VMware Newsletter 6.47

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser: http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=84638d120599c4461b514e1a0&id=0874fb46ec&e=[UNIQID]

From the editors virtual desk

Hi everyone, it’s the final month of 2014 and the countdown to the festivities I am sure have begun wherever you are located. Here in San Francisco the city is starting to get ready for the season with beautiful lights in the city and activities such as outdoor Ice Skating. There was no newsletter last week due to the Thanksgiving holiday  here but we are back as usual this week.

I have been quite busy with a number of VMware solutions and Proof Of Concepts. This past week I have been focusing on Log Insight (http://www.vmware.com/products/vrealize-log-insight) a solution that I am very fond of and pairs very nicely with vRealize Operations (http://www.vmware.com/products/vrealize-operations). I find deploying, setting up and using Log Insight extremely easy and right away I am already seeing results. If you haven’t had a chance to look at these solutions you should check them out.

Onwards to this weeks newsletter.

Virtually Yours

Neil Isserow

Staff Technical Account Manager

VMware Inc - San Francisco, CA

nisserow @ vmware . com

LOCAL TRAINING CLASSES

Upcoming Classes (Details: http://tinyurl.com/m4wmen5)

NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS FROM VMWARE

• Installing VMware Workstation 11 on your PC (http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/?p=6359)VMware Workstation 11 was released recently and this video tutorial demonstrates how you can install VMware Workstation 11 on a Windows based PC. Before installing, ensure that your system meets the system requirements as laid out in the Getting Started with Workstation 11 guide. Download instructions are available in VMware Knowledge Base article Downloading and […]

   

•  

  Upgrading from VMware Player 6 to VMware Player 7 (http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/?p=6356)VMware recently released a new version of VMware Player and this new video tutorial demonstrates how to upgrade from VMware Player 6 to VMware Player 7. This video is based on VMware Knowledge Base article Upgrading from Player 6.x to Player 7.x (2081991). Before upgrading to VMware Player 7, there are some prerequisites that you […]

   

•  

  Top 20 Articles for November 2014 (http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/?p=6354)Here is our Top 20 KB list for November 2014. This list is ranked by the number of times a VMware Support Request was resolved by following the steps in a published Knowledge Base article. 1. Installing async drivers on VMware ESXi 5.0, 5.1, and 5.5 (2005205) 2. Troubleshooting Fusion virtual machine performance issues (1015676) […]

   

•  

  The New Normal: Networking in the Software Age (http://blogs.vmware.com/tribalknowledge/?p=3411)Guido Appenzeller is VMware’s Chief Technology Strategy Officer for networking and security. Previously he was the co-founder and CTO of Big Switch Networks, one of the pioneers in the software-defined networking market. Guido is responsible for analyzing and evaluating emerging trends across the networking ecosystem, and evangelizing VMware’s strategy for network virtualization. Below, Guido outlines […]

   

•  

  Virgin Trains No Longer Held Back by IT (http://blogs.vmware.com/tribalknowledge/?p=3409)Virgin Trains is the primary operator on one of the UK’s most vital rail lines, the West Coast Main Line. Trains on this line can run at 125 mph, taking you from London to Glasgow — a 400-mile trip — in about four and a half hours. Unfortunately, Virgin’s computers didn’t operate at comparable speeds. […]

   

•  

  RSVP and Tune in Tomorrow: Twitter Chat with Guido Appenzeller (http://blogs.vmware.com/tribalknowledge/?p=3404)By Oliver Roll, Editor-in-Chief of Tribal Knowledge and VP, Global Corporate Communications at VMware It goes without saying that networking is top-of-mind for everyone at VMware and for our customers. How will it evolve over the rest of this decade? Which new developments will shape networking as we enter the next phase of cloud? What are the biggest […]

   

