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Archive for the ‘partner’ Category

I am headed to San Diego today for VMware Partner Exchange 2008. It should be another great week of learning and networking. I am looking forward most to the hands on labs for Site Recovery Manager, ESXi, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and Lab Manager. There is also separate technical solution tracks for beginner, intermediate, and advanced breakout sessions. The exhibit pavillion, called the VMware Experience, sounds interesting too. Quoting the event website: Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past several weeks I have attended VMware’s latest VMLive web seminar about VDI as well as a local partner training session. Both the web seminar and the training session provided some great information about the new Virtual Desktop Manager product or VDM 2. The following post is a summary of my notes and some of the slides from the web session. Click on the slides to view a larger version.

VDI & VDM Architecture

With VDM 2 the VDI architecture is scalable and flexible. Multiple installations of VDM allow for larger numbers of users and desktops. Securing virtual desktop access from the Internet is also possible.

When you install VDM 2 you have three choices for the Desktop Manager installation type:

• Standard (first Connecton Server),
• Replica (copies of first server) servers
• Security Server – ssl tunneling, 2 factor authentication – can be installed in DMZ

VDM installs Read the rest of this entry »

Aaron Delp’s BladeVault.info site reports about calculators from HP and IBM that can help you plan for power when considering physical server consolidation by implementing blades. IBM’s calculator is a downloadable .msi while HP’s is an online calculator. HP also offers a downloadable offline version which has limited functionality compared to the online tool. IBM’s calculator is not just limited to blades as it computes power figures for all x series servers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Australian VAC Partner Oriel has created a clever Virtualization Calculator that illustrates how virtualization is good for the planet. Based on the statistic that the average 2 cpu server produces 12.5 tons of CO2 per year, the calculator not only tells you how much money you can save in hardware and power but it also provides comparable environmental benefit examples such as planting trees, reduced car emmissions, and reduced cow emissions.

I entered 200 servers in the calculator and received the following results (click on the screen shot to see a larger image): Read the rest of this entry »

One of the announcements this week from VMworld Europe was that ESX 3i will begin shipping integrated in Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, and IBM industry standard servers in the next 60 days. The following is a VMware VIP Partner Bulletin email I received. Check out the links to the hardware manufacturer’s individual announcements in the body of this email.

Dear Richard,

Today, February 26, 2008 at VMworld Europe, VMware announced agreements with the world’s largest systems providers—Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP and IBM—to embed VMware ESX Server 3i across broad lines of servers to accelerate the proliferation of virtualization across companies ranging from small business to large enterprises. These partners are expected to commence shipping their respective industry-standard servers integrated with VMware ESX Server 3i within the next 60 days.

Last year we previewed this strategy with you when we announced the latest release of VMware Infrastructure 3 and ESX 3i. Combined, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP and IBM accounted for Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a visual representation of Microsoft Server 2008 and it’s various new enhancements? Go to the Microsoft.com downloads pages and download the Windows Server 2008 Component Posters. The Server 2008 poster is divided into six product scenarios. There is a virtualization scenario and a Server Core scenario.

Some info about the posters from Microsoft’s page:

These two posters, originally published in the July 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine, provide a strong visual tool to aide in the understanding of various features and components of Windows Server 2008. One poster focuses exclusively on powerful new Active Directory technologies, while the other provides a technical look at a variety of new features available in Windows Server 2008 (such as Server Core, Network Access Protection, and more).

Get the originals from the link above, or I have saved copies locally on my Files page.

Here is a screenshot of the virtualization scenario. Click the image for a larger version. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s great to see the recent positive changes to the VMware Partner program. As the competition enters the market, VMware realizes that who better to help continue growth and capture the untapped market share than the services organizations that are already implementing and supporting the VMware products in the field. In my experience, VMware has always “talked the talk” about enabling the partner channel, but not necessarily “walked the walk” when it came time to ensure margin and protecting the deal.

Internally, Partner Channel Managers have reduced their accounts and are focusing on building better relationships with a smaller group of partners. Externally VMware has announced some exciting new benefits for members of the Partner Program. VMware Unveils Major Program Enhancements for its Nearly 10,000 Virtualization Channel Partners was a news release last week from VMware that promises better profitability, training, marketing and support. From the release: Read the rest of this entry »