Vexpert

In addition to a couple of recent conversations with peers, a recent comment on a post on my site lead to a bit of a conversation around home labs and setups. Rather than going back and forth via comments, I figured I would write down some thoughts as a post. If nothing else, it will be easier to share and reference going forward. WHAT SHOULD MY LAB LOOK LIKE? Perfection is the enemy of progressIt depends …. But seriously, it depends on what you are trying to learn. If you are looking to learn about Active Directory and SQL Server, it will look a lot different if you are looking to learn more about vRealize Automation, for example. ...

So yeah, I totally went for a spammy title for this blog post 😊 Know why? Spam is deceiving, kind of like thinking there is an easy way into vExpert 😉 So what’s the point of this post? For one, I am a vExpert Pro, and part of my duty is to assist folks where and when I can, with regards to getting into the vExpert program. With that in mind, I wanted to write something up to assist folks with their vExpert applications. Below is some food for thought – it is not meant to be an “if you do this, you’ll be in” type of list, but rather “if you are serious about this, pay attention to these points”. This post was more or less spawned by this tweet: ...

Yesterday, VMware unveiled its vExpert Pro program. For those of you who aren’t aware, VMware runs a program called vExpert. Despite its name, this is not a technical accreditation. Rather, it is an invite-only program (although nominations, and self-nominations are open) and is intended to recognize individuals who give back to the “vCommunity”. The exact criteria for entry are kept confidential, to avoid folks gaming the system. However, for reference, you’ll find that a lot of vExperts regularly blog, present at conferences or user groups, and just generally try to help folks. Along with the title, there are some great perks. Things such as a Pluralsight subscription, NFR license keys, and access to the vExpert party at VMworld. ...

I recently sat and passed the VCP6-NV exam, and I figured since I spent a lot of time reading about other people’s exam experience, I would share mine as well. An important note is that there are two versions of this exam (as of this writing). The older exam is based on NSX 6 and was retired on April 30, 2017. This is noteworthy because a lot of the study material out there is based on the older exam. The general consensus online seems to be that it won’t hurt to review it, but if newer material is available, you might as well use that. ...

Late last year, I wrote up some goals and intentions for 2018. I’ve often felt that actually writing things like that down holds you accountable, and at least for me, it tends to make the likelihood of it coming true much higher. One of those points revolved around career and making a change, whether it be a shift where I am currently or moving on to somewhere else. And that is where this post comes in: a change is in the winds. ...

We are just about halfway through March now, and with that, a lot of the major IT industry influencer programs have kicked off. I am extremely excited to be a part of a few of these for 2018. Yes, a lot of them may have fancy titles, but that is somewhat beside the point. In most cases, folks are accepted based on contributions that they have made, usually in a public fashion. ...

When working with VMware Horizon, you’ll find the concept of desktop pools comes up fairly often. Honestly, they aren’t overly complicated to understand. But regardless, it is important to understand what they are, what the different types are, and what options are available. TYPES OF DEKSTOP POOLS When defining a desktop pool, you’ll be able to choose from one of the following three options below. Each type of pool has limitations as to what type of VMs or machines it can use: ...

While studying for my VCP7-DTM exam, I found that there were definitely some core aspects that I had to wrap my head around. I notice that while studying if I hit a stumbling block, I really need to crack it in order to grow. With that in mind, I decided that I wanted to write about a few of those blocks that I ran into. This partially came out of me wanting to understand concepts better. The other, larger part, came from me being too lazy to write a study guide. So, let’s get this going! ...

Over the past three months or so, I have found myself wandering into the same conversation over and over again: what makes a user group good? We all too often hear about what is wrong with a user group. It might be locations, sponsors, food, etc.. But I feel like we often overlook what is good, or great, about specific user groups. First off, we have to define what “good” is. Good for the leader can be very different than good to the attendees. Are there sponsors? If so, what does “good” look like to them? If we don’t know what “good” is, then chances are you’ll eventually end up with an empty room. ...

Today was that magical day of the year known as the Toronto VMUG UserCon, and it t’was a good day. I was fortunate enough to make it down early for opening (which involved me leaving the house at about 05:30), which was great because I wanted to make sure to catch the keynote by Frank Denneman ( @FrankDenneman on Twitter). It was also nice to get there in time to pound back a couple of cups of coffee. ...