Thoughts Related to VMware Datacenter Virtualization VCA6-DCV Prep

VMware recently released an entry level exam for data center virtualization professionals called the VMware certified associate 6 - data center virtualization (VCA6-DCV).  This certification is an update of the previous version 5 certification.  The VCA-DCV based on vSphere 5 is due to be retired on November 30, 2015.  VMware recommends those interested in the VCA6-DCV exam first complete a course called Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals.

I took this course as it was recommended by VMware as preparation for the exam.  The course is offered online for free and can be accessed right after registering for the class.  The course is available for quite a few months after signing up – helpful for those who might not be able to complete the course right away.  Even if one couldn’t finish the course in the allotted time, it’s free, so one could simply sign up for a second time.  The class takes a few hours to complete and can be started and continued multiple times.

The course doesn’t offer any hands on exercises.  I say this up front because it communicates something about the type of course this is.  This class is meant to familiarize the student with the language of VMware.  There’s much here to familiarize a person with the dictionary of terms related to the various features one should know and where they fit within an enterprise.  The course excels at providing basic to intermediate concepts related to vSphere 6 and providing thoughts on the applicability of those features in a typical enterprise datacenter.

There are many people who could benefit from the type of information in this course.  It could be especially beneficial to those who need a high level understanding of VMware. Network, storage, and server engineers who work with and support virtualization engineers will find this helpful.  It’s also good for those looking to move up in their IT career from other positions though they may need to put in time reading about the other topics outside of virtualization that are discussed. C-Level executives will also find the content appropriate as it explains many features that VMware feels differentiate them in the marketplace and make the VMware hypervisor more than a commodity datacenter technology.

The session is less helpful for experienced VMware admins / engineers who are looking for explicit how-to type of instructions, or really deep understanding of the limitations of the features and concepts presented.  The objectives of the course modules are centered on the words, “describe” and “explain.”  The course could be used as a form of “What’s New” learning opportunity as the cost is free.

vDM30in30 - Free Screen Recorder for Windows from Microsoft

Microsoft released a free screen recording app that's compatible with Windows 7 and 8.  It's possible that the app is also compatible with Windows 10, though I haven't tried it yet.  Mac users have Quicktime for free so it's not an issue on that platform.

Basic Info:

Link to the app: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.03.utilityspotlight2.aspx?pr=blog

Format used: .wmv

Editing capabilities: No

The tool is a very basic but effective.  The simple controls lead to quick to learn app.

The app is small, simple, and effective.  Moreover, it's from Microsoft.  That may not mean much, but when it comes to free tools, I'm very cautious of the source.  If there's any drawback, it's the lack of any editing capabilities

#vDM30in30 Day 5 - My First Docker Install

I decided to install Docker on my Windows 8.1 laptop.  I’ll also install it on a server in the future and see how easy it is to move containers around.  There are lots of moving parts to a full-on container infrastructure, but I’m starting w/ the most basic of building blocks – Docker itself.

The Docker website has instructions for installing the software on the three main platforms out there – Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.  I followed the Windows Instructions.  At the time of this writing, version 1.9.0a is the most recent installer.  http://docs.docker.com/windows/started/

The first thing that got my attention was the fact that it’s really a small ecosystem that gets installed.  The parts consist of:

• Docker Client for Windows

• Docker Toolbox management tool and ISO

• Oracle VM VirtualBox

• Git MSYS-git UNIX tools

Device Driver Install for Virtual Box…

At this point the install is supposedly good to go.  One difference between the Docker instructions and my install, was a missing virtual box icon on my machine.  Otherwise, all seemed fine when I executed the Docker Quickstart Terminal.

… And then .. It’s ready!  A quick glance at the IP shows that it’s not on the same network as my laptop.  My guess is that there’s some kind of Nat Translation happening behind the scenes.

The instructions on the Docker website remind users that the command prompt for the environment is part of a bash sell, and that they aren’t in Windows anymore.  It’s a nice touch and while some might pick up on it, others might not.

