Naturally we talk VCDX certification, including defenses, the VCAP certifications and Bas spills the beans on the VCAP-DCA beta exam.

Guess what? We have a guest this time too! Michael Poore, yet another englishman who´s recently visited the US of A, finally graces us with his presence!

Now, tell us, how large is your shower head? Seemingly a random question, but hey, this is vSoup after all.

Is it [...]]]>

Guess what? We have a guest this time too! Michael Poore, yet another englishman who´s recently visited the US of A, finally graces us with his presence!

Now, tell us, how large is your shower head? Seemingly a random question, but hey, this is vSoup after all.

Is it possible to work towards the VCDX in a distributed fashion? And yes, there will be a VCDXWannabe website, but that´s not quite ready for release yet. It will be soon though, I promise. Really. For now, have a look at VCDX Defence Practice Event – London

Other than that, the new WSX feature/service in the VMware Workstation 2012 Tech Preview gets some well deserved attention, weird P2V scenarios and we get all wet eyed talking about old Compaq servers.

That should cover it, as usual, enjoy!

David was recently one of the Virtualization Field Day 2 – Silicon Valley delegates, and finally gets [...]]]>
Once again we bring you David Owen. For some reason he seems to be a returning guest, we only wish that the listener numbers would reflect it!

David was recently one of the Virtualization Field Day 2 – Silicon Valley delegates, and finally gets a chance to tell the world what it feels like to be a member of a very prestigious club. How often does that happen to a fisherman from Sunderland?

Of course, as some of the hosts like to stick their neck out, we get into VCP upgrade certification time limits, the VCDX certification and when Godwin’s law takes effect this over 1 hour edition is officially over.

We hope you can bear with us for that long, we barely managed it ourselves.

For some reason, augmented reality also makes an appearance, and traffic in Vietnam. And, can anyone guess which series of movies [...]]]> Philip Buckley-Mellor, a video on demand infrastructure consultant is our guest. Since he, unlike the hosts, is used to tackling big things we get into scalabiliy, Splunk, vCOPS 5.

For some reason, augmented reality also makes an appearance, and traffic in Vietnam. And, can anyone guess which series of movies would be the best de-duplication candidate? We know.

Christian gets to plug Mike Laverick’s new SRM book that both he and Ed got a free copy of.

Have fun, we did while recording!

We get into all sorts of topics like Christian’s new job, Volkswagen shutting off off hours email, Ed’s Hyper-V to vSphere experience, [...]]]> Welcome to a guest-less episode of vSoup, where the hosts find themselves left all alone in the big world pondering what hit them in 2011 and what’s going to hit them in 2012.

We get into all sorts of topics like Christian’s new job, Volkswagen shutting off off hours email, Ed’s Hyper-V to vSphere experience, Chris job stuff (Shameless Veeam Plugs aka B&R v6 and NFR licenses for just about everyone), SOPA, and how Eric Sloof ambushed Christian and got him on video.

Also, can you have moral qualms about globalization in software companies (offshoring)? Whats the deal with The Norwegian butter crisis and 2012: Will the world go under, or what? Will we see new vSphere Features? Is the future one the Multi- hypervisor datacenter?

Listen now, and some of that might just get answered. Or if not answered, it will get mention. A bit. Sort of.

Duncan Epping, VCDX #007 with a license to pimp VMware, is our guest.
A promising young lad that might just have a future in the virtualization space, if he plays his cards right.

We talk about Duncan’s next project, vShield App, Hairy Security Guys, and we get the answer [...]]]>

Duncan Epping, VCDX #007 with a license to pimp VMware, is our guest.
A promising young lad that might just have a future in the virtualization space, if he plays his cards right.

We talk about Duncan’s next project, vShield App, Hairy Security Guys, and we get the answer to the ultimate question “What is Duncan doing in Technical Marketing?”

Chris’ provides a great quote from his bed time lecture, and does he really eat food prepared by underwater virgins in Ecuador? Also, another important question: “Why no VAAI?”

Listen now, and we promise it’s the last time we talk about Christian’s potatoes. Honestly.

This time we kidnapped Jason Boche, just to keep him away from the Dutch vMaffia, and stuck a [...]]]>
Ok, we lied. The first tvSoup was not the last, and here we are again with another live video recoding from VMworld Europe 2012.

This time we kidnapped Jason Boche, just to keep him away from the Dutch vMaffia, and stuck a camera in his face.

