Team Twitter Handles: @ArielSanchezmor, @Kim_Bottu, @GeneticSequence, @VM_Beach, @VMGforce, @ymendozahn, @VMVernak
We're just starting out, but some of the early team members have accomplished a great deal.
BLOGS
Check out and follow each of these bloggers! Some of these blog sites are unreal.
Ariel Sanchez: @ArielSanchezmor
vmgotchas.com and virtualizethenet.com
Kim Bottu: @Kim_Bottu
virtual-kim.com
Thomas Ivers: @GeneticSequence
vtommy.blogspot.com
Eric Beach: @VM_Beach
@VMGforce
Yuri Mendoza: @ymendozahn
Dan McGee: @VMVernak
vernak.com
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Silicon Valley or Bust! Follow Your Dreams.
I traveled to Silicon Valley (SV) in '94 for Spring Internet World. Yes, there actually was just ONE show celebrating all the "new" technologies for the Internet at that time. Exciting times! While in California I visited the Netscape Corporation, drove by the sand volleyball courts at Intel, had my picture taken in front of Cray...and the list goes on and on. I was set. I knew what I wanted and an implementation plan would get me there.
It was at that time that I decided that nothing would stop me from working in Silicon Valley. After graduation from Iowa State University in MIS, in '98, I decided that obtaining a job in a nearby market was the best medicine temporarily, and after working for a short time, the Valley beckoned me! So in '00, I decided to follow my dreams.
I was going to be upending my life and did not have a job awaiting me, so I had to have assets to tide me over until my first gig. After looking at the rental rates for apartments in SV, I could see that they were out of reach without full time employment. So I decided to rough it and camp out either on the fringes of SV or in a National Park. And, before you ask, no, I had never camped before.
After checking the annual weather and temperature patterns for the state of California for late Summer, I decided that initially, I would be in a National Park in Southern California. I settled on the San Bernardino National Forest, and according to the Internet site for the National Parks, for a $21 I could live in one location with a tent for up to three weeks, move, and set up camp in any of the other parks in California, rotating every 21 days. The National Park Park Pass is a great buy to this day!
Within just a few weeks, I had broken my 401K, sold everything that I had including my then ailing '87 notch-back, 5.0 GT Mustang, and bought supplies for the trip from the North Face. I picked up a lightweight two man tent 10'x10' waterproof mat with stakes, a sleeping bag good for 30F,and a sleeping bag air mat. But I had one problem. No transportation! There was no way that I could afford a new, reliable car, on what I had so again, I deferred to my dreams.
Having already owned and raced a Kawasaki GPZ 550, full F1, Champion Moriwaki race built bike, I knew what I wanted. I called around for availability and then went down to the dealer with cash and within two hours brought home a 2001, GSX-R750. 123HP, 187MPH top end...just what I needed to get to Silicon Valley without wasting a second! I took two weeks of tooling around on it to obtain my license, packed and drove in 21 hours to the San Bernardino National Forest to a remote cap site!
By the time I reached the San Bernardino National Forest, it was Fall. It was dry and the evenings were getting chilly. One thing I learned is that one person sitting around a campfire is no fun, and Cisco and Linux books are very hard to read by the campfire. I didn't waste my valuable daylight. Every day, I awoke to a scene from Bonanza, a high alpine forest. Baths were in the creeks nearby. Hypothermia I found was a state of mind. And you had to scrub in your tires every morning on the mountain roads so they would stick like glue.
Soon thereafter, I would set out to a State of California university having open access, to apply for jobs. The coldest that it hit was around 30F for a few evenings, and I landed two job interviews in Silicon Valley. One listened to me describe where I was located, six hours + to the South, and they told me that I had to get a cell phone and mailbox and they would hire me immediately! Done and done.
Within a month, I went from a very drab entry level job to working in Silicon Valley, in a NOC, as a NOC Analyst, overseeing more than 2,200 nodes globally on large fat pipes. The second company that I interviewed with, a biotech start-up, had been nagging me the entire time, and only then wanted to hire me, and while working for four weeks at the first employer, I negotiated a $15K raise, a $10K signing bonus, and a $15K milestones bonus. I took that job and oversaw the complete demolition of a two story commercial infrastructure, the bidding processes for all major tasks, sat in on all of the architectural meetings, and began unboxing 60 desktops, 10 servers, 20 printers and was tasked with site system administrative duties. Now this is all done via VDI, but at the time, it was heady project management experience.
