Archive for the ‘Chinwag’ Category

Note: Ricky is the  guy on the left… He is the winner with the longest ever chinwag. Longer than even Tom Howarth. You know what its like. Two Northerns in chat, they never know when to shut the * up…!

This weeks chinwaggee is Ricky-El-Qasem. Me and Ricky have been pals for a while. We first met back in the days of the VMware TSX event that happened in Paris/Disney World. I think that was 2006. It was a blast we had free run of the park! Back then we were both instructors (VMware Certified Instructors). Since then a lot has changes for myself and Ricky. Ricky is now at Veeam – based in EMEA but seems to spend a lot of his time in St Petersberg recently…

In his own words he is:

Director of Global Education Services with Veeam Software. 18 years in the business and started using VMware about 9 to 10 years ago and have the scars to prove it. I sport a plethora of certifications including GOLD MCSE, CCEA, RHCT, VCP/VCI, vExpert, Qlogic CP, Xenserver CCA and many more. Like to be known as a jack of all trades master of none ( or VMware ) In my spare time I webmaster my own virtualisation blog site which has been running for 5 years http://www.virtualizeplanet.com <http://www.virtualizeplanet.com> and have been known to write my own Private Cloud virtualisation applications. I’m well acquainted in the virtualisation industry and well liked by all (not sure about Steve Chambers though ;-0). Follow me on twitter.com/rickyelqasem – That’s my eldest daughter in the picture which some people believed VMware would be her first word. Unfortunately her first word was “bob” as in SpongeBob.

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

In this weeks chinwag we chat about the tension between being a jack-of-all-trades in IT, as compared to being a Master/GUR/WarriorMonk… we also talk about how Ricky got into making applications with angle specifically on virtualization…

 

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This week vendorwag is with Wyse, and the venderwagee is David Angwin.

David is a leading spokesperson on client virtualisation, green IT and emerging cloud-client technologies. With 25 years experience in IT software, hardware and services he is able to speak with authority on client computing choices and their impact. David’s background includes technical and product management, bringing new solutions to market, as well as marketing and business management roles with US and UK-based high-tech companies.

These are the questions I raised with David

Q. What is the difference between a Thin Client & Zero Client

Q. Some of zero clients have advanced functionality such as Wifi and PCoIP support, and this requires 4MB of firmware, which can remotely updated – some say this then makes these device not true “zero client”. How would you respond to that?  Given that there is some software on the Zenith terminal

Q. In our call you said that VDI is good thing, but not if you use PCs to deliver the access method – Can you explain why?

Q. You recently launch Xenith for Citrix HDX. Are there any plans to extend Xenith to work with VMware PCoIP?

Q. Given now have Citrix HDX, VMware PCoIP, and the soon to be released Microsoft RemoteFX, where does that leave the Wyse TCX suite?

Q. What does Wyse mean by the “shared PC” concept?

Q. What does Wyse mean by the Cloud PC?

Q. Recently there was spat between Citrix and VMware surround the “Client Hypervisor” and “local mode” VMs, what’s Wyse position on this development

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 lin

 

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This weeks chinwag is with Kenny (Kendrick) Coleman. He’s IT pro and a vExpert working in the field of virtualization, and in his spare time – he’s a active blogger. I first came across Kenny via twitter. He’s a bit about Kenny from his blog:

“I’m Kenny Coleman (Kendrick is my full name), 27, and live in Louisville, KY. I started my career off as a windows system engineer after graduating from the University of Kentucky, which lead me wanting to get back into networking and landed me my first certification, CCNA. As as Cisco and systems engineer, it lead me into my new passion of virtualization. I’ve been heavily involved with virtualization for some time now and have both my VCP3 and VCP4 certifications. I’ve been honored by VMware with the vExpert award for my contributions to the VMware community and being a virtualization evangelist. I’m a swiss army knife when it comes to IT and I’m not a one-trick pony. I believe that’s what has made me so successful this far into my career. I love diving into new technologies, trying to be a bourbon connoisseur, halloween, and being around friends.”

Kenny’s blog is here – http://www.kendrickcoleman.com/

and you can follow Kenny on twitter by following him here: http://twitter.com/KendrickColeman

In our chinwag I asked Kenny to pick is top 3 free tools for VMware (from a blogpost which listed 10)… He’s also written some articles about NIC and vSwitch layout – and so asked him to outline the criteria between each type of design… and how 10GbE would change things… finally we chatted about the upcoming VMworld and what he expected from the event…

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

This week’s “Vendorwag” is with Bob Janssen of RES Software. Bob Janssen is the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of RES Software. He has been responsible for product vision, strategy and development at RES Software since co-founding the company in 1999. He was instrumental in the creation of RES Software’s flagship products, RES PowerFuse User Workspace Management and RES Wisdom Run Book Automation, released in 1999 and 2005, respectively. During his tenure, RES Software has sold more than one million licenses worldwide. Bob also holds several patents for the solutions he has developed at RES Software.

