performance and Best Practices
• EUC3865 – Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices for VMware View Success: Learning from Customer Support
• LAS4012 – EMC Partner Hands-on Lab Design, Development, and Implementation
• SPO3978 – EMC IT: How We Accelerated Our Journey to the Cloud
• SUP1006 – Accelerate the Journey to Your Cloud
• VSP1425 – Ask the Expert vBloggers
• VSP1926 – Getting Started with VMware vSphere Design

Virtualizing Mission-Critical Applications

Whether you’ve already got a 100% virtual datacenter, or are just getting started on bringing the benefits of virtualization to your applications, you’ll likely find the following sessions helpful:

• BCA1230 – Enterprise Java Applications and Virtualization: Best Practices
• BCA1548 – Oracle on VMware Panel Discussion
• BCA1709 – Successfully Running Active Directory in a Virtualized Environment
• BCA1902 – Design, Deploy, and Optimize Exchange 2010 on vSphere
• BCA1931 – Design, Deploy, and Optimize SharePoint 2010 on vSphere
• BCA1950 – Production-Proven Methods of Running Enterprise Java on vSphere
• BCA1985 – Oracle Database Best Practices on vSphere
• BCA1995 – Design, Deploy, and Optimize SQL Server on VMware ESX 5
• BCA2096 – Deploying an Integrated SAP and VMware Stack – Best Practices
• BCA2320 – VMware vSphere 5: Best Practices for Oracle RAC Virtualization
• BCA2817 – Designing vSphere Platforms for Maximum Tier 1 Application Performance
• BCA3288 – Virtualizing Demanding Applications
• BCO2479 – Understanding VMware vSphere Stretched Clusters, Disaster Recovery, and Planned Workload Mobility
• CAP2471 – A Customer Scenario for Next-Generation Data Management with vFabric
• CAP3362 – Big Compute and Big (NoSQL) Data Panel
• CIM2342 – Building a Real-Life High-Performance Financial Services Cloud
• LAS4012 – EMC Partner Hands-on Lab Design, Development, and Implementation
• SPO3977 – Next-Generation Storage and Backup for Your Cloud
• SPO3978 – EMC IT: How We Accelerated Our Journey to the Cloud
• SUP1006 – Accelerate the Journey to Your Cloud
• VSP1425 – Ask the Expert vBloggers
• VSP1926 – Getting Started with VMware vSphere Design

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

However you decide to approach it — Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Disaster Avoidance, Stretched Clusters — it’s all about the same thing: maximizing uptime.  If application availability is one of your highest priorities, you’ll find these sessions useful:

• BCO2479 – Understanding VMware vSphere Stretched Clusters, Disaster Recovery, and Planned Workload Mobility
• BCO2874 – vSphere High Availability 5.0 and SMP Fault Tolerance – Technical Overview and Roadmap
• BCO3334 – Site Recovery Manager Future Product Directions: Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery
• BCO3420 – Avoiding the 16 Biggest High-Availability and Distributed Resource Scheduler Configuration Mistakes
• CAP2471 – A Customer Scenario for Next-Generation Data Management with vFabric
• LAS4012 – Designing and Building a Real-World Lab Environment for the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution
• LAS4014 – EMC Partner Hands-on Lab Design, Development, and Implementation
• SPO3977 – Next-Generation Storage and Backup for Your Cloud
• SPO3978 – EMC IT: How We Accelerated Our Journey to the Cloud
• SUP1006 – Accelerate the Journey to Your Cloud
• VSP1425 – Ask the Expert vBloggers
• VSP1926 – Getting Started with VMware vSphere Design

Hybrid Cloud/Service Providers

Whether you’re a Cloud Service Provider, thinking about purchasing services from a Provider, or looking to build your own Hybrid Cloud, these sessions should be of interest to you:

• BCO2479 – Understanding VMware vSphere Stretched Clusters, Disaster Recovery, and Planned Workload Mobility
• BCO3334 – Site Recovery Manager Future Product Directions: Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery
• BCO3336 – Disaster Recovery to the Cloud: Service Provider Perspective
• CAP2471 – A Customer Scenario for Next-Generation Data Management with vFabric
• CIM1264 – Private VMware vCloud Architecture Technical Deep Dive
• CIM1600 – VMware  vCloud Networking Finally Explained
• CIM2231 – Making Sense of VMware vShield and VMware vCloud for the Average System Administrator
• CIM2342 – Building a Real-Life High-Performance Financial Services Cloud
• CIM2363 – Building an Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Dummies: 10 Steps (or Less)
• CIM2520 – IT as a Service: Leveraging Private, Public, and Hybrid Clouds in Higher Education
• CIM2561 – Stuck Between Stations: From Traditional Datacenter to Internal Cloud
• CIM2916 – What’s New in VMware vCloud Director
• LAS4010 – Hybrid Cloud for Infrastructure
• LAS4014 – EMC Partner Hands-on Lab Design, Development, and Implementation
• SPO3977 – Next-Generation Storage and Backup for Your Cloud
• SPO3978 – EMC IT: How We Accelerated Our Journey to the Cloud
• SUP1006 – Accelerate the Journey to Your Cloud
• VSP1425 – Ask the Expert vBloggers
• VSP1926 – Getting Started with VMware vSphere Design
• VSP2296 – What Everybody Ought to Know About Reporting the VMware vSphere Environment with PowerCLI

