Tag sessions

VMware Explore Las Vegas 2024: Schedule Your Sessions Now

Brian Owen Leave a comment

Thousands of people will be gathering at The Venetian in only a little over a month for VMware Explore Las Vegas 2024. Sessions can now be added to your schedule. Take care of this now before popular sessions fill up. If you are not able to attend Explore or miss a session while being there, you will be able to stream them after the event.

The content catalog has over 500 sessions. There are typically more sessions if you have a TAM added to your Explore registration profile, but I am not sure sure about this year. Sessions start on Monday morning with the general session on Tuesday. The types of sessions vary in format, such presentations, meet the expert, and hands on labs. Below is a list of sessions that are on my radar. I mostly enjoy going to more practical sessions that will teach me something that I can bring back to my job to make an impact.

Improving Workload Availability Using vMotion Application Notification
Modern-Day Explorer Showcase
vSphere Performance Testing of Workloads
{code} Lab: Introduction To ChatGPT Via API Interface
How to Present to a Local VMUG, a UserCon, VMware Explore or Your Own Team
What’s New in Windows Server 2025 & Azure VMware Solution
1 Answer to Your Generative AI Questions — VMware Private AI
Building End-To-End Networking with Azure VMware Solution
Best Practices to Reduce the Attack Surface of Your VMware Infrastructure
{code} Lab: Advanced Lab Using ChatGPT To Write Powershell Automation

Go register before the price goes up at the door.
https://www.vmware.com/explore/us

Getting ready for an awesome time at VMware Explore Las Vegas

Brian Owen 2 Comments

We are only 2 months away from VMware Explore and I am pumped! Go register before the price goes up again. Looks like many people are excited the event is back in Las Vegas. Details about the event have been trickling in and I am sure more details will be released about the event very soon.

I will be arriving on Sunday to get settled down before the bulk of the event kicks off and pick up my badge. The broad agenda is the same from last year. With Monday having some smaller activities and the welcome reception. Then the general session on Tuesday kicks off the first full day. In other years, the event was one day longer. The hall crawl on Tuesday night and VMware’s big party on Wednesday. It will be exciting to see what they have in store for that one. The event ends on Thursday with a half day.

I always came away with a tremendous amount of new knowledge every time I went to VMworld or Explore. Yes, you can watch some of the sessions at home. However, there’s something electric in the air when you are there in person interacting with everyone. Also, there’s exclusive TAM sessions that are not recorded, meet the expert sessions, and networking in person is unmatched to any other media.

I came across a few parties so far. On the Monday, the Elevate Technology User Group (formerly named the CONVERGED User Group) is having a party at Yardbird. All are welcome to register and attend. I went to their party last year and it was great. The VMUG party is on Tuesday at the Pinball Hall of Fame. I cannot yet find a website for registration for this event. Rubrik is having an event Tuesday night at the Wakuda Lounge. I will make another post later when I come across more parties and other details related to the event.

The Content Catalog currently has over 600 sessions. You can favorite them, but you cannot yet add them to your schedule or see when a session is occurring. Scheduling will open on July 11th. Make sure you do your homework ahead of time to be ready to schedule the sessions you’re interested in. Some sessions fill up quickly. Also, only a fraction of the stand by line could be accommodated during one of the sessions I was trying to get into last year so no guarantee if it’s not on your schedule.

I took a preliminarily look and added the following sessions to my favorites. I am sure more sessions will be added so I will update my list later or create another article on the topic. I am looking forward to see what VMware code sessions are being planned. They always have cool, interactive sessions, such as with Raspberry Pis or NUC like devices.

10 Big New Benefits of vSphere That You Absolutely Need to Know
Best Practices for Hardening Your VMware Infrastructure
NSX Operations and Troubleshooting: Best Practices
CLI Troubleshooting Nuggets
Scripting Inside the vSphere Client

EDIT:
Here are a couple great sources that have a lot of parties listed.
Russell Hamker Explore party list
VMblog’s Explore party list

Fun and Learning at VMware Explore 2022

Brian Owen Leave a comment

VMware Explore US is this month! I am excited to be at an in person VMware event for the first time in three years. I have been planning out my schedule and it’s jammed packed as always. There are a lot of great sessions to chose from during the day and a lot of entertainment at night (party list).

Content catalog has 814 sessions, at the moment, spread across the four days and a VCDX workshop on Monday. Hard to do it, but I narrowed down what I could squeeze into my schedule. Keep in mind only up to three ‘Meet the Expert’ sessions can be added. I like to focus on sessions that I can apply what I learn as soon as I get back to work. Below is what I have on my schedule.