In the wag I quiz Bob about RES Software’s “PowerFuse” product. Here’s my list of questions I asked him:

Q. What precisely is the “workspace” concept

Q. Does Res PowerFuse seek to replace Microsoft GPOs/User Profiles/Login Scripts? – and you can you handle the MAPI settings of the users per-user settings

Q. By what methods can you ID the device/user?

Q. What is “zero profile” mode…?

Q. The agent communicates to the “database” what happens if the composer is not available? What do provide to guarantee its availability?

Q. What is the “desktop sampler”?

Q. When it is it good time to introduce RES PowerFuse

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

 

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This weeks chinwaggee is Daniel Eason – I know Dan from attending the User Group in London. Plus I follow his blog and tweets. He’s  currently an IT Infrastructure Architect from the UK working for airline. His main specialisms are within the key areas of a Datacentre Infrastructure, and this covers technology such as Virtualisation for Server and Storage environments, Backup and Continuity, Automation and Management and Messaging. Additionally he’s also responsible at a strategic level for other core areas of IT in business such as DR/Continuity planning and Service Management. His blog is:

http://www.vmlover.com/

and you can follow him on twitter here – http://twitter.com/Daniel_Eason

Using Dan’s blog posts, I get Dan to explain what the C2C Design Approach is, and quiz him about his thoughts about PaaS… Dan has a humorous blog post entitled “Paasing Out” which caught my eye… We also chatted about how although we have more memory than ever, its also the case the memory demands of operating systems are increasing too…

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

“This week’s “Vendorwag” is with the folks at Double-Take Software. Specifically, with Ian Masters of DoubleTake. Ian is UK Sales and Marketing Director at Double-Take Software, and has been advising organisations on their requirements for business continuity, disaster recovery and backup for over a decade. He has a wide background in the virtualisation, storage and high availability space, working across multiple platforms. Recently, he has also entered into the world of desktop virtualisation following the launch of Double-Take Flex.

As for me I’ve been looking increasingly at availability technologies in recent weeks – as I write thought pieces for TechTarget on the subject, and also prepare for presentation at this year’s VMworld. In case you don’t know I will be speaking about VMware Site Recovery Manager. In case you don’t know that’s:

Session ID: BC7773

Title: VMware Site Recovery Manager: Misconceptions and Misconfigurations

Abstract: In the session, Mike Laverick (author of the only two books on VMware SRM) will discuss popular misunderstandings about what is possible for a configuration of SRM, and popular misunderstandings about the product. Drawing from his book, Mike will outline some of the limitations that SRM possess, and how you can work around these with a combination of PowerCLI and SDK. Finally, Mike will discuss what he thinks future versions of SRM will attempt to deliver, and how thinks the technology will evolve in the next 5 years.

So when the “Session Builder” opens in the next couple of days/weeks – be sure to track me down and add me to schedule. I understand folks will be able to walk along and drop into any session without pre-booking. So please make me your chosen destination. I hope to make folks laugh and think – that’s all…

Anyway, back to Double-Take. My vendorwag was quite wide-ranging, and it asked the following questions:

Q. Some people might say Double-Take is very rich on the in-guest services, but less so at the virtualization layer – what would you say to that?

Q. Double-Take “Move” is similar to tools like PlateSpin’s Recon – what made Double-Take want to get into this area that is already well populated by free tools, and software from virtualization vendors?

Q. What is “Double-Take for Virtual Hosts” and why might a customer pick Double-Take over say VMware Site Recovery Manager.

Q. Double-Take for Virtual Hosts – offers real-time replication for Hyper-V, but not for ESX. Do you have plans to take the product in this direction?

Q. Double-Take Backup – does it support de-duplication and back-up of virtual machine files? Do you plan to add this functionality.
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

This week it was my pleasure to be on the receiving end of chinwag. That’s when I get interviewed, and I just talk and talk and talk. Hey, you say – Mike? What’s new… :-p

Yeah, I know I do go on sometimes. I guess I just can’t control my natural enthusiasm for hearing my own voice all the time! :-p

Anyway, you can subscribe to the APAC Roundtable here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/apac-virtualization-roundtable/id354097519

For those of you in the UK, you might think I was chinwagging to the Conservative MP. Well, you’d be wrong. I’m not aware of any coalition policies surround virtualization yet. You should know of THE David Davis through his series of videos on a range of topics including Vi3 and vSphere4 for TrainSignal. David just finished up a new addition to the training along with 3 other vExperts. The new video is called “vSphere Pro Vol 2” and it covers SRM, PowerCLI, Veeam Management Suite, and other Advanced vSphere Topics. When not writing his own personal blog you will find David’s articles on a vast array of websites including  VirtualizationAdmin.com and elsewhere.

