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VMware by Broadcom

January 15, 2024 /

As we start 2024, there is a lot of changes that have taken place since December 2023. Let’s try to break it down.

It’s done, the acquisition is finalised and VMware is now part of Broadcom. Now VMware will be known and referred as VMware by Broadcom. Websites, email addresses and all branding are starting to change. What a way to end/start the year! 

Lot’s of changes are being done and at lightening speed. Let’s jump into these changes.

All VMware partners existing contracts will be terminated and “some” will be invited to the new partner program. Perpetual licenses will end and no longer available to sell to clients. It will be only subscription going forward. Licensing has been simplified, we will have mainly two suites to work from VCF & VVF. Carbon Black will become a separate unit and not part of VMware. EUC will be excluded as well.

Let’s briefly look at VCF & VVF (VMware Cloud Foundation & VMware vSphere Foundation)

vSphere Foundation is focused on providing essential virtualisation capabilities for smaller environments, while VMware Cloud Foundation is a more comprehensive solution designed for building and managing cloud infrastructure at scale, including private and hybrid clouds. 

  • VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF):
    • Reason: vSphere Foundation is a bundle of VMware vSphere products designed for small businesses and organisations looking to start with virtualisation or currently have virtualisation.
    • Products: It typically includes the foundation of virtualisations platform and comprises the following

                      vSphere Enterprise Plus

          vCenter Server Standard

          vSphere with Tanzu

          Aria Suite Standard

          vSAN Enterprise

  • Size: This offering is suitable for smaller environments and may not include advanced features found in higher-tier vSphere editions.
  • VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF):
    • Reason: VMware Cloud Foundation is a comprehensive integrated software stack that provides a complete cloud infrastructure platform for both private and hybrid clouds.
    • Products: VCF includes vSphere (compute virtualisation), vSAN (software-defined storage), NSX (network virtualisation), and the SDDC Manager (a unified management interface for deploying and managing the components).
    • Integration: It is designed to simplify the deployment, management, and scaling of a software-defined data centre (SDDC) by integrating compute, storage, networking, and cloud management components.
    • Use Cases: VCF is often used for building private clouds, hybrid clouds, and as a foundation for VMware Cloud service

VMware Explore Build Up

November 24, 2023 /

So this year is my first VMware Explore since the change from VMworld. It’s bitter sweet, as VMworld was the conference to always represent the largest virtualisation conference and always associated with VMware. Change can be good at times, they say. It’s really exciting to get to travel and meet friends from around the globe, last we all connected was in 2019, my last in-person conference. Then was the virtual conferences that was cool to a certain extent, as we all did miss the human interaction and socialising. 

So, the day has arrived, and I make my way to Barcelona from South Africa. Its a long trip, but was really looking forward to the event. I was expecting some big news, especially with the acquisition for VMware by Broadcom. 

As we kicked of the General Session, we had a short message from the CEO of Broadcom and not much could be mentioned as there was a hold up on the finalisation of the acquisition. We still had a great keynote from VMware Execs and including some clients.

Every Keynote, keeps you on the edge pf your seat as you get to see why VMware is one of the great technology companies that are out there and why clients globally trust them.

Taking a Cloud-Smart Approach to Harness the Power of Generative AI

https://www.vmware.com/explore/video-library/video-landing.html?sessionid=1688163522492001luxB&videoId=6340669054112

It was really great to meet the vExpert team Corey & Eric was at the conference and was pleased to hear that Broadcom understands the value of the vExpert community and that they will be still keeping the program active and Corey will still be the captain of this amazing vessel.

So enjoy watching the on demand recordings from VMware Explore and lets see if this was the last of VMware Explore as a new chapter will begin with Broadcom for 2024.

VMware Flings a wonderful world of innovation from Techies

August 17, 2023 /

What are VMware Flings?

VMware Flings are essentially free, experimental tools and applications created by VMware engineers. Think of them as side projects that the techies at VMware create and share with the community. These tools may not be officially supported, but they sure do add some cool value to the virtualisation area.

What makes VMware Flings so amazing?

1. Unlock Innovation:

These tools often provide a sneak peek into potential future features, giving you a glimpse of what could be coming down the pipeline in the world of VMware.

2. Collaboration with the Community:

Users are encouraged to provide feedback, share ideas, and even contribute to the development of these tools.