I'm no longer in Silicon Valley, but, I'm still living the dream. How about you?
#vDM30in30
It was at that time that I decided that nothing would stop me from working in Silicon Valley. After graduation from Iowa State University in MIS, in '98, I decided that obtaining a job in a nearby market was the best medicine temporarily, and after working for a short time, the Valley beckoned me! So in '00, I decided to follow my dreams.
I was going to be upending my life and did not have a job awaiting me, so I had to have assets to tide me over until my first gig. After looking at the rental rates for apartments in SV, I could see that they were out of reach without full time employment. So I decided to rough it and camp out either on the fringes of SV or in a National Park. And, before you ask, no, I had never camped before.
After checking the annual weather and temperature patterns for the state of California for late Summer, I decided that initially, I would be in a National Park in Southern California. I settled on the San Bernardino National Forest, and according to the Internet site for the National Parks, for a $21 I could live in one location with a tent for up to three weeks, move, and set up camp in any of the other parks in California, rotating every 21 days. The National Park Park Pass is a great buy to this day!
Within just a few weeks, I had broken my 401K, sold everything that I had including my then ailing '87 notch-back, 5.0 GT Mustang, and bought supplies for the trip from the North Face. I picked up a lightweight two man tent 10'x10' waterproof mat with stakes, a sleeping bag good for 30F,and a sleeping bag air mat. But I had one problem. No transportation! There was no way that I could afford a new, reliable car, on what I had so again, I deferred to my dreams.
Having already owned and raced a Kawasaki GPZ 550, full F1, Champion Moriwaki race built bike, I knew what I wanted. I called around for availability and then went down to the dealer with cash and within two hours brought home a 2001, GSX-R750. 123HP, 187MPH top end...just what I needed to get to Silicon Valley without wasting a second! I took two weeks of tooling around on it to obtain my license, packed and drove in 21 hours to the San Bernardino National Forest to a remote cap site!
By the time I reached the San Bernardino National Forest, it was Fall. It was dry and the evenings were getting chilly. One thing I learned is that one person sitting around a campfire is no fun, and Cisco and Linux books are very hard to read by the campfire. I didn't waste my valuable daylight. Every day, I awoke to a scene from Bonanza, a high alpine forest. Baths were in the creeks nearby. Hypothermia I found was a state of mind. And you had to scrub in your tires every morning on the mountain roads so they would stick like glue.
Soon thereafter, I would set out to a State of California university having open access, to apply for jobs. The coldest that it hit was around 30F for a few evenings, and I landed two job interviews in Silicon Valley. One listened to me describe where I was located, six hours + to the South, and they told me that I had to get a cell phone and mailbox and they would hire me immediately! Done and done.
Within a month, I went from a very drab entry level job to working in Silicon Valley, in a NOC, as a NOC Analyst, overseeing more than 2,200 nodes globally on large fat pipes. The second company that I interviewed with, a biotech start-up, had been nagging me the entire time, and only then wanted to hire me, and while working for four weeks at the first employer, I negotiated a $15K raise, a $10K signing bonus, and a $15K milestones bonus. I took that job and oversaw the complete demolition of a two story commercial infrastructure, the bidding processes for all major tasks, sat in on all of the architectural meetings, and began unboxing 60 desktops, 10 servers, 20 printers and was tasked with site system administrative duties. Now this is all done via VDI, but at the time, it was heady project management experience.
I'm no longer in Silicon Valley, but, I'm still living the dream. How about you?
#vDM30in30
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Chicago VMug September, 2014
The Chicago VMug (On Twitter @ChicagoVMUG, and on WWW) was held in September, 2014 at the Rosemont Convention Center. I did not have a blog at that time, so this is the first write-up that I have done on the event.
I met a few VMware leaders, and visited every vendor. There were many storage suppliers, and most of them were offering flash solutions. I'll be posting more information on these vendors over the next few days.
The following image map will take you to the vendor sites:
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Have You Got The Right Stuff?
If you are reading this, and following my blog, I am sure that you are somewhat like me. I'm a trained system administrator with some rather significant projects under my belt. Tackling VMware is not something that I have to be timid about at this stage because I've developed a thick skin and more than one way to get around obstacles other than brute force perseverance, but that can be very helpful, along with a stiff cup of coffee or espresso!