•  

  How to Avoid 5 Common Mistakes When Implementing an SDDC Solution (http://blogs.vmware.com/cloudops/?p=1302)By Jose Alamo Implementing a software-defined data center (SDDC) is much more than implementing or installing a set of technology — an SDDC solution requires clear changes to the organization vision, policies, processes, operations, and organization readiness. Today’s CIO needs to spend a good amount of time understanding the business needs, the IT organization’s culture, […]

   

•  

  Question of the Week (vSphere) (http://blogs.vmware.com/education/?p=5034)This week’s question comes from the vSphere video series. A. vCenter Server B. vMotion C. Multiple hosts D. Shared storage Click through to the comments for the answer. Follow @VMwareEducation on Instagram to see more #TechTrivia every Friday and visual updates from the VMware Education and Certification community.

   

•  

  Save on Education Bootcamps at Partner Exchange 2015 (http://blogs.vmware.com/education/?p=5057)Get to Partner Exchange a few days early and take advantage of pre-conference bootcamps on January 31 – February 2, offered at a significant savings off the regular course price. These special offerings are your chance to build your skills on the latest VMware technologies and solutions, and refresh yourself on the basics. To attend one of […]

   

•  

  Free Webinar! vSphere with Operations Management (http://blogs.vmware.com/education/?p=5049)Performance monitoring, consistent automation, efficient storage, powerful computing, and more are at your fingertips – if you know how to use vSphere with Operations Management. Fortunately, we are having a FREE webinar next week to teach you exactly that. vSphere with Operations Management allows you to manage and monitor your vSphere environments with a more intuitive user interface […]

   

•  

  Save on Certification Exams at VMware Partner Exchange (http://blogs.vmware.com/education/?p=5039)VMware Partner Exchange 2015 is an excellent opportunity to recertify your certification or validate new skills at a significant savings. All VMware Certified Professional (VCP), VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP), and VMware Certified Implementation Expert (VCIX) exams will be offered at a discount during the event. Register in Advance and Save 50% Space is limited for […]

   

•  

  New VCP6-DT Certification Available (http://blogs.vmware.com/education/?p=5029)VMware Horizon 6 (with View) delivers virtualized and remote desktops and applications through a single platform and supports end users with access to all of their Windows and online resources through one unified workspace. The new VMware Certified Professional 6 – Desktop (VCP6-DT) certification validates your skills implementing, installing, and configuring these environments. Designed for System Engineers […]

   

•  

  EUC, Cloud-Native Apps, and the New, New Thing (http://blogs.vmware.com/cto/?p=3103)Here at VMware, we’ve always worked to deliver solutions that allow our customers to confidently and securely deliver software applications critical to their business. The End-User Computing business unit was created to ensure secure and seamless application delivery to end-users.  We’ve dramatically enhanced our end-user delivery capabilities this year via: the acquisition of AirWatch , the industry-leading enterprise mobility management solution the release of Horizon 6 , which enabled an…

   

•  

  Tips for a Successful VMware Virtual SAN Evaluation (http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/?p=15836)One of the biggest advantages of Virtual SAN is that it is so easy to set up and use.  Out of all the evaluation options available to them, many customers have realized that trying it out in their own environment is entirely feasible. We’ve been keeping track of the many Virtual SAN evaluations to date, and […]

   

•  

  Reference Architecture for building a VMware Software–Defined Datacenter (http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/?p=15827)The latest in our series of reference architectures is now available. This is an update to the previous version which brings in additional products and covers the vCloud Suite 5.8 release. This reference architecture describes an implementation of a software-defined data center (SDDC) using VMware vCloud® Suite Enterprise 5.8, VMware NSX™ for vSphere® 6.1, VMware […]

   

•  

  VMware Virtual SAN Operations: Replacing Disk Devices (http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/?p=15819)In my previous Virtual SAN operations article, “VMware Virtual SAN Operations: Disk Group Management” I covered the configuration and management of the Virtual SAN disk groups, and in particular I described the recommended operating procedures for managing Virtual SAN disk groups. In this article, I will take a similar approach and cover the recommended operating procedures for […]

   

