Archive for October, 2011

[The following is piece I wrote recently for TechTarget. Sadly, I rather dropped the ball on the brief, and it didn't make the "cut". It was meant to be technical tip, but quickly became an opinion piece about the current economy uncertainty we are facing - and its impact or not on the world of virtualization.

Sorry about the title. Generally I can't abide this fashion for putting software version numbers in things to describe the next generation - like Web 2.0. Sounds too much like some sort of media construct...]

Over here in Europe we all seem to bracing ourselves for yet another round of the credit crunch, as European leaders once again meet to discuss what can be done to reduce the affect of the Euro sovereign debt crisis. One would think that the market uncertainty was creating gridlock with IT projects, with everyone batting down the hatches and tightening their respective belts.  I took it upon myself to do an informal unofficial survey whilst at last weeks VMworld Europe event in Copenhagen. The responses from the many people were many and varied but I did see a pattern emerging…

(more…)

Well, it feels like Copenhagen was many weeks ago – so much can be happen in a single week! With that said its only two weeks ago that I was checking into my hotel near the Bella wondering where the hell I left my iPhone.

I want to draw your attention to some TechTarget content out there which maybe of interest to folks who attended or didn’t for that matter. Some of it is pre-VMworld build up content – other stuff is post-VMworld analysis. I’ve edit this down somewhat to what I think might be of top interest:

IT shops stick to ESX for now
It’s likely that the bigger corporates will need anywhere from 9-18 months to get on to the new vSphere5 distro. I guess that’s why many folks are sticking with ESX “Classic” for now. This article delves a little deeper.

TechTarget announces Best of VMworld Europe 2011 winners
I was a judge this year of the “User Awards” along with David Davis and Gabe Van Zanten. The User Awards all about recognizing customers and what they do with products – which is something I have a lot of time for, given that most awards are for vendors & products.

Best of VMworld Europe 2011: Winners’ slideshow
Check out the pictures of the winners of Best of VMworld Europe 2011 user awards announced at this year’s conference in Copenhagen last week.

Microsoft data purports its Hyper-V as cheaper than an equivalent VMware set-up
As ever Microsoft takes the “VMware cost way too much stance”. I find it kind of odd, given that a lot of people are actually saying quite nice things about HyperV 3 in terms of new functionality. Perhaps its time for MS stop selling HyperV as the “donkey” of virtualization.

VMware mobile virtualisation arrives, but with baggage
At VMworld Europe 2011, users learnt that VMware Horizon Mobile service will soon be available on Verizon smartphones. But does VMware’s mobile virtualisation plans allay users’ bring-your-own-device concerns?

Will VMware change its licensing model again? ‘Who knows…’ says Martiz
When VMware chief executive Paul Martiz was asked about VMware’s recent licensing structure furore, he admitted that the industry will have to move to a consumption based model.

VMware’s cloud vision has little on storage
A single most important focus of VMworld Europe 2011 conference was the cloud. But VMware may not have any plans yet to effect the cloud delivery of storage.

Is VMware focusing all its attention only on cloud and mobile virtualisation?
At VMworld Europe 2011, VMware expanded its management tools for vSphere5, outlined its roadmap for the cloud and showcased the tools for mobile virtualisation. Has desktop virtualisation taken a backseat?

Best of VMworld Europe 2011 User Awards podcast
Listen to me & Gabe yack on about the User Award process. Warning: PR folks we can spot you a mile!

The 1st of December see’s the Scottish VMUG meet yet again. It kicks of here:

13:00 – 17:00

The Scotsman Hotel – Russell Suite
20 North Bridge, EH1 1TR
Edinburgh, Scotland…

They have their agenda up – which includes my good friend Cormac Hogan. If you think VMUGs are all about “vendor pitches” – think again. This guy will technically rock-your-world.

