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VMworld US 2018 sessions on VMware Cloud on AWS

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VMworld US 2018 is just around the corner and hopefully most of you have started. I was just browsing the session catalog this morning see what sessions were available for VMware Cloud on AWS and I have always found the VMworld search results less than ideal as I prefer to be able to see all results on a single page without having to continue to load. I decided to write some automation to extract all VMware Cloud on AWS sessions and make them available on a single page.

In total, there are 93 sessions (spread across Sunday - Thursday) and there is literally something for everyone including intro type sessions, partner/3rd party solutions, different solution verticals, technical deep dives, customer panels and even some upcoming slick Tech Previews that we are working on! If you still have some open slots on your schedule, have a look at the list below and sign up.

I have also created a short URL, in case you want to share this list with others: http://vmwa.re/vmcvmworld2018

Sunday

Dear IT, You Gotta Modernize Your Data Center. Let vSphere Help. [VIN1622QU] (1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.) (13:00 - 13:30)
Understanding the TCO Benefits of VMware Cloud on AWS [HYP2817QU] (1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.) (13:00 - 13:30)
How to Deliver the VMware Cloud Story and Vision [PAR7002BU] (2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.) (14:00 - 14:50)
New Architectures for Big Data/Machine Learning on VMware Cloud on AWS [VAP1593QU] (2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.) (14:00 - 14:30)
New Tools and Information for Partners Selling VMware Cloud on AWS [PAR7004BU] (3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.) (15:00 - 15:50)
Software-Defined, Hybrid, and Distributed: Welcome to the VMware Cloud [HYP3024QU] (3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.) (15:00 - 15:30)
SAP in the Clouds [VAP2294QU] (4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.) (16:00 - 16:30)
Site Recovery Manager and Multiple Sites: The What, How, and Why [HCI2827QU] (4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.) (16:00 - 16:30)

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VMworld Hackathon Hardware/Software BOM

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I know many of you have been asking about the hardware setup that we had used in this years VMworld Hackathon. I finally got a chance to document the details and you can find the complete hardware and software BOM below. For VMworld US, we had two different HW configurations, one for the primary Hackathon which was also re-used for VMworld Europe but we also had another configuration for the Hackathon Training sessions which was new this year. For VMworld Europe, we re-used the primary Hackathon hardware, but we also had the opportunity to take advantage of the new VMware Cloud on AWS offering and built a similiar configuration that teams could also remotely connect to as well. The only difference between the on-premises hardware and VMWonAWS, is the latter required users to RDP to a Windows jump host. Both options were provided and teams could select either environment to use.

Note: Internally, CDW is one of our vendors for purchasing hardware/software and that is why there are links directly to their site. However, you may find better pricing by looking online, especially Amazon which majority of the components are cheaper except for the server which you can get an exclusive vGhetto Discount at MITXPC. I have added links to both CDW/Amazon where applicable and I recommend doing research to find the best pricing if you are on a budget.

Here is a picture of the setup at VMworld US:


Here is a picture of the setup at VMworld EU:

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VMworld Hackathon vSphere Client Login UI Theme

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For those of you who attended this years VMworld Hackathon (US/Europe), you may have noticed something different when logging into the vSphere Web/H5 Client? In case you missed it or could not attend, here is a GIF demonstrating what you would have saw:

via GIPHY

No, the VMworld Hackathon environment was not hacked 😉 but instead I had built a very special VMworld Hackathon vSphere Client Login UI Theme for the event. I was also getting tired of looking at our boring blue login screen. Customizing the vSphere Client Login UI has been possible (though not officially supported by VMware) since vSphere 6.0 which I have written about here, here and most recently here (due to vSphere 6.5 Update 1 changes). Having received a large number of requests from folks who attended the Hackathon as well as folks who had heard or saw the customization who wish to replicate this in their own environment, I have posted the instructions below.

This slick customization would not have been possible without the help from Timo Sugliani (thanks dude!) who was the one that made me aware of the two of the creatives that then gave me the idea to combine them into a vSphere Client Login UI Theme. The first is V for Vendetta image which can be found here and the second is super slick interactive Bootstrap animation which can be found here. Lastly, I added my own touch by using a Mr. Robot font from this site here which goes really well with the overall theme.