Trust, Security, and Compliance

The move to cloud computing creates new opportunities for security – and new threats.  Done right, virtualized environments can be more secure than physical ones.  Done poorly, cloud environments can be a security nightmare.  If security and compliance are among your top priorities, these sessions will be of interest to you:

• BCO2479 – Understanding VMware vSphere Stretched Clusters, Disaster Recovery, and Planned Workload Mobility
• CIM2231 – Making Sense of VMware vShield and VMware vCloud for the Average System Administrator
• CIM2342 – Building a Real-Life High-Performance Financial Services Cloud
• SEC1236 – Penetration Testing the Cloud
• SEC1544 – Compliance and Trust in the Cloud
• SEC1802 – Legal and Risk Landscape of Cloud Computing
• SEC1980 – Department of Defense Reference Architecture Using VMware vShield
• SEC2162 – Achieving a Trusted Cloud
• SEC4608 – Journey to Your Cloud: Governance and Compliance in Your Cloud
• SPO3977 – Next-Generation Storage and Backup for Your Cloud
• SPO3978 – EMC IT: How We Accelerated Our Journey to the Cloud
• SUP1006 – Accelerate the Journey to Your Cloud
• VSP1425 – Ask the Expert vBloggers
• VSP1926 – Getting Started with VMware vSphere Design

vSphere 5 Essentials

Whether you’re brand-new to virtualization, or a seasoned hand with VMware, one thing is true: VMware vSphere 5 brings a lot of new features.  If you’re looking to get caught up on vSphere 5, these sessions should help get you up to speed:

• BCA2320 – VMware vSphere 5: Best Practices for Oracle RAC Virtualization
• BCO2479 – Understanding VMware vSphere Stretched Clusters, Disaster Recovery, and Planned Workload Mobility
• CAP2471 – A Customer Scenario for Next-Generation Data Management with vFabric
• LAS4002 – VMworld Labs Using Auto Deploy with Stateless ESXi
• SPO3977 – Next-Generation Storage and Backup for Your Cloud
• SPO3978 – EMC IT: How We Accelerated Our Journey to the Cloud
• SUP1006 – Accelerate the Journey to Your Cloud
• VSP1425 – Ask the Expert vBloggers
• VSP1700 – VMware vSphere 5.0 Storage Features
• VSP1823 – VMware Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler
• VSP1926 – Getting Started with VMware vSphere Design
• VSP1956 – The VMware ESXi Quiz Show
• VSP2122 – VMware vMotion in VMware vSPhere 5.0: Architecture, Performance, and Benefits
• VSP2227 – VMware vCenter Database Architecture, Performance, and Troubleshooting
• VSP2296 – What Everybody Ought to Know About Reporting the VMware vSphere Environment with PowerCLI
• VSP2347 – What’s New with VMware vSphere 5.0
• VSP2360 – VMware vCenter 5.0: What’s New, What’s Cool
• VSP2365 – Overview of VMware ESXi 5.0: Core Concepts, New Features, and Benefits
• VSP2376 – Performance and Scalability Enhancements in VMware vStorage VMFS 5
• VSP2884 – What’s New in Performance for VMware vSphere 5.0
• VSP2894 – Virtual Distributed Switch Best Practices
• VSP3116 – VMware vSphere 5.0 Resource Management Deep Dive
• VSP3205 – Technology Overview: VMware vStorage APIs for Virtual Machine and Application Granular Data Management
• VSP3255 – VMware Storage vMotion Deep Dive and Best Practices
• VSP3307 – Deployment Considerations for ESXi 5.0
• VSP3863 – VMware ESXi Readiness and What’s New with VMware vSphere
• VSP3864 – Best Practices for Virtual Networking
• VSP3866 – Performance Best Practices and Troubleshooting
• VSP3867 – Top 10 Virtualization Support Issues
• VSP3868 – VMware vStorage Best Practices

Hope That Helps

I hope this helps you navigate session selection at VMworld.  I know I’ve missed some good session on the list — these are just my personal thoughts.

What sessions are you looking forward to the most?  Let me (and my readers) know in the comments.