Recruiting Collaborators for Social Media Experiment #2

I have lots of opinions about Social Media (OK — to be fair, I have lots of opinions about almost everything…), but among them are:

  1. It’s still new — so new that no one gets to call themselves an expert at it.
  2. If we forget the “social” aspect of Social Media, we’re doing it wrong.
  3. The fastest (and best) way to find out what works with Social Media is to keep trying new stuff.

That said, back in February I organized something that I called Social Media Experiment #1: TBaaS.  It was fun for all who participated and the most harm it caused was confusing a few folks.

As a self-proclaimed Social Media Mad Scientist, I can’t simply stop at only one experiment.

Here’s where you come in.  The particular thing I have in mind will require multiple participants to succeed.  Social Media Experiment #1 would have been successful with 20 collaborators, but I was fortunate enough to have over 70.

If you’d like to play and collaborate on Social Media Experiment #2, here’s what you need to know:

  • You’ll need a Twitter account.
  • The experiment itself will occur sometime anywhere from 7 to 30 days from now.
  • Specific instructions will be emailed to collaborators anywhere from 12 to 24 hours before “go time”.
  • Email will be sent using Bcc: and I won’t use your address for any other purpose.
  • This will be some harmless fun.

Interested?  Click here to get added to my list of Collaborators.  Come have some fun with us!

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VMware Announces Updates to View and Horizon Application Manager

[NOTE: The information in this post was provided to me by VMware in a pre-announcement briefing and was under embargo until 8:01 EDT 2 May 2012.]

Today, 2 May 2012, VMware is announcing new advanced features in their End-User Computing solution set.  These features come to us in the form of VMware View version 5.1 and VMware Horizon Application Manager version 1.5, both of which should be GA by the end of May.

Here’s what you’ll see in the new versions:

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May EMC Solutions for VMware Webcasts

I may have a new job, but I’ll be staying on as the Community Manager for the Everything VMware at EMC site. It’s great to get to continue working with both the EMC VMware Affinity Team and the EMC Community Network Team in my new role.

Since I’m in the Community Manager role, I thought I should point out that the EMC Solutions for VMware webcast series continues, bringing you a new topic every Thursday.

One of the great things about this series is that every webcast is recorded and then made available for on-demand viewing. As such, you may find it worth your while to register for a webcast you’re interested in even if you can’t attend it live. Folks who register will get email with a link to the recording as soon as it’s posted.

The webcasts run on Thursdays at 8:00 PDT, 11:00EDT, 15:00 UTC. The topics for May, there brief descriptions, and links to register for the webcasts are listed below:

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Two New Things (with More to Follow Soon)

Let’s call this a State of the Geek update…

There are two recent new things in my life worth mentioning.

Thing One: VMware vExpert 2012

VMware vExpert 2012I recently learned that I am one of 437 people who were awarded the VMware vExpert title for 2012.

The vExpert program is something that VMware started in 2009 as a way of recognizing folks who went above and beyond their job description to in some way benefit the VMware community at large.  This program is not like the VMware certifications.  There’s no vExpert test you can take.  The award recognizes things you’ve done, written, presented, podcasted, blogged, etc.

This is my first year receiving the award.  Reading through the list of recipients, I’m honored and humbled to be counted amongst such company.

Thing Two: A New Job

AccunetAfter seven years with EMC, I have accepted the position of Virtualization Practice Lead at Accunet Solutions.

Accunet Solutions offers a wide range of data center solutions: storage, networking, security, backup and recovery, disaster recovery and business continuity, and virtualization.  They’re the largest reseller of Isilon storage and a top EMC partner/reseller.  They’re also a VMware partner.  I’ll continue spending most of my time in the EMC/VMware space.

I’ll be wearing many hats at Accunet, among them Sales Engineer, Architect, Social Media Guy, and Marketing, but my chief responsibility is developing and taking the lead in Accunet’s growing Virtualization Practice.

This is the right move at the right time for me.  I’m excited about the new opportunities the new position will bring.  The future’s looking very bright.

More to Follow?

Yes, more things are coming, and soon.  I’ll fill you in on details as they solidify.

In the meantime, I’ll give you the heads-up that I’ll be putting in appearances at the Bio IT World conference in Boston next week and at EMC World in Las Vegas in May.

