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VMware vSphere Mobile Watchlist

Angelo LucianiVirtualization

Ever get that call from support and you are nowhere near your computer? You now can access your VMware resources through your phone.

VMware vSphere Mobile Watchlist are found in both the Apple and Android app stores. This handy tool can help you resolve problem fast and make you out to be the hero!

VMware vSphere Mobile Watchlist

Here is a snippet from the VMware vSphere Blog on features:

  • Easily Create VM Watchlists: Select a subset of VMs from your VMware vSphere VM inventory to tell the app what VMs to track. Use multiple lists to organize these important VMs.
  • VMs at a Glance: Review the status of these VMs from your device including: their state, health, console and related objects.
  • Suggested KB Articles: Got an alert on your VM? Let VMware vSphere Mobile Watchlist suggest what KB Articles might help you or search the web to gather more information.
  • Remediate Remotely: Use power operations to remediate many situations remotely from your device.
  • Delegate To Your Team: For those situations where you are not able to fix an issue from the device, VMware vSphere Mobile Watchlist will enable you to share the VM and alert information along with any suggested KB articles and other web pages relevant to the current problem. Your colleagues back in the data center can use this context to resolve the issue.

Visit the VMware vSphere Mobile Watchlist Community forums to learn about the application. Let me know on Twitter how you plan on using this app and thanks for reading!

Open Compute Summit V Goodness

Angelo LucianiCommunity

Interested in how Facebook and Google grow their data centers quickly? The secret, they build their own scalable servers.

You can learn from the Open Compute Project (OCP). They share the most efficient designs for scalable computing.

The Fifth Open Compute Summit is taking place in the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA. This is a great foundation and it’s exciting to see the change taking place in the Data Center. For those of you unaware of the Open Compute Project, here is a snippet from their website.

Open Compute Project

What is Open Compute Project

The Open Compute Project Foundation is a rapidly growing community of engineers around the world whose mission is to design and enable the delivery of the most efficient server, storage and data center hardware designs for scalable computing. We believe that openly sharing ideas, specifications and other intellectual property is the key to maximizing innovation and reducing operational complexity in the scalable computing  space.

The Open Compute Project Foundation provides a structure in which individuals and organizations can share their intellectual  property with Open Compute Projects.

How can you follow the event

To make this summit accessible to folks who could not make it. They are streaming keynotes and other notable presentations on YouTube. You can view their channel here.

Opening remarks & Curb your innovation II

I’ve complied a list of some other important links from day one that you might want to check out.

Enjoy day two of the event – don’t forget to follow them on Twitter and let me know on Twitter if you attended and what your number one takeaway was.

Software-Defined Data Center – Algorithms + APIs

Angelo LucianiCommunity

I just finished reading an excellent book called “Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World” by Christopher Steiner. It got me thinking about how algorithms can play a role in the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC). Orchestration and Automation, a big trend these days, could be the first step toward an SDDC.

Going a step further, creating and adding predictive algorithms with vendor APIs to the SDDC stack could transform our current traditional data centers to more active, and sometimes, machine learning data centers of the future. Algorithms are more than automation and orchestration; it’s about being able to respond and react with no human intervention.

Algorithms are all around us today, from Wall Street to Healthcare, deciding and taking actions with no intervention from a human. There is an example in the book about an algorithm that could predict hit songs.

Predictive Security Algorithms

One thought that came to me was using predictive algorithms and vendor APIs with security tools. Imagine your security vendor provides you with a predictive algorithm, along with their API that is monitoring the network. The algorithm could start countermeasures once an attack is underway, all without the intervention of a system administrator, rather than report that you need to take some action.

Let’s say the predictive algorithm noticed some strange activity on a particular port and could determine the type of attack. It could immediately start countermeasures, for example–spawns several additional firewalls within that VLAN/network to deal with the attack or spawns honeypots, to redirect the attack. How about a predictive algorithm that could spawn virtual switches on your network as needed to help with a particular application load, all with no intervention from the IT staff?

The Future belongs to Algorithms and APIs

There are so many examples of using predictive algorithms that could transform your data center and your company. I’ve also started seeing courses online related to machine learning and predictive analytics. Did you know Google has a Prediction API? Not sure about the details, but it seems interesting.

