VMTN Blog

Hi everyone,

I am one of the VMware vSphere product marketing managers at VMware and wanted to give you a summary of all the upcoming content related to the vSphere launch. We have developed resources for all audiences and technical levels to help you understand what is VMware vSphere, how does it work, and how to upgrade to it from VI3 or deploy it for the first time. 

Here is a quick summary of vSphere resources. More details are provided below the table.

Existing customers interested in: -          Gaining an in-depth understanding of vSphere -          Upgrading to vSphere	New customers interested in: -          Gaining a basic understanding of vSphere and its value proposition -          Deploying vSphere for the first time
VMware vSphere Upgrade Center Live Technical Webcasts Podcasts Series (parts 3-8)	Live Overview Webcasts On-demand webcasts Podcasts Series (parts 1-2) VMware vSphere QuickStart Series
On-demand webcasts (mix of overview and technical webcasts)  VMware vSphere Evaluation Center (goes live on vSphere GA date) VMware vSphere product page (divided by company size)

WEBSITE:

Visit the VMware vSphere web page to learn more about the features and benefits of VMware vSphere based on your company size.  You will find datasheets, demos, and solution briefs on the vSphere product pages.

WEBCASTS / PODCASTS:

We have developed 3 webcast series:

• On-demand webcasts are pre-recorded and cover what’s new in vSphere while providing technical deep dives into vSphere features.
• Live Technical Webcasts feature live technical deep dives into various vSphere components.
• Live Overview Webcasts expand on the business value of vSphere for enterprises and SMBs.

We also have a series of podcasts for those of you who would like to learn about vSphere on the go! The podcasts will cover vSphere editions and provide technical deep dives into the new features.

UPGRADE AND EVALUATION CENTERS:

We have launched VMware vSphere Upgrade Center, a site that contains all the information you need to upgrade from VI3 to vSphere 4. The site will point you to upgrade preparation checklists, access to vSphere upgrade communities, vSphere entitlement paths for VI customers with active subscription contracts, and details on the new and improved licensing mechanism. We will add more resources to this page including upgrade best practices when vSphere becomes Generally Available.  I highly recommend that you bookmark this page if you are an existing VI customer.

[coming soon] We are creating a vSphere Evaluation Center packed with demos and technical documentation to provide a guided evaluation experience for both new and existing customers. The site will go live when vSphere becomes generally available.

QUICKSTART SERIES:

Note: This resource is NOT designed for existing VI customers

One last resource I want to point out to New Customers is the VMware vSphere QuickStart Series. This is a new FREE course that will be taught live over the web in four 2-hour modules. It is designed to teach VMware vSphere and VMware ESXi evaluators how to do a basic installation, configuration and management of either ESXi or vSphere. The course primarily consists of live product demonstrations to ensure new users gain practical experience that can be leveraged to do a basic vSphere POC or small deployment. If you are already familiar with VMware Infrastructure (VI3), you should not attend this class unless you want an 8 hour review of what you already know. 

Here is a short outline of the series:

Module Topic:	Module description	Scheduled delivery Date
Part 1: Install and Configure ESXi	VMware vSphere deployment architecture Install and configure ESXi Configure network and storage Create a virtual machine	Monday: 6/15/09
Part 2: VM Management with vCenter Server	Install and configure VMware vCenter Server User access control VM management (templates, snapshots, and thin/thick provisioned VM disks)	Monday: 6/22/09
Part 3: Cluster Set up, Availability, and Load Balancing	Cluster set up Configure VMware VMotion, Storage VMotion, HA, and DRS	Monday: 6/29/09
Part 4: Monitoring, Availability, Back up, and Next Steps	Monitoring & troubleshooting Alarms and reports Configure VMware Fault Tolerance & Data Recovery VMware vSphere editions & bundles	Monday: 7/6/09

Registration is open today and space is very limited. Visit the vSphere QuickStart landing page to view course details and register!