Here’s the agenda:

• 13:00 – 13:15 – Registration
• 13:15 – 13:20 – Welcome
• 13:20 – 13:30 – vNews
• 13:30 – 14:15 – EMC – Storage and VMware Integration (Craig Stewart, EMC)
• 14:15 – 15:00 – vSphere 5 Storage changes (Cormack Hogan, VMware)
• 15:00 – 15:20 – Coffee/Networking
• 15:20 – 16:00 – Breakout Session 1  – Backup and Recovery using Avamar (EMC Customer Presentation)
• 15:20 – 16:00 -  Breakout Session 2 – VMware Storage Appliance (Cormack Hogan, VMware)
• 16:05 – 16:35 – VMworld Labs – how to deliver >5000 labs >60000 VMs (Matt Steiner, VMware)
• 16:35 – 17:00 – Close

It’s my pleasure to pass on the news that the Melbourne VMUG User summit is now open for registrations. The event will be held at Melbourne Park Function Centre, Batman Ave, Melbourne, Australia 3001. It kicks off at 8am and finishes up at 5.30pm. Hopefully there will be some informal vBeers event the night before or after…

The event will have multiple tracks, VMware Sessions, a Solutions Exchange – and guest speakers including the great Scott Lowe, and some interloper called Mike Laverick…

I’m sure a more complete agenda will follow shortly – but for now register your interest over here.

There’s just two weeks to go until the first ever UK VMUG Conference. I will be there too, and like last year I’ve kept my second VMworld bag. It’s packed full of goodies from various vendors hence the name swagbag. By far the biggest donor this year were the guys from Dell Equalogic who brought cooler bag of goodies across from the US. So it will take some serious “consolidation” to get all off this stuff into the bag.

To win you must attend the UK VMUG User Conference. It’s on the 3rd Nov, 2011 (Thursday) and runs from 8am to 5pm at National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry Rd, Bickenhill, Sollihull. B92 QEJ.

I hope to be around the registration area with book of raffle tickets for folks to buy. All money raised goes to UNICEF.

Now all I have to do is work out how much each ticket will be…

Click the Tintri logo to visit their site; Click Ed’s photo to subscribe to his twitter.

This week’s “Vendorwag” is with Ed Lee of Tintri. I’ve kept on bumping into the Tintri guys over the last year, as I did my tour around various VMUGs in the US. I was lucky enough to get a breakfast meeting with Kieran Hearty the CEO and Founder of the company back at VMworld. This represent a bit of theme now – of new storage vendors. I had Nimble on recently, and now Tintri… I’ve been trying to get in contact with Astute but not heard back from them….

Anyway, I’ve done the usual research before jumping in with the QA with them. I must say I’ve been quite impressed with their fresh approach, and its certainly offers food for thought about whether the last decade of handling storage is up for a major review.

In the “hot seat” is Ed who is one of the main architects – here’s a bit of bio on Ed:

Most recently, Ed was Principal Systems Architect at Data Domain, and a key contributor to the first and subsequent releases of Data Domain’s file system. He was responsible for innovations like the BOOST deduplication protocol and replication. Prior to Data Domain, Ed was at Zambeel and Compaq Systems Research Center. He has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Computer Science, where he was an original member of the Berkeley RAID team.

These are the questions I posed to Ed:

Q. Tintri claims to have “unique per-VM insights”. Can you say what those are – how you achieve that?

Q. One of your “hidden features” is “auto-alignment” of VMs virtual disks – can you explain the problem, and how you resolve it…

Q. Tintri does away with management like LUNs, volumes, RAID groups and so on – a present a single “datastore” per-array. That’s a big change especially to storage admins – how do they react to that? Are we going to see the end of the “storage admin”, are Vmware Admins becoming storage admins – or is that something that “just happens” in the SMB/SME space anyway – people have to wear many hats…?

Q. Because Tintri is so different – do you see that best practices need to change? Does VMware need to update its recommendation based on the changes technology like Tintri introduces?

Q. Mature storage technologies – support snapshots, replication and APIs from Vmware like VAAI, VASA, VM Cloning for VDI, SRM SRA’s… Where is Tintri on the journey to supporting these – do you think you will support some but not all?