•  

  Infographic – Walk Through of VMware Availability (http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/?p=15801)Here’s a visualization we put together to help people understand the various offerings from VMware that can positively affect your levels of availability. Hope you like it! VMware-Availability

   

•  

  Log into vCloud Air Linux Instances Using SSH Keys (http://blogs.vmware.com/vcloud/?p=4571)By: Massimo Re Ferre’ A common method often pitched as a best practice for interacting with Linux instances in the cloud is to use SSH Keys-based logins (as opposed to traditional remote SSH logins which use a username and password). By default, when you create a Linux image in VMware vCloud® AirTM, a temporary password is […]

   

•  

  Scale Your Mobile App Development on vCloud Air – Join Us for the 12/11 Webcast! (http://blogs.vmware.com/vcloud/?p=4565)How do you keep up with the development of next-gen mobile apps in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment? Move your testing and development to the hybrid cloud with VMware vCloud® AirTM. In our next webcast, Scale Your Mobile App Development on VMware vCloud Air, on Thursday, December 11th at 10 AM PT, you’ll learn how to use hybrid […]

   

•  

  “Gotchas” and Lessons Learned When Using Virtual SAN (http://blogs.vmware.com/consulting/?p=1845)By Jonathan McDonald There are certainly a number of blogs on the Web that talk about software-defined storage, and in particular Virtual SAN. But as someone who has worked at VMware for nine years, my goal is not to rehash the same information, but to provide insights from my experiences. At VMware, much of my […]

   

•  

  Changes to Transparent Page Sharing reminder and new and updated VMware Security Advisories (http://blogs.vmware.com/security/?p=1290)As previously noted (Oct 16 and Nov 24) VMware has introduced new TPS (Transparent Page Sharing) management options that give administrators more granular control over which Virtual Machines have the potential to share duplicate pages of memory with each other. The previous ESXi patch releases incorporated the additional functionality but did not change the default behavior. Todays update […]

   

•  

  Getting the most from vRealize Automation’s Multi-Machine Blueprints (https://blogs.vmware.com/management?p=5602&preview_id=5602)As the use of vRealize Automation expands within datacenters use cases are becoming more complex. Users want to automate more of the less important tasks and focus on the real reason we even have infrastructure.  The applications.  Development teams don’t want to wait for the infrastructure and IT Administrators want to meet the needs of […]

   

•  

  vRealize Operations Tech Tips #4 – Smart Alerts – Part 4 of 4 (http://blogs.vmware.com/management/?p=5593)Here it is…the big finish for Smart Alerts and we are ending with what many might consider the most important part…Actions!  As you now know, Smarts Alerts are defined by a set of symptoms, which can be made up of static or dynamic thresholds for collected metrics, faults, 3rd party events, badges, etc.  Each alert […]

   

•  

  vRealize Operations Tech Tips #3 – Smart Alerts – Part 3 of 4 (http://blogs.vmware.com/management/?p=5583)If you have been following this Tech Tips thread over the past couple of weeks you will recall we have introduced you to the new concept of Smart Alerts in vRealize Operations Manager 6.0 with their OOTB recommendation and actions.  You have also seen these alerts in action to help you manage the day-to-day health and performance of your software […]

   

•  

  vRealize CloudClient – CLI for Managing vRealize Automation Cloud Services (http://blogs.vmware.com/management/?p=5556)by Rich Bourdeau Are you one of those people who believe GUIs are for the week minded and that command line interface allows you to be faster and more productive?   Maybe you like your GUI for most tasks, but there are just some operations like performing bulk updates or coordinating changes to multiple instances are […]

   

•  

  Managing New IT Challenges in 2015 – Get Tech Tips in Upcoming Live and On-Demand VMware Webcasts (http://blogs.vmware.com/smb/?p=3175)Go into 2015 with new strategies for managing common IT problems. This month, join us for upcoming live and on-demand webcasts to manage IT challenges more efficiently. Scale the transition to the mobile-cloud era with a new webcast on scaling mobile app development through cloud-based, mobile-backend services. Or, see how to incorporate operations management to […]