Have you ever wondered if you could keep going from project to project "unbroken" with one or more employers having a string of successes one after the other? What is the largest project you have worked on? Or do you take it is it a given that you will persevere and make it without a hitch? There may be setbacks in everything from training to the application of your knowledge. If you have acquired a degree or been in the field long enough, you know what I speak of.
In your downtime, I'll bet you pursue multiple interests to keep you from reaching burnout. Few of us can work 60, 70, 80 hours per week, month after month without losing a little of our edge and interest. What are your interests? Do you have a family and children? Are you an athlete or are you a fan of one or more athletic events? Are you a bookworm moving from author to author reading one topic alone, or a multitude of different topics?
On Twitter, I follow subject matter related to the singularity, space exploration being performed by SpaceX and NASA, NHL ice hockey, the accurate reproduction of music, as well as having interests in systems administration and DevOps applications, python, Linux and Microsoft administration, networking and VMware. Regarding all of these technologies that we are developing, and maintaining, do you really think that mankind can continue to produce systems and the systems will not somehow become adapted to human use for the supplementation of mankind? Better see what those in support of the melding of man and machine have to say.
While you are thinking if you have the "right stuff," capable of managing a project for 50, 250, 1,000 seats or more perhaps spend some time thinking about what it takes to lead an entire nation to greatness as a pilot for aeronautical and aerospace systems prior to the NASA Space Shuttle.
While I am reading my new text on VMware certification on the DCA-DCV, keep yourself busy reading the following FREE texts and see what it means to have a never quit attitude: X-15: Extending the Frontiers of Flight, The Smell of Kerosene: A Test Pilot's Odyssey, and you may also check here are a few more texts that demonstrate what having the right stuff is all about.
Happy Reading! vDM30in30
@GeneticSequence on Twitter
Have you ever wondered if you could keep going from project to project "unbroken" with one or more employers having a string of successes one after the other? What is the largest project you have worked on? Or do you take it is it a given that you will persevere and make it without a hitch? There may be setbacks in everything from training to the application of your knowledge. If you have acquired a degree or been in the field long enough, you know what I speak of.
In your downtime, I'll bet you pursue multiple interests to keep you from reaching burnout. Few of us can work 60, 70, 80 hours per week, month after month without losing a little of our edge and interest. What are your interests? Do you have a family and children? Are you an athlete or are you a fan of one or more athletic events? Are you a bookworm moving from author to author reading one topic alone, or a multitude of different topics?
On Twitter, I follow subject matter related to the singularity, space exploration being performed by SpaceX and NASA, NHL ice hockey, the accurate reproduction of music, as well as having interests in systems administration and DevOps applications, python, Linux and Microsoft administration, networking and VMware. Regarding all of these technologies that we are developing, and maintaining, do you really think that mankind can continue to produce systems and the systems will not somehow become adapted to human use for the supplementation of mankind? Better see what those in support of the melding of man and machine have to say.
While you are thinking if you have the "right stuff," capable of managing a project for 50, 250, 1,000 seats or more perhaps spend some time thinking about what it takes to lead an entire nation to greatness as a pilot for aeronautical and aerospace systems prior to the NASA Space Shuttle.
While I am reading my new text on VMware certification on the DCA-DCV, keep yourself busy reading the following FREE texts and see what it means to have a never quit attitude: X-15: Extending the Frontiers of Flight, The Smell of Kerosene: A Test Pilot's Odyssey, and you may also check here are a few more texts that demonstrate what having the right stuff is all about.
Happy Reading! vDM30in30
@GeneticSequence on Twitter
Monday, November 3, 2014
Busy Like a Bee!
I added two additional texts to my VMware library! Yay! So what did I get?
"Networking for VMware Administrators" (VMware Press Technology review here) by Christopher Wahl, and Steve Pantol, and "Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5" (Wiley review here) by Scott Lowe.
I plan to nail down VMware and in order to do that I really need to know how systems communicate via the VMware networks. Ever had that funny suspicion that you thought that you knew a topic, and were able to make use of an attribute like networking in VMware vSphere, and then saw that there existed a 368 page tome on the subject matter? Yep. Well, I think the fact that anyone can fire up VMware vSphere and create systems and then network them goes to show how well the software and hardware engineers at VMware wrote vSphere, but that does not in any way mean that you understand VMware vSphere networking. Having covered the CCNA once, I'll tell you, if you don't already know...networking can bite you and I'm hoping to avoid that. So we will see what this text is all about in the coming weeks. I'm expecting a much needed review of networking materials, which will be great, but I'm also expecting to learn a ton about how VMware processes packets!