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Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) vs Hybrid Linked Mode (HLM)

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In the last few weeks, albeit due to VMworld, I have seen a large number of inquiries from customers regarding the existing vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) as it compares to the newly announced Hybrid Linked Mode (HLM) feature. In some cases, certain assumptions were being made based on what was initially announced and I think that also led to some confusion on what the future holds for both of these capabilities. Hopefully with this article, I can help clarify the differences between ELM and HLM and their respective use cases. I will also quickly touch upon some of the future thinkings for both of these features as they were discussed at several VMworld Sessions both in the US and Europe.

Disclaimer: Hopefully folks are familiar with the standard VMworld Disclaimer slide that is shown before any session which states features are subject to change and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders or sales agreement of any kind. I am sure many of you have memorized it by now, but this is a good time to re-iterate that point, especially as we talk about futures 🙂

Current

Lets start off by reviewing what we have today and explaining the differences between ELM and HLM.

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Direct playback URLs for all VMworld 2017 US & EU Sessions

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This is probably the shortest blog post ever but I have just published the direct playback URLs for all VMworld 2017 US and EU Sessions which can be found by visiting http://vmwa.re/vmworld2017

UPDATE (10/16/2017) - Huge thanks to VMworld Team, they have just posted the PDF decks for the majority of the US/EU sessions on VMworld website. You can access them by simply logging into the VMworld site and going into the Content Catalog, select a session and there should now be a download button for sessions that have their deck posted. In addition, I have also pulled all the PDF URLs into my direct playback URL pages for both US/Europe. You can find those by visiting the link above.

Enjoy!

VMworld Hackathon 2017 Highlights

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This was our second year running the Hackathon at VMworld and Alan and I could not have been more pleased with all the positive and supportive feedback that we have received. The Hackathon was definitely a highlight for us as it was for many other VMworld attendees. Having said that, the Hackathon did come in a very close #2 for us in VMworld Europe as our very own Alan Renouf took center stage with our CEO Pat Gelsinger for the Day 1 Keynote which you can watch here.

There were so many great highlights at both the US and Europe VMworld Hackathon, it was hard to just mention a few. I thought I would be nice to pull together all this content and share it back with the community, especially for those who missed out on the Hackathon this year and have now regretted not joining 😉 Do not worry, you can make up for it next year! It was also very cool to see the VMworld Hackathon influence the VMUG Community with the Pittsburg VMUG running their own "mini" Hackathon which they dubbed #PGHlittlehacks, you can read more about it here.

I also wanted to give a huge thanks to the VMware Code team, if it was not for them and their support, the Hackathon would have not been possible. Not only did we double the size of the teams by 2x for both US (7 to 15 teams) and Europe (5 to 10 teams), but we also recieved a larger budget this year for better hardware, giveaways and more activities like the Hackathon Trainings. If you are not part of VMware Code, be sure to sign up here and also be sure to give them feedback on things you like at the Hackathon as well as things we could improve on. You can reach them on Twitter @vmwarecode or Slack them https://vmwarecode.slack.com. I also wanted thank our esteemed judges here and here for taking time out of their busy VMworld schedule and spending several hours with us, we know you could have been anywhere, but you decided to hang out with us! Lastly, thanks to the VMworld TV folks for stopping by and having a chat with us.

Alan and I really appreciate all the kind words that we have received in the last few weeks and we hope to see you in next years VMworld Hackathon!

FYI - In the coming week, I will be posting more information about the Hackathon hardware BOM as well as the slick vSphere Web Client UI customization, so stay tuned.

Blogs:

Twitter Comments:

Videos:

VMworld TV Interview:

Time-Lapse Video by Lars Troen:

Hackathon Team Presentations by Lars Troen:

Pictures:


             US Pictures - https://github.com/lamw/vmworld-hackathon/tree/master/2017-USA-Pictures


             Europe Pictures - https://github.com/lamw/vmworld-hackathon/tree/master/2017-BCN-Pictures

US Hackathon Training:

US/EU Hackathon Github Repos:

Hackathon Hardware/Software BOM: