What a year 2019 was. But now it’s past and good riddance.
Not all of 2019 was bad, but — for me at least — it was a hard year as can be evidenced by the frighteningly low number of new posts I made during the year. Everything is starting into an upswing now, so this post is part of just putting the year behind me and moving on into 2020.
So, with that in mind, I give you a list of my ten most-read posts during 2019. Continue reading
During the past couple years, the good folks over at Gestalt IT have been working to find more ways to make sure that the Tech Field Day delegates feel that their time has been valued and put to good use. One of the ways they’ve been doing that is to use some of the down time to record podcasts.
At one of the Storage Field Days I attended, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to sit on a podcast panel to discuss “abandonware” — especially in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT).
What’s abandonware? It’s what happens when you have a networked device that still works, but is no longer supported by its manufacturer — or worse, whose manufacturer has gone out of business. Lack of support for the device means no more software updates, which means no security patches. Unpatched devices on your network leave your network vulnerable. Continue reading
It’s that time of year again when you’re seeing lots of “Vote for Me!” blog posts and tweets. This is not one of those posts.
Yes, once again, Eric Seibert is running voting for the Top vBlog of 2017 on his really great blog vSphere-Land. (If it’s not already in whatever you’ve moved to since Google Reader went away, take a moment to add it now. I’ll wait.) Again this year, Turbonomic is helping to sponsor the voting.
So, no, I’m not going to ask you to rush over there and vote for me. I am, however going to ask you to go there sometime before voting closes on 30 June 2017 and vote for the blogs (you can choose 12 of them) that you find to be:
In the Big Scheme of ThingsTM, does being voted on of the Top vBlogs of 2017 really matter? No. No, it doesn’t.
However, I know that your favorite bloggers will definitely appreciate seeing their blog rise up a little higher in the rankings. I know that a lot of folks out there put a lot of time and effort into their postings — almost all of it during their “free” time — and almost all of them aren’t making any money off of their blogs. (Full Disclosure: From sponsorship, this blog earned slightly more than enough money to cover my hosting fees in 2016, netting approximately $16 USD for the entire year.
So thank them by taking the time to vote for the folks you read and are informed by, whoever they are — I know they’ll appreciate it. (Don’t get me wrong — if you’re having trouble thinking of who to give your 12th vote to, I’ll happily take it, but it won’t bother me in the least if you don’t vote for me at all, as long as you took the time to vote for folks you believe deserve the recognition.)
You can read up on the voting and cast your vote here.
As you likely saw, earlier this week, NetApp announced the official kick-off of their 2017 NetApp United influencer program, welcoming 111 members.
While 111 members gives us a little idea of what the 2017 NetApp United looks like, I thought it was worth taking a closer look.
So, as I’ve done in the past for the EMC Elect program, I’ve taken a look at the information that’s available to see what other insights we could gain into the new program.
In addition to the numbers themselves, I’ve created some graphics to help visualize what the numbers tell us. You’ll find them below. Continue reading
NetApp has announced the first members of their new community recognition program, called NetApp United. I’m proud to announce that I’m one of those 111 people.
What makes a good candidate for the NetApp United program? According to the application announcement, NetApp was looking for technology enthusiasts who:
My own NetApp experience dates back to 1993, when I installed several of the first Network Appliance “file toasters” to be purchased in the New England area. Back then the NetApp boxes were often replacing larger and more expensive Auspex NAS devices (although we hadn’t yet started using the term “NAS” at that point). Never heard of Auspex? NetApp is a lot of the reason for that…
More recently, in my last job I got quite familiar with Solidfire‘s scale-out all-Flash arrays. Solidfire joined the NetApp family through acquisition.
I look forward to meeting my fellow NetApp United members and seeing back this program brings in the coming year.
You can see the full list of the 2017 NetApp United members on NetApp’s announcement of the program’s launch.
Yesterday, VMware announced their list of 2017 vExperts. The vExpert program is VMware’s way of recognizing those people who have made valuable contributions to the overall VMware and virtualization community.
The program was started several years ago as a way of extending appreciation and recognition to those folks who were going above and beyond their job descriptions in finding ways to share knowledge and contribute to the community.
To quote VMware:
Each of these vExperts have demonstrated significant contributions to the community and a willingness to share their expertise with others. Contributing is not always blogging or Twitter as there are many public speakers, book authors, CloudCred task writing, script writers, VMUG leaders, VMTN community moderators and internal champions among this group.
…a “vExpert” is not a technical certification or even a general measure of VMware expertise. The judges selected people who were particularly engaged with their community and who had developed a substantial personal platform of influence in those communities.
I feel simultaneously pleased and honored to be included among those selected as a 2017 vExpert. This is my sixth year in a row receiving this designation. It’s been great to be part of this active community of knowledgeable people who are motivated by sharing that knowledge with others.
Congratulations and thanks to all the returning vExperts, and a special congratulations to the first-time vExperts out there. Keep up the good work.
You can see the full list of VMware’s 2017 vExperts in the official announcement.
Today, Cisco started sending out “Welcome” emails to folks they’ve named as Cisco Champions for 2017.
The Cisco Champions program is a community recognition program. It’s intended to recognize people who are making valuable contributions to the IT community through knowledge sharing. Unlike some other similar programs, Cisco’s own employees are not eligible to be Champions.
What makes a Champion? To quote Cisco:
Cisco Champions is a global group of highly influential IT technical experts who enjoy sharing their knowledge, expertise, and thoughts across the social web and with Cisco. The Cisco Champions program encompasses people with interests across Cisco’s technology portfolio, including Data Center, IoT, Enterprise Networks, Collaboration, and Security.
I’m honored to add that I received my own 2107 “Welcome” email earlier today, naming me a Cisco Champion for Data Center for the fourth year in a row. It’s been both humbling and helpful to be part of this community. Often, seeing how much the other members contribute has been the motivation for me to sit down and do the work to convert an idea into an actual blog post.
I’m proud to be part of this community, and look forward to meeting other Champions at event.
I had the honor (and fun) of being the guest on the most recent episode of the Geek Whisperers podcast (Episode 129).
I know this will cause my long-time readers to immediately ask two questions:
I’ll attempt to answer these questions as best I can. Continue reading
My 10 November #CaptionThisThursday Tweet was this:
#CaptionThisThursday #CTT
Caption This: pic.twitter.com/VwFyCAbORt— Dave Henry (@davemhenry) November 10, 2016
The best responses (as judged by me) are below. Continue reading
My 3 November #CaptionThisThursday Tweet was this:
Caption this.#CsptionThisThursday #CTT pic.twitter.com/7Xx0j2WSAx
— Dave Henry (@davemhenry) November 3, 2016
The best responses (as judged by me) are below. Continue reading