David’s personal landing zone is vmwarevideos.com come where he’s just started his vChat series.

Mmmm, suspiciously like the chinwag I think… Still as Charles Caleb Colton said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. 

Like many of the top folks in virtualization, David is on twitter too

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 (beware they are big!).  If you don’t use iTunes, here’s the generic RSS Feed link

In the chinwag we discuss David’s idea that VMware should release a vCenter “Express” product. We also talk about his VMworld session which is all about free tools you can use with VMware, and then finally we touch on the concept of the cloud – and air some opinions on whether business will seriously adopt this emerging method of delivering IT services and infrastructure.

 

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I first came across Panologic at the North Carolina User Summit some years ago, and then again when they presented to the London VMware User Group. I recently did an evaluation of their device and management software. Anyway, of the back that I made a request to do a “vendorwag”. This is a new idea of mine. One week I do a “chinwag” with someone working in the world of virtualization (blogger, author, customer), and the next week I do a “vendorwag” where I do a Q/A with some hardware or software vendor. I’m no Jermery Paxman by the way (for the US he’s a infamous BBC interview who hauls politicians over the coals – video gets funny about 4mins in…), and I don’t intended to give these guys such grilling that they have to seek their local accident and emergency ward. But nonetheless the idea is to have some one who is an independent (that’s me by the way), asking the questions…

This weeks vendorwag is with Parmeet Chaddha of Panologic

Here’s his bio:

“As executive vice president of engineering, Parmeet brings more than 20 years of operational and technical leadership experience to Pano Logic and is responsible for leadership of the company’s product development. Prior to joining Pano Logic, Parmeet was CEO and co-founder of MobileVerbs, Inc., a next generation mobile marketing platform, acquired by iLoop Mobile Inc. Before MobileVerbs, Parmeet was CTO of the Applications-on-Demand business unit at IBM, which had acquired Corio, an enterprise application service provider. At Corio, Parmeet held a number of executive positions, including CTO, Senior Vice President and President of Corio India. Parmeet started his career at Oracle, where he served as Director of Tools Development. Parmeet has also served as a consulting advisor to a number of technology companies. Parmeet holds a number of patents and has been widely published in industry and technical trade publications. He holds an M.S. and B.S. from MIT.”

In case you don’t know – Panologic is in the VDI space – and have a zero client with management/brokering backend. These are the questions I asked him:

1. What exactly is meant by the term Zero Client – and how is different from a ThinClient?
2. Some of your competitors have what they call a “Zero Client” what makes Panologic different?
3. There’s been a lot of advancements in protocol support with PCoIP, HDX and RemoteFX on its way – the Pano device supports a maximum of 24-bit colours, do you not see this as a limitation?
4. In what scenarios/circumstances does a zero client work best?
5. Is a zero client a good fit for home/remote worker?
6. Clearly, you want the system to integrate with as many vendors as possible – does this limit that tightness of integration between Panologic and the virtual desktops system…

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 podcast via iTunes which means the podcast will be download when ever I do them. If you don’t use iTunes, here’s the generic RSS Feed link

 

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This weeks chinwag was recorded a couple of weeks ago with Rich Bramley. Rich was speaking from his bat/man cave in the basement surrounded by all his kit. You know Rich from his blog vmetc.com. The picture above is of Rich and his kids at Falcon game. If you want to check out Rich’s blog click the graphic below – but not before you list to his chinwag!

and he’s also twitter too

Rich is also the man behind the very popular Virtumania podcast too! So you subscribe and get even more podcasts about virtualization!

Here’s how Rich describes himself and his work:

“My name is Rich Brambley, and since April of 2010 I work as a Senior Systems Engineer in the South East Region for Veeam Software. Prior to Veeam I was a Senior Infrastructure Consultant for Softchoice Optimus Solutions, a VMware Gold VAC partner. I have specialized in virtual infrastructure design and implementation. My focus has been VMware’s solutions for the last 6 years, but my experience and posts include Microsoft and Citrix virtualization technologies as well.

This blog started as my VMWorld 2007 notes. I decided that instead of using a notebook that I would eventually misplace I would try live blogging. I had very little experience with blogging and had no idea how much I would enjoy it! Now VM /ETC has become my own knowledge base and more. I use it to document interesting and helpful information, analyze problems I experience, dump my thoughts and opinions, and even summarize my notes.”

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 podcast via iTunes which means the podcast will be download when ever I do them. If you don’t use iTunes, here’s the generic RSS Feed link

In the chinwag we discuss – managing a multi-vendor virtualization… We talk about the client hypervisor… and why cloning a VM can take so long…

 

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