Of course, Jason delivers, as usual. We even nearly got Gregg Roberson on camera too, but somehow he managed to stay out of view laughing at us from a few Steps distance.

So here it is, tvSoup #2 – Live from VMworld Europe 2011. Of course, the potato is still present.

Ed and Chris are both present in the studio, but Christian, who can’t be at VMworld this year, is back [...]]]> For the first, and quite possible the last time, vSoup goes video! Recorded live at VMworld Europe 2011, with special guest Ed Grigson who blogs at vexperienced.co.uk.

Ed and Chris are both present in the studio, but Christian, who can’t be at VMworld this year, is back home in Norway. Thankfully his presence is emulated by a potato.

Enjoy:

We’ve (everyone besides Chris that is) decided to leave this up to you, so here it is The vSoup VMworld 2011 Poll:

Should Chris [...]]]> In vSoup Episode #17 A/S/L? the possibility of Chris attending VMworld Europe 2011 wearing a green mankini (or something similar) came up.

We’ve (everyone besides Chris that is) decided to leave this up to you, so here it is The vSoup VMworld 2011 Poll:

Be sure to vote NOW!

Mike Laverick, the SRM guru, is our guest and we get into all sorts of goodness: VMUG’s, SRM, VMworld bands, some vRAM semi-speculation and vBeers get some attention too! What is an unconference? Are we commoditized yet?

Lukewarm on the heals of the “Raising the bar , Part 5″ webcast held by VMware today , Ed and Chris Deputize David Owen ( to sit in for Christian , who is currently sunning himself ) for a special reaction chat to the biggest VMware software launch yet. In our [...]]]>  

Lukewarm on the heals of the “Raising the bar , Part 5″ webcast held by VMware today , Ed and Chris Deputize David Owen ( to sit in for Christian , who is currently sunning himself ) for a special reaction chat to the biggest VMware software launch yet. In our own vSoup way we talk about the pro’s and cons of the new features  - will the additional licencing cost be worth it ? will it affect our choices of hardware ? why no Microsoft “Me too” announcement ?

Normal vSoup service will be returned once we’ve thawed Christian back out.

Simon Long (you know, the guy with a massive slog) is our guest this time around, recorded from a dodgy hotel room in Leeds. Luckily Simon was able to see his car from the hotel room window, making sure no-one stole it during recording.

Even if Simon is “one of them” [...]]]>

Simon Long (you know, the guy with a massive slog) is our guest this time around, recorded from a dodgy hotel room in Leeds. Luckily Simon was able to see his car from the hotel room window, making sure no-one stole it during recording.

Even if Simon is “one of them” (read: vendor) we can’t exclude him, especially now that we have “one of them” in our own midst as well.

Semi-random images related to the podcast:

Short and Dumpy

Reverse Limbo DC temperature scale

Linkware

• Gliffy
• Veeam
• Microsoft Visio

Competition Time

We’re back with a new competition! This time you can win a copy of Cloud Computing with VMware vCloud Director by John Arrasjid, Duncan Epping, Steve Kaplan Ben Lin, Michael Haines and Raman Veeramraju.

All we ask is for you to tell us, either via Twitter, a comment or an email:
“how many times does Chris mention Veeam in this podcast?“.

And, we know it’s a way overdue, we have drawn a winner of our last competition. We are very happy to announce that Guy West-McDonald is the winner of a copy of vSphere for Dummies. Chris will be sending you your prize as soon as possible!

Remember to follow @vsoup_podcast on Twitter and to subscribe via iTunes, RSS or Stitcher!

vSoup Tech Field Day / BPaaS Soundbites with Mike Laverick and the happiest man in virtualization Tom Howarth.Mike Laverick [...]]]> We couldn’t let the opportunity of getting some of these great Tech Field Day people to talk with is, while recording, so here it is:

Soundbites from Tech Field Day #6

vSoup Tech Field Day / BPaaS Soundbites with Mike Laverick and the happiest man in virtualization Tom Howarth.Mike Laverick talks about VMware SRM (surprise!) and virtualization management products.

Tom talks about Tech Field Day itself and current status and the possible future of VMware MVP.

At the end, we even have our first vendor on, with VKernel’s Brian Semple (what’s up with that twitter account Brian?) appearing explaining why VKernel presents at Tech Field Day.