   

•  

  Is the IT Scrinch stealing from your servers? (http://blogs.vmware.com/smb/?p=3170)Just about any kid can tell you the story of the conniving, cold-hearted Grinch who stole Christmas. But did you ever consider the thought that a Grinch-like creature might be stealing from your data centers? The greedy Scrinch wants to steal your resources—from your network to your endpoint devices. What’s there to do? In the […]

   

DESKTOP

•  

  VMware Horizon FLEX – Local Virtual Desktops for Macs and PCs – Now Available! (http://blogs.vmware.com/euc/?p=6750)By Nicolas Rochard, Director of Product Marketing, End-User Computing, VMware As you know, we introduced VMware Horizon FLEX at VMworld Europe last month and my colleague Gina Daly wrote a great technical piece that offered a deeper dive into the solution. Today, I am  excited to announce the general availability of VMware Horizon FLEX. VMware Horizon FLEX […]

   

•  

  VMware Mirage Bootcamp Videos (http://blogs.vmware.com/euc/?p=6746)By Sachin Sharma, Product Marketing, End-User Computing, VMware One of the easiest ways to learn about VMware technologies is through videos. The videos we record are easy to consume and available on-demand. In fact, we have many VMware Mirage videos available on our YouTube playlist. Today I’d like to introduce the VMware Mirage Bootcamp series. […]

   

•  

  Enterprise mobility news recap: Dec. 1 – 5 (http://blogs.air-watch.com/?p=33499)Holiday season mobile shopping is predicted to continue strong through December and retailers are ready. Microsoft and Android also made announcements this week, and on the AirWatch Blog, StarMobile describes its product and partnership with AirWatch. Starbucks is a coffee shop that appreciates mobile devices and users. On a weekly basis, Starbucks processes more 7 […]

   

•  

  AirWatch is Frost & Sullivan’s Australia MDM Vendor of the Year (again!) (http://blogs.air-watch.com/?p=33403)Frost & Sullivan has honored AirWatch as the Australia Mobile Device Management Vendor of the Year for the second consecutive year. AirWatch representatives in Australia received the award at a ceremony Dec. 4 in Sydney. In the award write-up, Frost & Sullivan highlights AirWatch’s strong partner network, large-scale deployments across verticals and local data centers. […]

   

•  

  The future of unified endpoint management: A Q&A with VDC Research analyst Eric Klein (http://blogs.air-watch.com/?p=33383)In the following Q&A, VDC Research senior analyst Eric Klein shares his thoughts on the future of device management as the lines between desktop and mobile  continue to blur. For the first time, business and IT leaders are beginning to question the validity of maintaining two separate, parallel device environments for desktop and mobile operating […]

   

•  

  Watch the video: Unisys provides managed mobility services for AirWatch EMM (http://blogs.air-watch.com/?p=33433)AirWatch partner Unisys recently visited the Atlanta AirWatch office. In an interview with AirWatch TV, Director of Mobility Solutions Darren McGrath and Global Managed Services Architect Weston Morris explained the company’s Mobile Environment Management (MEM) offering, which is built on the AirWatch platform. Unisys provides managed mobility services including implementation, management and application development for […]

   

•  

  Video: StarMobile integration helps customers mobilize and manage enterprise applications (http://blogs.air-watch.com/?p=33392)StarMobile, the cloud-based enterprise mobility operations solution, announced an integration with AirWatch at Connect Atlanta earlier this fall. Through the integration, AirWatch customers can use StarMobile to transform business applications into mobile apps with native functionality. StarMobile’s solution derives the mobile app directly from the original application, and using a remote computing protocol, applies a […]

   

PARTNER

•  

  NEW Solution Brief on HP ConvergedSystem 200-HC EVO:RAIL (http://blogs.vmware.com/partnernews/?p=1501)New workloads and new business demands are driving customers toward an open, software-defined data center (SDDC) with tightly integrated end-to-end compute, network, storage, and management resources.  HP ConvergedSystem 200–HC EVO:RAIL is the next step in IT evolution. It deploys quickly and enables faster responses to business demands, simplified infrastructure administration, and reduced operating costs. Read […]

   

•  

  VCIX-NV Certification is Now Available (http://blogs.vmware.com/partnernews/?p=1499)The new VMware Certified Implementation Expert – Network Virtualization (VCIX-NV) certification validates your ability to install, configure, and administer NSX virtual networking implementations. Download the blueprint and learn more.