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What Will VAAI v2 Do for You? Part 2 of 2: NFS

This post is the second of two describing the features of the VMware vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) version 2 as it works with vSphere 5.  If you missed the first part, you can read it here: What Will VAAI v2 Do for You? Part 1 of 2: Block

Part 1 Review

My earlier posting covered the five features for block storage available in VAAI v2:

  • Hardware-Assisted Copy
  • Hardware-Assisted Zero
  • Hardware-Assisted Locking
  • Thin Provisioning Stun
  • Thin Provisioning Block Reclamation

 VAAI v2 for NFS Storage

Probably the biggest and most-anticipated aspect of VAAI v2 was the the addition of advanced features for NFS datastores.  VAAI v2 includes three features for NFS:

  • NFS File Cloning
  • NFS Extended Stats
  • NFS Reserve Space

I’ll cover each of them in detail below.

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What Will VAAI v2 Do for You? Part 1 of 2: Block

Recently, someone pointed out to me that it was high time for me to write a follow-up to my “What Will VAAI Do for You?” posting.  Written shortly after the launch of VMware vSphere 4.1, it is my most-read post on the Everything VMware at EMC Community.

Since I wrote it, though, VMware has released vSphere 5, which (among a slew of other great features) includes version 2 of VAAI, now called the vSphere Storage API for Array Integration.  (You’re not mistaken: they’ve added a word to the name but kept the acronym the same — the acronym has achieved wide-spread common usage and changing it would only cause confusion.)

VAAI allows ESXi servers that use VAAI-enabled storage to work more effectively with storage.  In most cases this means offloading storage-related tasks from the server to the array, but there’s more to it than just that, as I’ll explain in this posting. Continue reading

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DIM Project: Smartphone Dashboard Mount

I’m currently involved in a large-ish DIM project that was taking up my driveway, is currently taking up my deck, and will, when finished, occupy space in the backyard.  I plan to write that one up when it’s complete (I hope to finish it this week), but I figured that GeekFluent’s first DIM Project posting ought to be something simpler, and something you could do today with things you might already have handy.

This project was inspired by an article I read on LifeHacker on one of the many, many uses for binder clips — a dashboard mount for a smartphone.  Turns out it was even easier to make than reading the instructions implied (and the instructions made it seem pretty easy).  I made this a few months ago and it’s been an incredible convenience ever since.

Since making this, I don’t ever fumble for the phone while I’m driving.  If the phone rings, I only need a quick glance to see who’s calling, and with my Bluetooth headset, it only takes me one touch to answer.  If I need directions, I can use my phone’s Navigation software without blocking any of my view through the windshield.

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Gear Review: Cocoon GRID-IT Organizers

[Disclaimer: This is an unsolicited review for a product I purchased.  I have received nothing for writing it.  The manufacturer isn’t even aware that I’m writing it.]

I’m a firm believer in being prepared — so much so that I tend to carry a lot of stuff with me on a daily basis.  Friends and co-workers often make fun of me for it, and particularly for the weight of the backpack that I bring to the office and to events.  Of course, when I’m able to produce the item we need, they back off a little bit.

The point of having everything with you is to be able to find the exact thing you need as quickly as possible.  In service of this, I’m always looking for new and better ways to organize the things I carry.

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Social Media Experiment #1: TBaaS

I would have to say that two distinctly different things in me came together to bring about this particular experiment.

First, I continue to maintain that social media is still brand-new.  That means that nobody gets to call themselves an “expert” at it.  That means that nobody can actually offer “best practices”, merely “here’s some stuff that’s working”.  That also means that no one’s really figured out the limits of social media…

Second, I tend to look at things — systems mostly — from a point-of-view that’s a little different than many other folks’.  I can’t see a system without thinking, “Hmm, where could I push this — with the least amount of force possible — to make this fall over?”  Sometimes, I think I got this viewpoint from the work I used to do as a security consultant, but, quite frankly, I think it’s more likely that I was good as a security consultant because I have this viewpoint…

Add these two elements together, and it’s only natural that I enjoy playing with the boundaries of social media.  That brings us to Social Media Experiment #1: TBaaS…

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EMC VFCache (Project Lightning) in a VMware Environment

[UPDATE: 4 September 2012: This post refers to VFCache at the time of launch and is outdated now that EMC has released VFCache 1.5. You can read my post about that release here.]

Today, EMC announced their much-anticipated server-side Flash product, Project Lightning, under its official name, VFCache.

Lots of folks are writing about VFCache and all the amazing performance-enhancing results it produces.  Some are doing deep dives into how it works.  Since there are plenty of places to get all that information (there are five VFCache white papers on the EMC company site), I don’t see any reason to cover that same territory in detail here.  Instead, after a brief overview of VFCache, I’ll be discussing how it works in a VMware environment.

Full Disclosure: In my position as an EMC employee I’ve had access to VFCache information in advance of today’s launch.  I also have access to roadmap information about planned future enhancements and expansions.  Under my agreements with EMC, I am not in a position to discuss VFCache futures.  I will restrict my commentary to VFCache capabilities “at launch”.

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