The instructions then direct the user to verify the installation by running the command “docker run hello-world.”  As they go on to explain, it’s a simple command, but it verifies a lot of important functions:

1. The Docker client contacted the Docker daemon.

 2. The Docker daemon pulled the "hello-world" image from the Docker Hub.

    (Assuming it was not already locally available.)

 3. The Docker daemon created a new container from that image which runs the

    executable that produces the output you are currently reading.

 4. The Docker daemon streamed that output to the Docker client, which sent it

    to your terminal.

Beginning to end the Docker for Windows package took me 15-20 minutes to install, and I was starting with only a conceptual idea of the product.  It’s surprisingly simple to setup the core software.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll explore other topics such as exploring the various software images available, creating my own image(s), and moving images around between my local machine and AWS (and possibly other public cloud providers).

#vDM30in30 Day 3 - Microsoft Dials Back Unlimited Cloud Storage

Microsoft recently announced via a blog post that they would discontinue unlimited storage options for Office 365 Home, Personal, and University accounts.  This news has been met with near universal unhappiness.  Many customers feel disappointed, and those feelings are justifiable.  A major vendor with a big name and deep pockets offered a great deal then altered the terms of the agreement.  Those users who were told they would have unlimited storage will be capped at 1 TB with about a year to move under 1 TB if they aren't already.  While Microsoft is entirely within their rights, to many people, they will question how much they trust the public cloud.

This altering of the deal highlights some of the fears the public has with the cloud, specifically, the lack of control.  The last few years have seen many vendors exclaim the virtues of cloud, and how it's supposed to free us.  Laptop vendors used to the near ubiquitous nature of cloud storage vendors such as DropBox as a justification for including low capacity SSD drives.  People who clung to local storage were often ridiculed as being old fashioned.  Yet here we are. 

I agree with many on the Internet who believe the Microsoft announcement is a really just a way for tech giant to back out of the cloud storage market.  Claiming that they discontinued unlimited storage because a few people used more storage than Microsoft expected anyone to use is nuts.  They offered UNLIMITED storage.  Did no one there consider that people would actually put that to the test.  It's extremely unlikely that Microsoft would roll out a service without considering the possibility of outliers at the top end.  Microsoft has been in business for too long, and has too many smart people to drop a service because someone went to the all you can eat buffet and overstayed their welcome. 

It's far more likely that they looked at their place in the market for online storage and found that they weren't making up significant enough ground on the market leaders.  While cloud storage has been getting cheaper for customers, storage remains a physical thing that costs someone money.  In this case, it's Microsoft.  Let's assume Microsoft used the cheapest storage available today -  a datacenter full of whitebox servers each crammed with high capacity drives running windows storage spaces instead of local RAID.  While cost effective, it still costs money to build, house,  provision, cool, and support.  There had to be a sizable investment made to go after DropBox, and others, yet it's possible that they couldn't gain the traction they wanted.  I don't recall seeing any numbers related to users, adoption, or mind-share related to the service - even though they offered an unlimited amount of storage.

In the end, consumers of cloud services need to remember that they renting a product.  As such, they should take appropriate precautions, and be prepared for modifications to services, or worse, the complete elimination of a service whenever a product offering is no longer profitable.

#vDM30in30 - Day2 Signing Up for Amazon AWS

Confession time - I've never set up my own AWS instance.  Ever.  I've read about it, and I've even taken training for AWS; but I've never setup my own AWS anything for personal use.  I've used competitive offerings such as MS Azure and Verizon's Terremark, but not AWS.  I decided to take the plunge today since #vDM30in30 is about new experiences, learning, and experimentation.  This post will cover my general impressions of the AWS sign up process.

So how did it go?  Well, My honest impression of the setup process is that it probably could have been a little easier.  I decided to select the Free tier.  I was asked to sign up.  The login / sign up dialogue box resembled the same screen used for buying products through Amazon, however, the same UID / pw combination didn't work.  It's a new and separate account.  It's a minor annoyance but definitely not a show stopper.