   

•  

  VOP-SE Training has New Service Offerings (http://blogs.vmware.com/partnernews/?p=1496)VMware Operations Professional – Subscriptions Expert (formerly VSE) has been updated to include new service offerings – taking 3.5 hours to complete.

   

•  

  New, Simpler vRealize Suite Offline Demo (http://blogs.vmware.com/partnernews/?p=1494)It’s easier than ever to demo the vRealize Suite – just download, extract, and open. The web format offline demo runs in your browser and integrates vRealize Business, vRealize Automation, vRealize Log Insight, and vRealize Operations.

   

•  

  Just Right IT Campaign on Partner Central (http://blogs.vmware.com/partnernews/?p=1492)This campaign allows you to reach the growing SMB market with solutions for their unique challenges—and fire up your sales – using HP’s Flex-Bundles for vSphere with Operations Management. Learn more.

   

•  

  Get a 50% off VCP Exam Voucher by Attending a NSX Training by Dec. 19th (http://blogs.vmware.com/partnernews/?p=1489)VMware NSX is the network virtualization and security platform for software-defined data center. NSX brings virtualization to your existing network and transforms network operations and economics. To get your exam voucher, attend a NSX training session by Dec. 19th.

   

•  

  Time is Running Out- VCP’s Must Recertify by March 2015 (http://blogs.vmware.com/partner/?p=2252)Last Spring 2014 VMware announced a new recertification policy for (VCP). If you are a VCP, it will be imperative that you maintain your VCP status by recertifying, or your company will be at risk of losing its current Program Status, and possibly, its benefits. As a VCP, your benefits of recertifying include: ·       Gaining […]

   

MORE NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS FROM AROUND THE WEB

•  

  NSX for vSphere Log Insight Content Pack (http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/2811-guid.html)

   

•  

  VMware Horizon FLEX - Solution Brief (http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/2810-guid.html)

   

•  

  VMware Certified Professional 6 – Desktop (VCP6-DT) (http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/2809-guid.html)

   

•  

  NetApp joins the EVO:RAIL party and includes a FAS (http://www.yellow-bricks.com/?p=15680)NetApp announced yesterday that they are now part of the EVO:RAIL partner program. Although I have been part of the EVO:RAIL team it is not something I would have seen coming. But I can see why they decided to join and find their announcement interesting. I wasn’t planning on writing about it as Mike Laverick […] " NetApp joins the EVO:RAIL party and includes a FAS " originally appeared on Yellow-Bricks.com . Follow me on twitter - @DuncanYB. Pre-order my upcoming book Essential Virtual SAN…

   

•  

  Startup Intro: Eco4Cloud (http://www.yellow-bricks.com/?p=15674)This week I had the pleasure to be briefed by Eco4Cloud on what it is they bring to the world of IT. First thing which stood out instantly that this startup is based out of Italy, yes indeed… Europe and not a Silicon Valley based startup… that is a nice change if you ask me! […] " Startup Intro: Eco4Cloud " originally appeared on Yellow-Bricks.com . Follow me on twitter - @DuncanYB. Pre-order my upcoming book Essential Virtual SAN via Pearson today!

   

•  

  First EMC{code} #DevHigh5 Winners! (http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2014/12/first-emccode-devhigh5-winners.html)"Code Open, Deploy Everywhere" There's a lot of change happening here at EMC :-) We're investing heavily in innovating and developing next-generation infrastructure and converged infrastructure in the domain of BOTH "Pets" (applications that expect deep infrastructure resilience and replication,...