Q. Management. Let say we buy into this new simplified model. Do I buy Tintri and fill it – then order another one…? How would I manage multiple Tintri arrays – Is this end of “storage teiring” or auto-teiring – do I just put each Tintri into a jumbo datastore cluster, and have Vmware SDRS deal with that?

As ever if you want the MP3 version of the chinwag it’s here – but to be honest it’s much easier to subscribe to the MP3 podcast via iTunes which means the podcast will be download when ever I do them. Alternatively, if you would prefer the videos on your iPAD/iPOD/iPhone – you subscribe to the video version of the Chinwags there (beware they are big!). If you don’t use iTunes, here’s the generic RSS Feed link

If you want to see the video in hi-resolution and full density – you can open it here.

Podcast Video [ 1:03:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Yesterday I took sometime out to update my apple stuff with the recent release of iOS5. I’m pleased to say that the update went relatively smoothly, but I did wonder about how a company who loads of iPhone4 uses would manage such a hefty update.

The download for the iPhone seemed to take longer than the iPAD. I’m not sure why that might – perhaps its the sheer volume of iPhone to iPAD users – but  you’d think Apple would factor that into their equations. It’s hard to think that the build of IOS5 for the iPhone would be significantly bigger than on the iPAD… As far as I could tell the deployment more or less wipes the device, and then synch’s content back. There does appear to be a backup process – that backs up metadata. I found the quality of the “restore” process a bit variable – with either the iPhone or the iPAD saying the restore had failed – only to find that the device was actually in a functional state.

One thing that was irritating was on both the iPhone/iPAD the layout of my icons was messed about. Like many people the first “page” on my iDevices usually has my most popular apps – and generally group them by type – so all the media-on-the-go stuff such as the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, CH4OD, SkyGo are all together. After the end of the upgrade process they were all over the shop. Hardly the end of the world, or as massive as an outage on a core switch in Slough… I wonder if Blackberry users know Sir John Betajamin’s poem?

One of the best things about the iDevice update is a lot the applications have received an upgrade as well. I won’t bore you with all the details you could read on Apple’s website or in their release notes. It’s great to see finally see fully functional Facebook application for the iPAD.

There was two things I was looking forward to with the new software. Over the WiFi synch and fixes for the AppleTV. With the first I’ve not been disappointed. It’s not a default to synch an iDevice by WiFi. It something that needs to be enabled in iToons.

Note: There appears to be some sort of polling mechanism which automatically updates every N-minutes. You can still force a manual sync. Also the sync is limited. A photo taken on your iPhone winds up on your iPAD… but it doesn’t end up in iPhoto. That’s a shame as I often use iPhoto to bulk upload photos to my FaceBook…

The option to backup to iCloud is enabled on the device itself when it first boots after the update. So you think it would be smart to have done that for the WiFi synch as well. Incidentally, you get 5GB of free space on iCloud – and I’ve found that just backing up the metadata of two devices has taken up 2.5GB already. I don’t plan to synch all my content to the iCloud – I have too much  and I consider Apples prices are to expensive for a feature I can find little use for…

UPDATE:

I found turning on the “Backup to Cloud” and “Sync with this iDevice over Wifi” option was the only step to finally not having to bother with USB cables anymore. There are number of places both on the iPhone and iPAD where this sort of stuff needs to be enabled.  So its a bit of an Apple two-step. Enable it on the iDevice generally with iToons, and then enable on service or application level stuff you want to sync. The screen shots below give you an idea of what I mean. A lot of these “on” options were off…

WiFi update was only previously available if you “unlocked” the phone, and used an uncertified application. It’s nice to see it natively support for customers like myself who don’t like the idea of unlocking devices.

On the down side the AppleTV update over the wire was a failure. It took about 30mins to download the bundle and apply. On reboot the unit was in a failed state, and I was forced to do a recovery and reapply via a micro-USB cable at the back connected to the MBP with iToons…

Even this upgrade said it had failed at the end. But when I connected the HDMI cable to my plasma TV it there was a welcome screen from AppleTV. Sadly, upgrade process had clobbered the unit. So I had to input again the password for the WiFI and Apple ID [Have you tried inputting case-sensitive complex passwords with an Apple Remote? - Fun and Games!]