I know it’s still early in the Software-Defined Data Center space, but the possibilities are endless. In addition, do we need a different type of sysadmin for the future? One that can program to help deploy this new system?

If you look at any of the Top 10 lists, for example, ComputerWorld released the 10 hottest IT skills for 2015 which listed programming/application development as number 1. Interested in getting started with programming, check out the many online courses–some free and some paid, but either way very accessible.

Have a different opinion, let me know on Twitter what you think and as always thanks for reading!

5 Chrome Plugins I use daily

Angelo LucianiCloud

I’m a big fan of the Chrome browser and its variety of extensions and apps. I also use Chrome on multiple computers, so it’s great that once you are logged into Chrome those apps\extension will follow you around. Here are five apps\extensions that I use daily that have improved my workflow and I hope yours too.

Any.do – extension

The first extension is Any.do – its my task management tool. For those people familiar with David  Allen’s Getting Things Done model, this extension fills the bill, it  also integrates with gmail and is available on different platforms. This is a great way to keep all your to-dos in sync.

Bitly – extension

I collect a lot of links and one way I do this with Bitly. They make it easy to save and share any web page, right from your  browser. I really like the feature – Receive pop-up notifications when  one of your bitmarks get a lot of clicks, although I can’t say I’ve seen this happen too often.

Instapaper – extension

Part of my workflow when browsing the web, so to save a website for reading later. Instapaper is a simple tool for saving web pages to read later on your iPhone, iPad, Android, computer, or Kindle. One-click and you’re done, then later that night I start my reading on my iPad.

Chrome Remote Desktop – App

Ever been on a mac, and need remote desktop access to a Windows PC or Server and don’t have access to RDP software? Don’t worry, the Chrome Remote Desktop – App is your ace in the hole. Right from your browser, you can RDP to any windows machine. This might come in handy, especially with the holidays here and family asking for remote support (You know who you are).

Gliffy Diagrams – App

Ever need to put together a diagram quickly, and don’t have Microsoft Visio installed. You can create professional-looking diagrams and flowcharts quickly and easily and include them in Google Docs, presentations, wikis or web pages now you can with Gliffy.

I hope you find something new here, if there are any Chrome apps or extensions that you can’t live without, let me know on Twitter, and let’s make 2014 a productive year.

Getting started with VCP-Cloud – Read the Official Cert Guide

Angelo LucianiVirtualization

If you’re thinking about getting started with the VMware VCP-Cloud certification and not sure where to begin, The Official Cert Guide for VCP-Cloud from VMware Press is a great place to start. Authors Tom Ralph and Nathan Raper have put together an indispensable resource that easily explains terms and concepts to get you ready for the VCP-Cloud certification.

Moving through the chapters

At the beginning of each chapter is a “Do I Know This Already” quiz that helps you assess whether you can skip the chapter and focus on the exam preparation tasks at the end of the chapter or whether you need to read the entire chapter. I suggest doing the quiz and reading the chapter – there is always a gem that you don’t want to miss. One of the things I appreciate is the many screenshots that are found throughout the book. They help, as you try to do the tasks on your own or just following along in the text.

The end of each chapter is a summary followed by an “Exam Preparation Tasks”, which are a review of the key topics and a set of questions based on the chapter. Answers to all the exam questions can be found at the end of the book along with a glossary of terms.

The book comes with a DVD, what’s on it?

I received the printed book and it came with a DVD, which included the Pearson IT Certification Practice Test Engine, once you install the software you have to activate it. It only runs on windows so, folks with a mac need to fire up Windows VM. I think this is a great addition, as it measures your readiness to write the exam.

Overall, what do you think?

This book is a must if you’re thinking about getting started with the VCP-Cloud certification. The book is easy to read, lots of screenshots and brings you from installation to deployment. Oh, and as the authors suggest early in the book, download the blueprint to ensure your studying the latest topics. Time for me to get studying.

Where can I get more information?

The book can be found at any online bookstore and Pearson. The blueprint and other certification material can be found here on the VMware certification site.

Have you purchased the book or taken the exam? Let me know how you did or how you enjoyed the book on Twitter and thanks for reading.

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