A First Look at Building Your Own Management Pack without Writing Code
Advanced Troubleshooting of ESXi Server 7.x for vSphere Gurus
Networking and Security Analytics, and the Evolution of the NSX Platform
Advanced Topics in VMware vRealize Operations
Automated VM Rightsizing with Ease
Advanced Topics in VMware vRealize Log Insight
PowerCLI and REST APIs – A New Beginning

The sessions I am most looking forward to are the VMware Code sessions that involve a NUC. The sessions are similar to what they did in 2019 with the Raspberry Pi sessions. You get to work on a NUC focusing on two different topics. There is limited availability for each session so register soon. If you are waitlisted, still show up. Worse case is you sit on the side line and listen to the presentation. If you are a vExpert and answered the program survey on attending, you will be given a NUC to take home.

VMware {code} Intel NUC Home Lab with Smart Sensors
VMware {code} VMware Tanzu on Intel NUC Lab Environment Setup and Application Building

The online events over the past two years were good filler, but it’s hard to match the networking that is done at this event. I am looking forward to learning from and hanging out with the best in the industry. I am sure the expo area will be full with vendors and a great party on Wednesday night hosted by VMware. I wonder what big announcements will be made and what artists will be at the official party.

My Top Picks for Sessions at VMworld 2021

Brian Owen Leave a comment

VMworld is virtual for the second straight year. The event is October 5-7 and will have content around the clock to accommodate various time zones. There are two types of passes available; the general pass is free and the Tech+ Pass has a charge. Some of the sessions are only available with the Tech+ Pass. The content catalog has been released so it’s nice to get an idea of what’s happening to plan ahead. I like to focus mostly on sessions that will help me add value to the work I do today. Some sessions will be pre-recorded and some will be live via Zoom. As always, there’s a lot of sessions to choose from. I went through them all and below are my top picks.

Deep Dive: VM Performance and Best Practices [VI2158]$
Extreme Performance Series: Performance Best Practices [MCL1635]
Extreme Performance Series: vSphere Advanced Performance Boot Camp [MCL2033]$
It’s good to see sessions based on the fundamentals of vSphere and then taking those fundamentals to the next level. All three sessions sound similar and rated at the highest technical level. Both extreme performance sessions are hosted by Mark Achtemichuk and Valentin Bondzio, and one of them is free. Mark is a VCDX, and whenever a VCDX speaks, I pay attention. These sessions should deliver useful information for all VMware admins. Mark and Valentin both work for VMware so I am sure they have seen a million different problems and can help people better troubleshoot when they face these problems.

Core Storage Best Practices Deep Dive [MCL2071]$
VMware vSAN – Dynamic Volumes for Traditional and Modern Applications [MCL1084]
VMware Storage Queue Tuning [VMTN2862]
The first session I listed above will be hosted by Cody Hosterman and Jason Massae. I have watched Cody present before at a local VMUG and other events, and he always delivers. He works for Pure, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s there to only promote his product. He always gets to the crux of storage that applies to nearly everyone. Duncan Epping, VCDX, and Cormac Hogan are presenting the vSAN session. They will be discussing the newer vSAN File Service and more cutting edge integration with vSphere Container Storage Interface. I am very interested in what storage tips all of these rock stars will give that I can apply at my job.

The Clock is Ticking on NSX Data Center for vSphere [EDG2721]$
NSX Data Center for vSphere to NST-T Data Center – Migration Approaches [NET1211]
NSX Data Center for vSphere to NSX-T: Strategies to Make the Move [EDG1515]
NSX-V reaches end of support on January 16th, 2022 and that’s the basis of these panels. Jayson Block, VCDX, is hosting the third session linked above. If you are still using NSX-V, you have to attend at least one of these sessions. All three sessions will give good advice on developing a migration plan. Hopefully, this will help to jumpstart your planning and migrating to NSX-T before support ends.

A Field Guide to Health Check vSAN to Operate, Upgrade and Transform [MCL1825]$
A technical Review of PSC. VMDIR, Replication and Snapshots [VI2447]$
Troubleshooting with vRealize Operations and vRealize Log Insight [MCL1286]$
All three of these sessions are in the meet the expert category and will give deep dives in their respective areas. Paul McSharry, VCDX, is presenting the vSAN session. This session looks valuable for anyone using vSAN to hear from an architect that has many deployments under their belt. The PSC has come a long way, but I still feel I don’t know everything I need to know about it. I always come across some sort of problem that support needs to help with. The PSC session looks to give the deeper understanding that I have been looking for. A lot of companies have vROps and vRLI deployed, but I rarely see anyone use the two products to their full potential. Using one or both of these products together is very useful for troubleshooting. I am looking forward to fine tuning my troubleshooting skills with this session.

Solid sessions make a virtual event and VMworld delivers again. I rather it be in person. However, it being virtual has some benefits, such as there’s a free option and more accessible to a wider audience. I will be again missing out on collecting a suitcase full of swag, but there will be giveaways from VMware and vendors, even during a virtual event. I won an official VMworld backpack last year!