Virtual_JTW

I don't normally post newsie type items or just links to other sites but I'm making somewhat of an exception in this case since I've written articles related to this topic before. Duncan Epping has posted an unofficial best practices for virtualizing vCenter instances running in a vSphere environment. Serious VI admins should be reading his blog on a regular basis already - highly recommended!

Check it out at http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/10/09/best-practices-running-vcenter-virtual-vsphere/

VMworld must be my destiny! Let me explain...

I've been to every VMworld since the first was held in 2004. I really thought this was the first year I was going to miss the conference. The odds just weren't in my favor: the economy busted right around last year's VMworld and since then my employer has entered Chapter 11 (but should come back out of it relatively quickly) and I can't afford to cover the costs myself. I tried to reassure myself by remembering the last conference held in San Francisco was my least favorite thus far (which didn't really work anyway).

Then in March, my local VMware Systems Engineer, Dave, asked if I wanted to present my Site Recovery Manager (SRM) experience at this year's conference. My first reaction was not only "no", but "hell no". After a little more thought, I quickly changed my mind. I think SRM is a great product that isn't getting the attention it deserves. I'm also proud of what our little team has accomplished here in such a short amount of time. And finally, I enjoy the occasional challenge and believe this helps one to keep growing professionally and keep life interesting.

In case you didn't know, VMware typically covers the cost of the conference for speakers. The only thing left was to convince management to cover the travel costs which was not easy given the current financial circumstances. But in the end I was given approval and just like that, I'm VMworld bound again this year!

If you're considering SRM or are just getting started, check out my session "BC2704: Site Recovery Manager, a real user experience". I promise it will be worth your time. I can talk about this stuff for hours and Dave and I will answer all of your questions - from technical SRM product to general disaster recovery and everything in-between.

Here's the abstract:

"Learn from a customer in the Midwest, all of their experiences implementing, testing and running Site Recovery Manager in a production environment. Hear their challenges and how their SRM implementation has worked for them. Find the facts you need to know to maximize the success of your disaster recovery solution with SRM."

See you there!