As for "Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5" I already own a copy of the 5.0 text, have read more than 75% of it, and it was awesome, and I need a complete review of the new system. I'll be conducting a move from 5.0 to 5.5 this month and this text and the networking text hit the spot.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Where do you start with VMware Certification?
There are many articles on the VMware Certification path, but not that many on where to start. Since I am moving down this path, let me tell you what I have done in today's post for #vDM30in30.
Everyone has a different approach to learning, but my favorite is immersion. I picked up this strategy when attending college, specifically for programming languages like C and even Latin.
Immersion for VMware technologies to me has meant:
Not to get side-tracked but, I attended my first Chicago VMug on September 17, 2014. It was a great opportunity to meet all the leaders in the community, meet the vendors in the space, and possibly attend one or more sessions on the technology. I spent most of my time gathering data sheets and meeting vendors. For me, to assume a position as a VMware administrator means that I can come in on day one and be ready to assist in the development of enterprise grade solutions, that befit my background as a project participant. A project participant, can in fact be a project lead, it all depends on the size of the company that you are with and what you are hired to do. Since I need to produce solutions, I need to learn about the vendors and what they are selling as well as the technologies that VMware sells. We will cover my VMug attendance in the upcoming week, even though this event occurred in September so that you have an idea of what attending is all about.
We complete this entry with where you can follow me as I:
Note that you do NOT have to buy a Kindle to read eBooks from Amazon.com. There is a FREE reader but you may have to be logged in to see the options (Select SEE ALL). Note that when you first go to the Amazon page to buy the VCA-DCV guide, there is also a link on the right hand side to download a FREE Reader for your device!
I'll let you know what I've learned from studying the VCA-DCV Guide in follow-up posts.
Happy reading!
Everyone has a different approach to learning, but my favorite is immersion. I picked up this strategy when attending college, specifically for programming languages like C and even Latin.
Immersion for VMware technologies to me has meant:
- joining your local VMug (@ChicagoVMug for me) and attending VMug meet-ups and VMworld,
- joining and participating in VMware CloudCred, which we did yesterday,
- joining and visiting the VMware Community on a regular basis and reading as much as you can,
- getting started with the VCA-DCV Certification Guide,
- and possibly taking a course or two on VMware.
Not to get side-tracked but, I attended my first Chicago VMug on September 17, 2014. It was a great opportunity to meet all the leaders in the community, meet the vendors in the space, and possibly attend one or more sessions on the technology. I spent most of my time gathering data sheets and meeting vendors. For me, to assume a position as a VMware administrator means that I can come in on day one and be ready to assist in the development of enterprise grade solutions, that befit my background as a project participant. A project participant, can in fact be a project lead, it all depends on the size of the company that you are with and what you are hired to do. Since I need to produce solutions, I need to learn about the vendors and what they are selling as well as the technologies that VMware sells. We will cover my VMug attendance in the upcoming week, even though this event occurred in September so that you have an idea of what attending is all about.
We complete this entry with where you can follow me as I:
- see what the entry level VMware Certifications are,
- find information from VMware on the VMware Certified Associate – Data Center Virtualization (VCA-DCV), which is the first certificate that I am going for
- purchasing the VCA-DCV guide from Amazon.com.
Note that you do NOT have to buy a Kindle to read eBooks from Amazon.com. There is a FREE reader but you may have to be logged in to see the options (Select SEE ALL). Note that when you first go to the Amazon page to buy the VCA-DCV guide, there is also a link on the right hand side to download a FREE Reader for your device!
I'll let you know what I've learned from studying the VCA-DCV Guide in follow-up posts.
Happy reading!
Saturday, November 1, 2014
What is you Cloud Credibility?
As of today, I am a member of CloudCred. CloudCred is a new cloud computing training and recognition platform where IT pros can show off their cloud computing knowledge and skills and win prizes. If you look at the tasks, they all are related to VMware! I'll be diving in to this every Saturday, and wanted you to be able to get involved.
I have started my own team, which you may join, NoctilucentCloud! A noctilucent cloud is the highest type of cloud on Earth and you may read more about it on Wikipedia.
Don't forget to join your local VMug!
I have started my own team, which you may join, NoctilucentCloud! A noctilucent cloud is the highest type of cloud on Earth and you may read more about it on Wikipedia.
 |
| Noctilucent Clouds from ISS. |
Don't forget to join your local VMug!
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