Chuck's Blog

VMware's SRM Changes The Game For Remote Recovery

OK, it's no secret, I'm a *huge* VMware fan.  They've been able to take their underlying strength in hypervisors, and move into all sorts of useful adjacent areas: desktop, software development, systems management and so on.

For quite a while, I've been tracking SRM -- Site Recovery Manager -- as another one of these VMware-based "game changers". 

And, today, it's been announced.

So why do I think this is such a big deal?

And Even More VMware Goodies

Things come in waves, don't they?

Just now, someone sent along a great presentation on how ControlCenter 6.0 (EMC's multi-vendor storage management software) does useful things like report on storage utilization on a per-VM basis, visualizes VMs in the storage topology correctly, even does chargeback on a per VM basis (among other neat tricks).

If you're thinking about managing VMware storage at scale, it's worth a scan ...

More VMware Goodness

I know a lot of you out there are really into this VMware thing, as am I.

Well, someone sent me a few cool links today, and I wanted to share.

The first was an impressive WebEx demonstration on using space-spaving snaps to make VDI setup and administration a breeze.  Not for the technically faint-of-heart.

Yes, it's really fast, but I wonder how fast it'd be on an enterprise flash drive?? ;-)

In the same vein, I also got sent a WebEx link showing SRM (Site Recovery Manager) going through its paces with EMC replication technology.  Again, not for those of you who don't like gory details.

I really enjoyed both, and learned a lot.

See all the VMware-related videos from EMC here.

VDI -- The Red Hot Discussion

I've never seen anything like this in the industry.  VMware is going from strength to strength in a way that's hard for many of us to fully comprehend.

Just when you thought the server-oriented ESX party was raging, over the last 6-12 months the VDI discussion has become extremely interesting, especially to larger organizations who are seeing the potential to save money, deliver better user experiences, improve security and so on.

As a result, a number of vendors are being drawn into extremely interesting conversations around VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure), including EMC.

I thought I'd offer up a few thoughts on this, based on what I'm hearing from people.

Storage Protocols, VMware and Religion

Funny, isn't it?  How most technology questions break into religious camps?

I've noticed that there's a fair amount of religion around which storage protocol is "better" for VMware: FC, NAS, iSCSI?

And, like most things, a fair amount of agnosticism might be appropriate.

More Goodness From VMworld

Finally, everyone is trickling back from the VMware show in Cannes last week.

I recently covered the VMware solutions we announced there, but it turns out that there was a whole lot more cool stuff that got presented there.

As these bits come in, I'll share them with you to the best of my ability.

The New (VMware) House

To many industry watchers and IT consumers, VMware looks like just another technology to add to the list of operating environments they have to support.  The mindset might be that there are some places where it'll work, some places it might not work so well -- really, it's just part of the landscape.

But the more I talk to some customers, they've changed their perspective.

It's not just part of the landscape, it's THE new landscape.

And it's interesting to watch how people's thinking shifts over time.

Looks Like A Jackalope To Me

Don't know if you've ever taken a car trip through the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Wyoming, et. al.) but if you stop in a friendly diner, you're likely to see a picture of a "jackalope" -- a monstrous cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope.

The locals will tell you with a straight face how the nearby ranchers prefer them to horses since they run much faster and eat less.  Of course, no such thing exists, but it's good fun.

For some reason, there are those in the industry trying to make a connection between an extremely hot topic (server/desktop virtualization) and less-popular topics (storage virtualization, dedupe, thin provisioning, etc.).

Just like the infamous jackalope, the possibility is plausible to tourists, but somewhat of an inside joke to the locals.

Storage Protocols and VMware

What'll it be with your VMware environment -- FC, iSCSI or NAS?

Now, given that hot debates rage on storage protocols across the industry, and -- of course -- within EMC, juxtaposing something like VMware on top of it raises another whole round of debates.

And, in the spirit of lively conversation, I thought I'd offer my view of how I'm seeing this play out in the industry and with EMC's customers.

Like all storage protocol discussions, I'm sure I'm going to get my fair share of commentary ...

Want A *Really* Thorough Background on The Virtualization Market?

It must be the week for drive-by postings from me.

Just this morning, I tripped across an excellent write-up from ML that seems to be freely available that goes into exhaustive detail on the opportunity, how they see it evolving, who's affected, etc. 

Although relatively recent (Oct 22), I could already spot a few areas where things had changed -- more of a testament to the fast-moving nature of this marketplace.

Although I can't really endorse any output from any analyst organization, if you're really interested in the topic, you might want to go here.

Creating The Virtual Runbook

Discussions move fast in this industry, especially with customers.

Yes, server/desktop virtualization is cool.  We're in, they say.

Yes, we get that the supporting infrastructure may have to change -- servers, storage, backup, replication, management, security, etc.  We're evaluating that one.

But what about the most important part of IT -- the people and process?

When Cool Technologies Collide ...

... sometimes the result is an overdose of coolness.

Saw a promo go out for an upcoming EMC LIVE event about using Application Discovery Manager in VMware environments.

If VMware is my #1 favorite cool technology, then Smarts ADM is right behind it.  And an event showing how these two things work together has got to be one of the better tech webinars from EMC.

Virtualizing Infrastructure

So, another press release from EMC that seem innocuous enough, but really doesn't get to the big ideas behind it.

And, unfortunately, it's going to look like I'm pandering again, because it's about EMC Avamar (which I write about all the time), and VMware (which everyone else is writing about now, in addition to me).

But, trust me, I think there's a really big idea here that you might find interesting ...