Next, I had to verify my tier.  Amazon does a pretty good job of explaining what you get for free.  The problem is in knowing if it's enough.  In addition, only a small subsection of services are mentioned.

After some basic payment info, I thought I'd be done.  Not so fast!  Amazon does an interesting and welcome Identity verification check where an automated system calls a telephone number you provide.  Upon answering the call, the applicant enters a four digit code that's provided onscreen.

AWS Identity Verification Screen

The applicant is then asked to review the support plan options.  Nothing here is too surprising, but the upper tiers really provide what appears to be exceptional support.  Then again for a minimum of $15,000 an enterprise should receive "white glove case handling."  Also eye-catching is the fact that telephone support isn't available for anything less than $100.  Basic developer level support allows for e-mailing support.

There's a lot of information, and I could see how someone buying AWS in a shadow IT ops type of situation would make a mistake by either buying too much or not enough support.

So after all of the screens and choices, I signed into the console and was overwhelmed by the choices.  The vast number and types of options was intimidating.  It reminded me of a friend who installed Oracle back when he was starting out in IT.  Upon seeing a screen full of icons he asked, "So what do I do now?"  I had a very similar feeling looking over the ocean of choices.

The last few years have been filled with warnings of Shadow Ops.  This concept of non-IT departments buying and deploying cloud-based services on their own without the knowledge or consent of a centralized IT department.  Based on what I just experienced, I see this trend slowing down when it comes to AWS.  AWS has added tons of features.  So many features, I'd argue that the complexity associated with deploying an app properly has also increased.  Confronted by all of these options it seems unlikely for a less sophisticated power user to go out and deploy an app on AWS.  Amazon makes sign up and payment easy, but that's not the difficult part.

#vDM30in30 Day1 - Tech Resources / Reference Material

Over the next 30 days, I'll be blogging about a number of topics related to virtualization, certification, storage, and pretty much anything else that crosses my mind in an attempt to push myself through the #vDM30in30 challenge.  Getting me there will be a number of my favorite go-to resources for learning. 

Resource One - Conventions / Conference Sessions

I can't attend every major tech conference, so I really appreciate the conferences that place content online.  Even when I attend, there's so much going on, that I may not be able to sit in on every session.  Moreover, I might just want to revisit a session I attended.

Cisco Live - https://ciscolive.com/online/connect/search.ww

NetApp Insight - http://www.netapp-insight.com/page/Videos

RedHat Summit - http://www.redhat.com/en/about/videos/red-hat-summit-2015-recap

Microsoft Ignite - https://myignite.microsoft.com/#/videos

Resource 2 - PluaralSight

One of the coolest perks for being a Cisco Champion is a PluralSight subscription.  I viewed a few courses back when they were Train Signal.  Lots of cool content and the instructors are many times people well known in their respective communities.  There are other training programs like it, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

https://preview.pluralsight.com/

Resource 3 - Blogs + Podcasts

There are too many to list.  I also wish to avoid offending anyone by not mentioning them.  What I promise to do is to include a link to any blog or podcast I use as inspiration for an article.

vDM30in30 - I'm In!

So I decided to join the vDM30in30 Challenge!  30 blog posts in 30 days.  No lie - it's intimidating.  I haven't written as frequently as I had planned.  The cool part, though, is that I won't be alone.  Many others who I read and respect are doing it too.  While I'm following their lead, I don't dare fool myself into believing I'm their equal.

I'm hoping to learn a few things.  This field, this occupation means you can never stay still, yet writing about a topic can really drive the lesson home.  I'm firm believer that teaching a topic is a great way to learn.  Worst case, I'll have a pretty cool set of reference material for myself.

Big thanks to the founder of this challenge,  @vmiss33.  For more info about vDM30in30 including it's history, check out this post here: #vDM30in30