Sadly, after all this effort I was not really rewarded for my efforts. You see since getting the AppleTV I’ve been disappointed. Both in its functionality and reliability. I think I would say its probably the worst product Apple have in their range [apart from the Michael Kors Jet Set Case for iPad which retails at $129 - honestly who has money to burn like that except losers in the fashion industry?]. I find the on-demand movies pricey when compared to other services out there.

There are couple of things I don’t like about the AppleTV. Firstly, there’s no way to display a webpage on the iPhone/iPAD through to the AppleTV [Yes, I know there's an app-for-that - I tried it and it doesn't work very well]. I see the AppleTV (and device like it) as filling a niche for folks who want “internet on TV” but don’t want to buy a new telly to have it. The other thing I’ve found inconsistent & unreliable is remotely displaying video content to the AppleTV. The native “video” application works fine. My AirVideo streaming server now works since the update (it converts any media format in real time, to play over your WiFi on a iPad/iPhone), but the CineXplayer (a popular DivX/AVI player for the iPAD) refuses to redirect (I get audio but no video). What that means is to watch a movie on the iPAD and/or the AppleTV, I have to go for a media format that can be as much as 4 times the size of DivX file. I guess you could argue that’s “by design” as Apple explicitly don’t support AVI/DivX or Flash on natively – a case of Caveat emptor.

The irritation is applications that deliver video content are by and large not AppleTV aware. So at the moment NONE of the big four in the UK:

• BBC iPlayer
• BBC New24 Live
• ITV Player
• 40D Catchup
• Sky Go

support AppleTV. It was my hope that I could make the switch from TV delivered from an Ariel+decoder or from satellite dish – but unless I can easily get online content delivered to a 42″ plasma – what would be the point. I think you would get more flexibilty from a cheap laptop connected via HDMI to a TV. You would have to live with Apples restrictions over media types, and if it were a MBP you could control it with the Apple Remote over IR….

So the AppleTV update is done very little to improve this situation – and you I think you could save yourself £80 by buying a HDMI connector for the iPAD for £20.

Laura Marling has been on “Mike’s Music” before when her song “New Romantic” got my attention on Jool’s Holland’s “Later” a couple of years ago. Typically, once some has been on the show their career blossoms – partly because of the exposure it generates, and mainly because he has genuinely talented people – who don’t feel the need to genflect at every opportunity, and have their underpants outside their trousers.

So Laura Marling continues to impress. Quite why I haven’t bought any of her stuff is mystery to me! She did 2-3 songs in her little set. The song “All My Rage” impressed me the most – it builds quietly but ends up intense little number.

And then I heard her song the “The Muse” which has a country feel. By the way she’s from a town called “Reading” outside of London. And that was it – I decided to buy her latest, and her back catalogue…

The Civil Wars are two piece group from Nashville. Not sure what the relationship is between the pair. They could be a couple or given the close harmonies – they could equally be a couple. They did an interesting “Nashville” take on the Jackson number “Billy Jean”.

This video below is the Billy Jean cover…

This weeks wag is with Shanbon Snowden, a guy I first met in Boston at GestaltIT’s Tech Field Day organized by Stephen Foskett. We reconnected at VMworld for one of my “miniwags”, so it was only a matter of time until I had Shannon on the full-fat show. It turns out we have 6-degees of seperation style link. I worked on the U2PV with Chris Huss when he was at NewAge Technologies – which just so happens to be the same place Shannon works at in Kentucky.

He runs a blog at http://virtualizationinformation.com/ and he’s also on twitter too http://twitter.com/#!/shannonsnowden

This is his brief bio:
I am the Delivery Services Manager at New Age Technologies and have been focused on delivery of virtualization solutions and training for as long as VMWare has had a certification program. I was one of the first 4 public students to get the VMWare Certified Professional designation delivered via a hand-written exam. They graded 3 classes of the hand written exams, so my official VCP number is 12. Since then, I’ve performed countless virtualization delivery engagements for Fortune 100 companies and have many technical certifications.

