VMware VDM Training

[admin]

Apply now to enroll in the first delivery

VMware Customer Education is developing an instructor-led training course for customers who are building VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructures. The course offers skills training and hands-on experience on VMware Virtual Desktop Manager and related technologies. We are pleased to invite enrollments in the test delivery of this course.

Details of how to apply to enroll appear below.

The test delivery will take place in the metropolitan area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The class will begin on the morning of Tuesday, February 26, and conclude on the afternoon of Friday, February 29, 2008.

Only 12 attendees will be selected, and not all who apply will be selected. Prospective students who are unable to attend the test delivery should register for one of the regular VDM classes starting in late March 2008.

Prospective students should be preparing to implement and/or manage VDM at their company. They should have already taken the VMware Infrastructure 3: Install and Configure course or possess equivalent VI3 experience. More detail about prerequisite requirements is presented later in this invitation.

We especially hope to enroll beginners in this course. If you have had heavy hands-on involvement with VDM throughout the VDM 2.0 beta, you may wish to pass this invitation to a colleague who will be working on your company's VMware VDM deployment in the near future.

Participants in the test delivery will get a special 50% discount against the regular price. This discounted price is US$1495.00 per student. No further discounts will be applied.

We caution prospective enrollees that this is the first public delivery of this "beta" courseware. Although the instructors will be experts in the material, there may be problems or errors with the courseware and labs. Students will be expected to give extensive feedback on the courseware and take part in review discussions. Prospective attendees must be prepared to attend all four days. The class may end as late as 5 p.m. on Friday, February 29.

Here is a preliminary course outline:

Module 1: VDI/VDM Overview

Module 2: Virtualizing Active Directory for VDM

Module 3: Group Policy Objects and Roaming Templates

Module 4: Remote Desktop Protocol

Module 5: Best Practices for XP and Vista Virtual Machines

Module 6: Installing VDM

Module 7: Using VDM Clients

Module 8: VDM Administration

Module 9: VDM Dynamic and Static Pools

Module 10: VDM Security Server

Module 11: VDM Load-Balancing and Multi-Server

Module 12: VDM Tunneled and Direct Connections

Module 13: VDM Security

Module 14: VDM Logs and Troubleshooting

Module 15: VMware Update Manager

The topic list may be slightly different at the course's presentation.

Prospective attendees MUST possess the following skills:

VMware Infrastructure 3 skills

• How to use the VMware Infrastructure Client

• How to configure virtual switches using the VMware Infrastructure client

• How to use datastores using the VMware Infrastructure client

• How to create virtual machines against a VirtualCenter Server

• How to edit virtual machine settings to connect networks and CD/DVD-ROM drives to ISOs

• How to convert VMs to templates in a VirtualCenter-based environment

• How to use templates to deploy VMs

• How to clone VMs and Templates

• How to create and use resource pools

Microsoft Windows skills

• How to create and administer Windows domain controllers

• How to create and administer Windows DHCP servers

• How to create and administer Windows DNS servers

• How to manage Windows domain users and groups

A preliminary datasheet for the course is attached to this posting.

If you wish to apply to enroll in this course, complete the following two steps.

1. Make sure that you have a myLearn username. myLearn is VMware's learning-management system.

If you do not already have a myLearn username, create one at

2. Complete the application survey at

If you have questions about the VDM test delivery that are not answered in this message, please post them here.

[jrenton]

Will this course be available in the United Kingdom? Will there be an exam related to the course eg. VCP+ VDI?

[esloof]

As a VMware Certified Instructor and a participant of the VDM beta program I would like to deliver this course in the Netherlands.

The abbreviation VDM stands for Virtual Desktop manager, the connection broker software that supports a VDI environment. I participated in the Beta and deployed VDM2 in a production environment. When Capgemini Outsourcing had obtained an outsourcing contract from office Furniture group Ahrend last September, it has taken over management of the office ICT environment and the service desk. As the senior system administrator at Ahrend I created a VDI pool with desktops. During the transition of all the hardware from the Ahrend Datacenter in Nieuwegein to the Capgemini datacenter in Amsterdam, the Ahrend ICT colleagues could easily move to the Capgemini office without losing their old desktop. There are two things I really like about VDM2; the first one is the automatic provisioning and the second one is USB support. VDM2 really made the transition to Capgemini run a lot smoother. VMware has asked me to act as a marketing reference for this launch, so I can speak to the press and author a quote. I already created an install and configure presentation which I presented to the Dutch VMUG audience last December. When you need any further information please let me know.

[last December|http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/uploads/EricSloofVMUG.jpg][last December|http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/uploads/overzicht.jpg]

Photo taken by Viktor van den Berg

[jrenton]

Does VDM2 address jumpy graphics performance?

I am currently doing some testing connecting a Wyse V10L using TCX USB and Multimedia to a Windows XP SP2 VM running on VMWare Server v1.04 and the only issue we have is bad graphics performance.

[admin]

Yes, the course will be available in the U.K. and worldwide, through VMware's channel of VMware Authorized Training Centers. I am not ready to announce a precise date, but as courses are added outside the U.S., you'll find them listed here.

http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrreg/courses.cfm?ui=www&a=sort&orderby=0&id_subject=3707

To your other question: yes, VMware is aware that a lot of people would like a VDM credential! I'm sorry that I can't speak publicly about our plan in this area yet, but I can assure you that your voice joins others that have been heard.

[admin]

Hi, Eric! I am coming to VMworld Europe, and I'll be there for VATC Day. Will I see you there?

The Virtual Desktop Manager course will indeed be available for delivery by VATC VCIs. I myself am not a part of the decision-making process for which and when, though; your regular VATC program contacts are the right people to whom to make your interest known.

[admin]

From the VDI/VDM 2.0 FAQ:

VMware VDI is a server-based computing technology and like terminal services, not all applications will perform well over a remote protocol in areas where latency is slow or the data center is far away. 2D & 3D graphics-intensive apps as well as applications expecting accelerated 3D video may experience performance problems in a VDI environment.

Anybody who's concerned about whether an application will perform acceptably in a VDI environment would be well-advised to do a 60-day evaluation and test it under realistic conditions.