Can VMware Keep It Up?

For every force in the universe, there appears to be a counter-force.

And VMware's meteoric IPO has raised enormous speculation as to whether they'll be able to keep up their growth rate (and market position) indefinitely.

One example of this thinking is a well-written piece by Ashlee Vance over at El Reg that succinctly summarizes the prevailing thinking on the topic.

BTW, I love the work that Ashlee does, and The Register is one of my daily mandatory reads.

But I think that there's more going on here that most people realize. 

I'm not trying to predict the future here (no one can do that), I'm just trying to add more to the speculative mix, mostly based on personal experience.

Free Lessons In VMware For Storage and Infrastructure Vendors

I've really enjoyed watching the VMware IPO, and seeing all of EMC's traditional (and newer) competitors pile in to the VMware opportunity.

It's also even more fun to watch them try to pitch their old wares into the new world without having some basic understanding about how things fundamentally change when you really look at what server virtualization does to your infrastructure.

Is it that they haven't figured it out yet?  Or, maybe they're suspecting that it's a bit different, but haven't fully grasped the full implications just yet ...

Sorry, there's no way I can avoid getting a bit sarcastic in this post, so my apologies in advance.  I'm in therapy about this issue, but it isn't working well ...

Today, I'm going to offer a few insights to my brethren in the storage and infrastructure industry with a few examples on how some things change once you really understand what's going on here. 

Those of you in the biz, you may want to drop a note to your marketing department that's churning out PDFs and webcasts to hold up a just a bit until you figure out how you want to handle some of these issues.

Otherwise you're going to have to answer some pretty hard questions. 

Consider this a preview of the server virtualization pop quiz for 2008.

VMware Podcast

Nothing like a dazzling IPO to get people really interested in something -- like VMware.

I've been repeatedly asked to deliver the key thoughts (at least, from an EMC perspective) about what's happening here.

So we've created this little podcast -- just a few minutes long -- hope you find it useful!

For more that I've written on this subject, please look here.

A Star Is Born

Well, everybody saw it yesterday -- the big VMware IPO.

And, finally, I can get back to blogging a bit more on the topic.

I think there's speculation (at least in my mind) as to why it was so successful?

More On Thin Clients

Had a customer surprise the heck out of me with an extremely interesting take on thin clients.

They weren't just talking about doing it -- they had it up and running.

And it was for reasons I hadn't expected ...

When VMware Deployment Isn't Just About Servers

Maybe I'm a bit slow, but when I see the same thing happen 5, 10 or maybe 20 times, sometimes a dim bulb goes on in my head, and I say "wait, maybe there's a pattern here!".

As you know, I spend a lot of time with customers.  It's so much fun, I sometimes wonder why I'm allowed (and paid!) to do it. 

And you know I've written about information infrastructure considerations for VMware ESX before.

So, I'm now starting to see the same thing over and over again.

And it's entirely avoidable.

Avamar, VMware and Hybridization

Saw this piece by Clay Rider of Sageza Group on Avamar and VMware. 

BTW, I love reading El Reg -- one of my favorite on-line news rags.  Good content, served up with a healthy dose of cynicism and insider humor.

I don't know whether EMC sponsored this piece or not, but I loved the way he got to some of the key points pretty quickly, so it's worth a read.

Bottom line:

• Lots of redundant data in VMware environments, probably much more so than in traditional physical environments, opportunity for client-side global data de-dupe.
• VCB integration means smoother access to virtual machines, and probably less physical hardware.

But there's a bit more here as well ...

Thin Client Redux

Over the years, one of the many evergreen topics in the IT industry has been thin-clients -- will we ever be able to move away from the PC model to get the majority of our work done?

Or are we forever doomed to lugging around laptops wherever we go?

Yes, the technology has changed.  But has the context changed as well?

Will we see (finally) the concept of thin clients finally take off in the next few years?

EMC Information Infrastructure for VMware

Even though I work for EMC, I’ve always thought of VMware as a separate company.  We’ve always used the same alliance model that we use with Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, SAP, et. al.

Given the recent IPO news from EMC, I guess that was the right approach.

We’ve been very busy behind the scenes preparing our portfolio for advanced VMware users.  Most of the pieces have fallen into place, so I think it’s time to start painting the picture.

I’ve written about infrastructure issues for VMware ESX 3.0 (or VMware Virtual Infrastructure) before.  But there’s more to say.

So, in the spirit of my Microsoft and SAP post, here’s the EMC landscape for VMware.  There’s a lot to digest, so I hope you’ll patiently wade through it with me.

VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 – Climbing The Mountain

So, it’s no surprise that everyone is doing more with VMware in data centers these days. 

Between hardware reduction, power savings, increased flexibility, etc. it is an article of faith for me that this will accelerate during 2007.  It’s just too darn compelling.

So what’s holding customers back from deploying VMware most everywhere? 

Several issues, but one important one is infrastructure: to get the most out of server virtualization, we believe the infrastructure around it has to change.

In this post, I’ll take a look at where we see a few important issues arising in more advanced VMware infrastructure, and – naturally – what EMC is doing about it.

Grid and Virtualization

Sometimes you make a connection between two concepts, and it helps. 

Forgive me if others have already made the connection between grid and virtualization, but it popped up today in an interesting discussion with a customer, so I thought I'd share it.

The question was simple enough: "when should I be thinking grid, and when should I be thinking server virtualization?". 

Now, keep in mind, I am frequently accused of dramatically oversimplifying things.

I really see them as two sides of the same coin, and with more in common than you might think.