3. Surprise and Delight:

You never know what you might find in the world of VMware Flings. From handy utilities that simplify complex tasks to mind-bending visualisations that make data exploration a joy, each Fling is a delightful surprise waiting to be unwrapped.

Top Picks

Let’s explore VMware Flings, here are a few gems:

1. VMware Horizon Toolbox:

Horizon administrators will love this Fling, because it provides a range of tools to enhance your virtual desktop infrastructure management experience.

2. vSphere HTML5 Web Client:

It so 2000…the Flash-based web client…This Fling introduces a HTML5 interface for you to manage your vSphere environment, making your virtualisation tasks more enjoyable.

3. Workspace ONE UEM Workload Migration Tool:

Transition to Workspace ONE UEM by using this Fling to migrate your existing applications from traditional ConfigMgr deployments.

Get Started

Here’s how you can get started:

  • Visit the VMware Flings Website: VMware Flings
  • Choose Your Fling & Download: HCI Bench
  • Share your experience: On any Social Platforms

VMware Flings are tools that showcase the experience and passion of VMware Engineers and working with the community.  So, if you’re ready to jump into your virtualisation journey, dive into the world of VMware Flings.

VMware Explore 2023 approaching soon! 

June 16, 2023 /

VMware Explore 2023 is a must for anyone keen about virtualisation, cloud computing, and the future of technology. This conference will bring innovation, networking opportunities, and the latest trends in the world of technology.You will benefit from learning experiences to amazing networking opportunities to name a few of the reasons you should make your way to VMware Explore 2023 

So Why Attend:

  • VMware Explore 2023 will deliver  the latest in technology and thought provoking ideas, which will include inspiring keynotes to live demos as well as the ability to meet the experts themselves. You can expect a great line up of keynote speakers that share a glimpse in to the direction our industry is heading too that helps you to get ready for the change based on their insights, experiences and visions of the future. It’s the perfect event for you to get yourself in the latest trends and advancements in virtualisation, multi-cloud, and software-defined infrastructure. This opportunity will allow you to stay ahead of the curve and be part of shaping the future of IT, by gaining a deeper understanding of emerging technologies, such as multi—cloud, virtualisation, cybersecurity, and more. 
  • The event has loads of fun and entertainment to help keep your mind relaxed and unwind in between all the great breakout session and some hands on labs. From engaging activities, entertainment zones, and social gatherings, and hanging out at the exhibition centre. There are many social gatherings by some of the sponsors and a huge party for attendees. Food, Drinks and Good Music to celebrate another great conference and reflect. After all, making new friends and having a memorable experience is an essential part of any conference.
  • There is an amazing community within the VMware network, you’ll join a supportive community of IT professionals who share your passion for technology. Attend community meet-ups, and take part in forums where you can share ideas and collaborate with like-minded individuals. Within this community you can benefit from learning, mentorship, and professional growth. By getting involved in this amazing and unique community, you’ll gain valuable insights and build strong connections.

Hopefully you will make it to attend the Las Vegas or Barcelona event!

VMware Multi-Cloud Briefing…The Next Chapter December 2022

December 2, 2022 /

On the 5th of December, VMware will be be showcasing their next chapter with their Multi-Cloud Briefing, come and join me online to get some great insights and tech previews. What’s even more special for me is that we will have a South African, Johan Marais from Discovery, that will share his customer success story, using VMware products in their environment.

The new VMware Aria portfolio will be on showcase during this session. You will get to understand how this portfolio will be able to help organisations to optimise costs, performance and configurations across public clouds.

Key VMware leaders will be on the session, as well as the President of VMware, Sumit Dhawant to Purnima Padmaanbhan to name a few. 

So get this session into your dairy and enjoy the 25 minutes of exciting information and great tech preview of:

VMware Aria Hub and Graph

There is Free Tier to get started with your multi-cloud management solutions

VMware Cross-Cloud Services

Build, Run, Manage and secure applications across multiple clouds.

You can find this briefing and the entire series on VMware YouTube channel

HPE Micro Server – VMware Home Lab

January 25, 2022 /

Happy New Year!!!

What a way to start the new year with some new toys 😊. 