Linkware:

Chinwag with Mike… and Chris Dearden [Episode 01]
VMware SRM
Nimble Storage
VKernel
Hyper-9/Virtualization Manager
VMware MVP (Mobile Virtualization Platform)

This time around we’re joined Christopher Wells aka the vSamurai.
At last, the vSamurai and vNinja gets talking!

Chris talks about his earthquake experience and life in Japan in general. Due to his recent experiences he’s even submitted a paper for [...]]]> vSoup Episode #9, unlike AWS and PSN, is now available!

This time around we’re joined Christopher Wells aka the vSamurai.
At last, the vSamurai and vNinja gets talking!

Chris talks about his earthquake experience and life in Japan in general. Due to his recent experiences he’s even submitted a paper for VMworld 2011! Naturally we also get into disaster recovery and some whacky possible datacenter disasters. Veeam Backup and Recovery has it already, but will SRM get host based replication at some point?

What’s up with all the weird energy drink names? Since Chris enjoys his Pussy in the shed, we need an energy drink sponsor! Are clown jackets really the best way to monitor your environment?

VMware Cloud Foundry, why should we as sysadmins care?

Christopher Wells talks about his Tech Field Day #5 experience, and we’re extremely happy to announce that the entire vSoup crew, as well as this weeks guest has been invited to attend Tech Field Day #6 in Boston!

Episode #9 Linkware:

• Japan – My Earthquake Experience
• Real Life DR & BC, with VMware SRM
• Cloud Foundry
• Rackspace Cloud
• Open Compute Project (Facebook)
• Introduction to Chef
• So Your AWS-based Application is Down? Don’t Blame Amazon

Naturally Jonathan talks [...]]]> vSoup Episode #8 is now available!

In this episode we’re honored to have Jonathan Medd as our guest! As Jonathan runs his own podcast called Get-Scripting PowerShell, he proves that not only is he a great host on his own, but a very good guest as well.

Naturally Jonathan talks about the new VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration. We even get the gritty details on the work behind writing such a book like schedules, publishing and dealing with technical editors.

We also touch into other topics like Microsoft System Center Orchestrator (Previously known as Opalis), PowerShell licensing change by Microsoft, community awards: Can you “catch them all”?

Episode #8 Linkware:

• PowerShell Deep Dive Conference: April 17-19, 2011 in Las Vegas
• Microsoft Community Promise licensing
• Samsung NC240 24″ all in one monitor
• London VMware User Group
• VMware Forum 2011 Oslo
• Fusion-IO, a technology that allows running hundreds of virtual desktops per host
• VMware vExpert 2011 applications now open
• Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) / MVP Summit
• Citrix Technology Professionals

Competition Time

The competition is back! Don’t worry, we’re not trying to give away the cheesehat again! This time around we have a paperback copy of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration book to give away.

Want to win it? Listen to the episode to find out how!

Tech Field Day and Stephen Foskett, gets a lot of praise, but when will we get one in [...]]]> vSoup Episode #7 is now available!

Sean Clark is our esteemed guest this time so naturally the first topic is
Argyle Sweater vests and Crocs, which surely is a winning combo?

Tech Field Day and Stephen Foskett, gets a lot of praise, but when will we get one in Europe? Xangati gets (even more) praise for the now infamous bacon and chocolate espresso beans serving!

How about a Cherry Pie and Bacon combo? It has already been done, Chris!

How about virtualizing your SQL servers? Do they require bacon? How do you go about setting up your storage for virtualized DBs? The Oracle tax on virtualization and licensing to finance uncle Larry any way around it? Is there a VMware vSphere Cluster size sweet spot, and if so, do they really resemble making love to a woman?! Will Christian reach virtualization nirvana in 2011? Party in the datacenter? If not, at least he gets to play with his fondleslab and vCenter!

Episode #7 Linkware:

• IBM XIV Storage System
• IOBlazer (VMware Fling)
• DBhammer
• Quest Benchmark Factory® for Databases
• Brent Ozar – SQL Server and virtualization
• Oracle Support for VMware
• VMware vSphere Client for iPad
• Bluebear Kodiak

Competition Time

We don’t have a new competition this time, but we do have a winner from our last one! As usual we numbered all of the comments, but this time we decided to do a manual draw. The winner, and only contestant, is <insert drumroll here>: @dncns! Congratulations, we’ll make sure David Owen sends you his mug!