   

•  

  Brisbane VMUG – December 2014 (http://www.penguinpunk.net/blog/?p=2409)The final Brisbane VMUG of the year will be a vBeers event sponsored by Nutanix. It will be held on Thursday 18th December at the Story Bridge Hotel (Martini Room) from 2 – 4 pm. Here’s the agenda: How You Can Actually Virtualise ‘Everything’ Demonstrating True Business Benefits, Including How Langs Achieved 53% Lower IT […]

   

•  

  VMware Horizon FLEX Solution Brief (http://www.vmguru.com/?p=14890)Last week VMware announced the availability of VMware Horizon FLEX , a policy-based, containerized desktop solution that allows IT administrators to create, secure, and manage local desktops to meet the needs of workers with their own computers, road warriors, and Mac users in the enterprise. Now VMware published a VMware Horizon FLEX Solution Brief which can be used to deploy the complete solution. The Horizon FLEX Solution is a combination of existing VMware products, with additional beneficial…

   

•  

  NetApp joins EVO with NetApp Integrated EVO:RAIL (http://www.vmguru.com/?p=14883)NetApp announced a new integrated solution designed to speed the deployment of virtual servers and virtual desktops in departmental IT settings and branch offices.  Designed with the IT generalist in mind, NetApp Integrated EVO:RAIL Solution is the first integrated system to combine cloud-ready enterprise NetApp FAS storage with the scale-out benefits of VMware’s EVO:RAIL hyper-converged infrastructure. NetApp will offer VMWare’s EVO:RAIL hyper-converged rigs but with its networked FAS arrays. NetApp…

   

•  

  VMware Horizon FLEX is available now (http://www.vmguru.com/?p=14879)At VMworld Europe 2014 in Barcelona VMware introduced VMware Horizon FLEX. Today, VMware announced the general availability of VMware Horizon FLEX. VMware Horizon FLEX is a comprehensive enterprise solution that enables organizations to provision and manage local, corporate Windows-based virtual desktops to groups of employees that were previously difficult or costly to support. IT is now able to give Mac users, contractors and remote workers access to a secure corporate desktop in a cost effective…

   

•  

  Webinar: Building a Highly Available Hyper-V Cluster (http://www.vmguru.com/?p=14846)Join the Experts from 5 nine Software and StarWind Software in a session on the creation of cost effective and highly available Hyper-V cluster. Join them to continue receiving the essential insight and valuable information on: Building The Highly Available Hyper-V Cluster on Free Microsoft Hyper-V Server. Wednesday, December 3, 11 am ET / 4 pm GMT. Featured Speakers: Alexander Karavanov, Virtualization Security Engineer, 5nine Software. Max Kolomyeytsev, Product Manager, StarWind Software. If you…

   

•  

  #vBrownBag End of Year Give-Away! (http://professionalvmware.com/?p=5187)It’s back!  As a special thank you to our listeners, the #vBrownBag crew is happy to once again run our annual end of year give-away!  Now through December 16th you can sign up using the form below to be entered to win one of these great prizes which were generously donated for our community by […]

   

•  

  VMware Recovery Manager – IP Customization by @btkrausen (http://professionalvmware.com/?p=5182)This guest post is by Bryan Krausen who blogs at ITDiversified, where you can find his back catalogue of posts. Find out more about the guest blogger program here. As mentioned in this article, there are many variables to take into consideration when deploying and configuring VMware Site Recovery Manager. When failing (or testing) your […]

   

KB ARTICLES

DISCLAIMER

While I do my best to publish unbiased information specifically related to VMware solutions there is always the possibility of blog posts that are unrelated, competitive or potentially conflicting that may creep into the newsletter. I apologise for this in advance if I offend anyone and do my best to ensure this does not happen. Please get in touch if you feel any inappropriate material has been published. All information in this newsletter is copyright of the original author. If you are an author and wish to no longer be used in this newsletter please get in touch.