Shannon and I discussed – the main topic areas.

Q. SRM5 is now out which supports vSphere Replication – and there are folks like VirtualSharp and Zerto out there on the market. Are these products comparable? Do you have any thoughts to share on this subject generally?

Q. How much future is there left in bog-standard virtualization – Knowing your ESX/vCenter is there much value in that job wise? Do we need to go somewhere technically for job security sakes?

Q. P2V -  Can we bring it into the present – at one time there was healthy consultancy money to made with P2V, but those days have appear to have gone. Or have they? Was P2V always a slightly risky idea driven by management who just wanted get virtual in the shortest possible time?

As ever if you want the MP3 version of the chinwag it’s here – but to be honest it’s much easier to subscribe to the MP3 podcast via iTunes which means the podcast will be download when ever I do them. Alternatively, if you would prefer the videos on your iPAD/iPOD/iPhone – you subscribe to the video version of the Chinwags there (beware they are big!). If you don’t use iTunes, here’s the generic RSS Feed link

Podcast Video Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well, as you know Steve Jobs died a short while ago – and dare say that this will inspire many people in the tech field to write their own eulogy to founder of Apple. I will keep mine brief and to the point – as I don’t want to get dragged into the mire which is assessing Apples future or its strategy. I think there will be probably many people who will want to elevate Jobs into being another Ford, Rockafeller or Eddison. The truth is probably Jobs was as much an opportunist as anything else. I mean that not as slight, there any many people who are given opportunities in life who don’t see or grasp them. The sign of a true entrepreneur is spotting them before everyone else does.

I’m relatively new Apple and I would describe as remotely being a FanBio  – having been a Windows man from the early days up until Dec, 2009. I made the switch many because I was bored/tired of Windows – and was looking for a change. Although I’ve always thought Apple products pricey for what there are – but you have to admire the fact they work very well, and very well designed.

I think that to some degree will be Job’s legacy. So often in the world of technology – function overrides form. Jobs was one the few people who felt rightly that one shouldn’t comprise the other.

I think in a funny way the iPAD might be Jobs greatest achievement. Not because I think its wonderful device. There were many who had tried and failed to launch a “tablet” style device. And there were many industry who saw the rise of netbooks and decided that really the tablet concept was as solution looking for a problem. Almost single handedly Jobs & Apple rescued this form-factor and made it viable. Such that where they lead – countless others have followed. Along with the law suits!  In a way its fitting example of how Jobs and Apple could sprinkle a kind of pixie dust over products and make them desirable. I dare say that the iPAD will become a minority product in the market place, as a multiplicity of Andriod based tablets sweep the board (as they have done with phones) but remember that market probably wouldn’t have existed without Apple’s “innovation”….

The other legacy I think will be more significant as time passes. Much of the media talk has focused on how Jobs “saved” Apple – and the products which resuscitated it recently – the iPod, Phone, Pad and new generations of the iMac and MacBookPro. But taking Jobs career from start to finish. I think his impact is much greater than just a couple of products at the tale end of the Noughties. Jobs was part of that generation that came a good decade before I even had a computer – people like him (and Bill Gates) helped drive computing out of the domain of men in white coats into the home to ordinary people. In his own (some might say small) way Jobs was part of the generation that built their own computers from electonics hobbyist kits – who then went on to storm the citadel by becoming some of the biggest companies on the planet.

I doubt whether many of us would have career in this industry without this popularism of computing for the masses. Of course, Job’s wasn’t alone in this endeavor – there were others like Sir Clive Sincliar that helped bring digital electronics to the masses – in away that we now take totally for granted. True, it probably is the case that if it hadn’t have been these guys, it would have been someone else. I dare say there’s some truth in that, but I think few people would argue against the fact that the unique personal skills these folks brought to their business will be hard to duplicate by the next generation.