Remember to follow @vsoup_podcast on Twitter.

Will three yearly VCDX defenses be enough, or has [...]]]> vSoup Episode #6 is now available!

David Owen, who is not from Newcastle, is our esteemed guest. We get into certifications again, mainly the DCUCI and VCDX certifications. Is the VCDX actually worth it? Is the VCDX like the iPad 2? Wantware?

Will three yearly VCDX defenses be enough, or has VMware dropped the ball? How about those VCDX fauilure rates?

Of course, since David is our guest, the we also get into UCS and the little known UCS Express gets mentioned as well. Of course, there is room for some rather off topic talk too, like “Does being electrocuted by a server rack cause hair loss?” and can the Tesla electric cars run more than 20 minutes? Network discovery tools, are there any good ones out there?

There was also a call for virtualization community fundraiser for Japan!

Anyone in the community want to organize that and get it started?

Episode #6 Linkware:

• Cisco UCS
• Cisco UCS Express
• Kendrick Coleman on vCenter Operations Hype
• VMware vCenter Operations
• EMC IX2 GiveAway
  Sadly Chad is out of IX2 boxes, but data is still welcomed we presume
• VMworld 2011 Call for papers
• Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson under fire over Tesla electric car test drive
• Tesla Roadster

Competition Time

Since we got no participants in the contest for Episode #5, we’ll save the cheesehat and t-shirt that Bob provided us with for later. We do however have a new contest this time as well, where David Owen generously offers to give away some vMackem.co.uk coffee mugs. Or you might just get a cheesehat, who knows?

Competition question: VMware vCenter Operations is the product formerly known as?

As before, we’ll number all the correct answers and draw one at random when the next episode is served.

Also, remember to follow @vsoup_podcast on Twitter.

Speaking of Books, we have a copy of [...]]]> vSoup Episode #4 is now available!

Bob Plankers from The Lone Sysadmin joins us this episode for a veritable buffet of vSoup, it seems to be of a distinctly networking flavour this week with a light scatting of certifications, conferences and books on top.

Speaking of Books, we have a copy of the  VMware vSphere 4.1 HA and DRS Technical deepdive (Volume 1) by Duncan Epping & Frank Denneman to give away to a lucky reader. As with the last entry, please leave a comment with the answer to the following question:

Contest question: Where does Bob work?

As before, we’ll number all the correct answers and draw one at random when the next episode is served.

Episode #4 Linkware:

• IPv4 vs. IPv6 Mentioned links:
  The IPocalypse Cometh – Are You Ready?
• More books:
  VMware vSphere design – the book by  Forbes Guthrie, Scott Lowe and Maish Saidel-Keesing.
  Book Follow-up by Forbes Guthrie
  VMware vSphere 4.1 HA and DRS Technical deepdive (Volume 1)
  VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration
• vCenter Disaster Recovery
  Standby vCenter Server for disaster recovery

Also, remember to follow @vsoup_podcast on Twitter.

Listen to the Podcast

Software Weirdos

• Virtual Admins – Virtual Pirates?

Security

• vSphere Security hardening Guide
• Virtualisation Security Podcast
• When Dreamcasts attack

HP ProLiant MicroServer

• Official Hp Site
• Tech-head review
• Jason Boche’s home lab
• HP ProLiant MicroServer – Oh, it’s there!

Competition time!

vSoup in conjunction with Trainsignal have a giveaway for this episode of the podcast. Simply follow @vsoup_podcast on twitter & leave a comment on this thread with answer to the question below
(which curiously enough, you’ll find within the podcast )

A correct answer will be picked at random and the lucky winner will receive a free copy of the vSphere Troubleshooting Training Course – for a review of the course have a look here

Contest question: “What is the RPO of Ed’s Mission Critical systems?”

For extra special cruton points, answer the following bonus question as well:
“How many times does Christian say ‘weird’ during this episode?”

And remember: You’re already in it.

In this first episode Chris, Ed and Christian talk about automation, backups and even the dreaded cloud word.  For more information on the hosts, check the bio page!

The podcast should be available in iTunes in about 24h, but for now you can listen to it [...]]]> The first order of vSoup has finally been served.

In this first episode Chris, Ed and Christian talk about automation, backups and even the dreaded cloud word.  For more information on the hosts, check the bio page!

The podcast should be available in iTunes in about 24h, but for now you can listen to it right here.