Tag vmware

Some of you may remember the whole, Whoa! When the Photon Platform was announced at VMworld, in addition to PhotonOS and Lightwave open sourced earlier this year?!

Well, in carrying that fashion even further as of TODAY OMG TODAY!!! Photon Controller has joined the ranks of being Open Sourced!

So what does this mean?! Well, if you’re doing some mad hardcore Kubernetes, Cloud Foundry, Docker or Mesos work in your environment you can exploit and expand upon that with the whole Photon Suite, now further exploiting the Photon Controller!

To steal some of the mad slides on this for some architectural vision, feel free to have a lookie loo here! (Oh and lets ignore for a moment where it says CONFIDENTIAL… Hopefully that doesn’t apply anymore since this is officially out of Embargo… :))

For those of you who are VMware centric but are like ‘wtf does this mean?!’ we were initially discussing what each of these things mean and trying to convert it into VMware Data Center type terminology, so hopefully this is accurate, feel free to correct if you disagree!

Think of Photon Machine being kind of like ESXi – So the Hypervisor Element.

Think of Photon OS being like your Operating System which is where your “vm” or Code will operate. e.g., Your Windows or Linux server, except it will be where your code basis runs.

Think of Photon Controller being your VMware vCenter server.

With all that said… Head on over to the Getting Started Guide link to actually get started! It will take you to an annoying document which will require lots of ‘steps’ for you to follow to get it working. They don’t advise you ‘roll your own’ and instead follow the ‘instructions’ because those guide you to where it will work. But hey, I can hope they’ll package this up as an OVA or something sooner than later, because cmon, AUTOMATION CALLED AND WAS LIKE WTF. :)

Nonetheless, get out there, get your Photon on, it’s getting easier and easier to do every day!

<3

Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute, wait just one minute. What what?!   Yea, that’s right! You can finally start buying EMC’s VSPEX BLUE! Awesome right?!  Also if you remember from my last blog post on this subject,  EMC announces Sapphire on Rails! Err… I mean VSPEX BLUE a VMware EVO:RAILS Solution! I stated that this is only available “Through Channel Partners” So an extra ounce of awesome to that is… OMG WE’RE ONE OF THE CHANNEL PARTNERS! <3 <3 <3

EMC has officially announced a channel distribution model for the EMC VSPEX BLUE but in addition to that, they selected ten partners throughout the US to kick things off with this ‘beta program’ of the EMC Storefront.  Interesting stuff…

I know some of you are of the position, “Wow, I just like to walk into a store, order what I want and just go with this” this essentially lets you do that in so many terms.   If you’re not sure whether VSPEX BLUE is a good fit for you, or whether any EVO:RAIL Solution is the right approach for your organization be sure to check out my previous post (mentioned above) to get the long and short, and the respective skinny on whether it is indeed a good fit.

And hell, if it is a good fit… and the EMC Solution in particular is the flag you want to wave, head on over to the Xiologix EMC Store Front and ‘put in an order’ so to speak ;)  I’ll personally say hi and tell you why it’s either a good or horrible idea. (Well, I’m not going to stop guiding, steering and consulting just because something shiny and Blue comes along, right? :))

Though seriously, check it out… A lot of effort went into putting this out there, so why not? Otherwise, good times and start catching the blues! <3

Some of you may have read my original post back in November, The VCP-NV is your ticket to escaping the VCP “Class requirement” for VCP-DCV! which had basically stated that until February 28, 2015 you’d be able to get your Cisco CCNA/CCNP and then take the VMware VCP Network Virtualization with no course requirement, and that made you eligible for taking ANY other VCP (Such as Data Center Virtualization (DCV) or Cloud) without having to pay for the Course requirement applicable to those other certifications.

Then within the last week, an Asterisk appeared OUT OF NOWHERE, LIKE WTF?! Which prompted this blog post #AsteriskGate VMware feels the ‘pinch’ and “invalidates” the VCP-NV as a “valid VCP Certification” #AsteriskGate – And the general gist was, all of a sudden the stance appeared that the VCP-NX wasn’t as valuable as the other VCP Certifications (This prompted outrage from the community, to where people were being told by VMware Education that no, the VCP-NV did not ‘count’ basically) among other things.

Well, the latest on this trend of things is… This is no longer the case! I don’t want to say our community outreach and outrage respectively was the  ‘cause’ of this resolution but it likely was. :)

Here is an email I received from VMware Education when I contacted them on this matter;

As I understand, you need to know if  a VCP-NV certification taken through Cisco credential, can take certification in different track.

I would like to inform you that, yes, you could take VCP certifications in any track based on the VCP-NV certification taken through Cisco credential. There in no course requirement.

So there we go! Mission Accomplished. Oh and might I add an update from my original blog post which mentioned that the CCNA/CCNP route would expire 28FEB2015…

You can go this path until 31JAN2016!!!

So my dear friends, colleagues, network junkies and other industry brouhaha’s… Go out there, Get Certified! Whether that be by getting your CCNA R&S / CCNA DC, then getting your VCP-NV and on to VCP-DCV or you choose another path, the power is in your hands… Don’t let it pass you by! <3

Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute. You just put out a blog post for 15% off Microsoft Exams and 25% off VMware Exams and countless OTHER forms of free training and certification and now you’re telling me we can get 50% off on VMware Certifications?!?!

Well, no.

What I am saying is that if you’re in APJ / APAC, or more specifically the following countries;

• Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Korea

THEN you get 50% off Certification. Those of us in the US, Canada, LATAM and Europe… not so much. But hey, at least SOMEONE is getting a discount, right? (I wish it were me! :))

The full scoop of details can be found here at Save 50% off All VMware exams but the really important parts you can get here…

One nice thing is this is Multi-Use and Multi-Person, so if you’ve been planning to knock out your VCP-NV or update to add Cloud, you can!

• Schedule your exam between Oct 27 and Dec 19, 2014
• VCP Exams: VFVCP1450
• Advanced (VCAP) Exams: VFADV1450
• A Must-Read before taking your next #VMware VCP or VCAP Exam!!! (You must Authorize)

And there you go! Go out there and enjoy something which the rest of us cannot. :)

So, Corey Romero @vCommunityGuy recently put out this gem of a blog post vExpert 2015 applications are open which if you’re a previous vExpert or you think you’re the next up and coming vExpert, OR if you’d like to nominate someone you think absolutely rocks? Well, This is the post!

To sum up some of the key points from Corey’s post;

• Applications will be accepted until December 12th at midnight PST
• Applications received after the December 12th deadline will roll into the next nomination & voting process
• vExpert 2015 announcement will be on February 5th 2015.

And of course the ever so important links in the event that you don’t click on Corey’s post! :)

• 2014 vExperts: Fastrack application
• New vExperts: 2015 vExpert application
• Recommendation:  Recommend a colleague to apply for 2015 vExpert
• (They will still need to fill out the full application)

If you’re not sure whether you should be vExpert material, or what it really takes to apply… Feel free to check out my post from 2012!

The Non-definitive guide to the VMware vExpert Program, Tips, Tricks, How to become a vExpert!

So existing vExperts, go fill out your Fastrack application, new vExpert hopefuls, go get your application rocking out, and get those nominations in for the lesser known vExpert who don’t realize that they truly are a vExpert…’’