Recently a distributor in South Africa had an auction on some HPE infrastructure that they had on-hand and needed the hardware to be sold and out of their inventory. I took advantage of this and decided to bid. I’ve really struck a few good deal and managed to build myself a decent home lab. My home lab will be nested but having 64GB RAM and few TB storage every thing is running smoothly.

I’m currently running vSphere 7 and vSAN with vRealize with the plan on bring in NSX. This is purely for me to get familiar with the interface and test functionality. 

I also used these homes labs to prep for client engagements as well as preparing for exams.

I did consider going for the Intel NUC for my lab…but I got a great deal on the HPE Micro Server.

I will share the lab setup and build to get a vanilla vSphere environment operational for anyone wanting to get the basics done. As in my earlier posts, you can use VMware Hands On Labs to have great look and feel of VMware products in their portfolio.

https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/PSN1012241014USEN.pdf

VMware Tanzu Community Edition

October 26, 2021 /

“We are still in the early stages of our Kubernetes adoption, which means we are doing a lot of experimenting and learning about what it can do and how to use it. Tanzu Community Edition is making it very easy and cost effective for us to do that. As a developer, I especially like that I can use it on my local workstation. It has allowed us to use our local workstations to integrate Tanzu into our development flow in a way that will match the production workflows in our commercially supported Tanzu environment.”

Source : VMware

 VMware Tanzu Community Edition is a freely available, community-supported, open source distribution of VMware Tanzu. You can install and configure on your local machine or cloud platform. Now you easily access an easy to manage Kubernetes platform on your local machine.

Source : VMware

The world has started the shift to cloud native infrastructure with  Kubernetes as the centre. VMware provides Tanzu, which developers need to understand and with that Tanzu Community Edition helps the developer to get a start with the huge infrastructure backing. To build a k8s environment from scratch with open source software and be challenging and VMware has help us to get started faster with an enterprise grade k8s platform.

If you are not ready to install the platform, there is a hosted sandbox environment to use as well. All of this is free.

Cloud Camp by VMware

September 27, 2021 /

You want to start your cloud journey? Well you are in the right place Cloud Camp by VMware I Cloud Camp by VMware is 100% free! Cloud Camp by VMware has subject matter experts that lead these short lessons.

Source : VMware

So what’s covered?

  • VMware Cloud on AWS
  • Azure VMware Solution
  • Google Cloud VMware Engine
  • Oracle Cloud VMware Solution

So what are the topics?

  • Deployment
  • Connectivity
  • Migration
  • Operations
  • Automation

So Who is this for?

  • Beginner
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced

You need to register and create an account, this will be helpful of you track what you have completed and come back to see for any updates on the portal.

Enjoy!

AWS Certification Journey

July 17, 2021 /

As we have reached halfway through the year, I decided to look into building up my skills with other cloud vendors. This blog is around AWS. With hyper scalers growing ever so fast and the adoption of public cloud, it was time to learn and get certified to demonstrate my skills.

With VMware on AWS being a great offering for clients to achieve a Hybrid Cloud and being able to leverage the AWS services from the same look at feel of VMware, it was apparent that I start with my AWS Certification journey.

What tracks are out there and where to start.

Source : AWS

Training is available, on AWS partner portal, training centres or digitally via amazon.com.

Skills Builder is the platform partners to gain the knowledge and skills required to get a better understanding of AWS and its offerings.

Source : AWS

My aim to achieve the AWS Solutions Architect Professional Certification. I’ve used Skills Builder to start my journey for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification. Other resources to be used are:

  • Pluralsight
  • Udemy
  • Whizlabs

Guys, also have a look at Twitch for some great sessions for exam prep with AWS Subject Matter Experts.

All the best…if you need more information of help, reach out to me on Twitter @envorp 

VMware EMPOWER Online 2021 – On-Demand

June 29, 2021 /
Source : VMware

All the exciting content and sessions are available from the May events. Over 150 technical, sales and marketing sessions covering solution areas.

Source : VMware

Below are the areas to see the sessions related that are informative:

General Session, Break Out Sessions, LiveFire Sessions & Hands on Labs are available.

Don’t forget to use your Exam voucher to get certified. I’ve used the recordings and the event to network and learn from peers for my preparation for the VCAP-NSX Design exam.

The LiveFire sessions was of great value and using VMware Validated Designs.

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