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Tag Archives: VMTN

vSphere Correct Answer Campaign

Calling all vSphere Experts to Join the Challenge!

Want a chance to become a vExpert? How about a chance to win pair of Sonos Play1: wireless speakers to start or complement your home sound system? There’s even a chance to win the amazing Sonos Play5: wireless speaker! Just join the vSphere challenge on get in on the action.

Ask not what your community can do for you – ask what you can do for your Community!

At VMware, we believe in the power of community, so we’re doubling-down to make community support a core engine of customer support and success. We’re going to redefine and design a new and transformative moderated community experience, positioned to be the ultimately place for peer-to-peer help and learning. And member participation is key to our collective success. This is where you come in!

Shared purpose. Shared content. Shared success.

We’re looking to recruit a team of volunteer product aficionados who are experienced with vSphere, and intrigued by the challenge and opportunity to strengthen and share their troubleshooting proficiency. Or maybe you just want to shape your skills for that next vSphere exam. That works too! So today we’re announcing the vSphere ‘Correct Answer’ Challenge.

You’ll be contributing value to the community by answering questions to produce trusted-content that benefits all vSphere focused community members.

Oh, and did we mention that our top two contributors will have an opportunity to attend the highly anticipated vExpert Party during VMWorld 2018? That’s right, once we see your genius and the community acknowledges your domination, you will be rewarded! And for those of you not attending VMworld this year, there will be other reward opportunities for being community-minded and helping others, including but not limited to:

* Invitation to vExpert Party at VMWorld Las Vegas (1 award)

* Invitation to vExpert Party at VMWorld Barcelona (1 award)

* Sonos gift card (2 awards)

* Potential acceptance into the vExpert program

* Automatic nomination as a vSphere Community Warrior

* Accelerated reputation building within the community

Ready to accept the challenge? Simply join the VMTN community and start contributing in the vSphere Community, or visit the vSphere ‘Correct Answer’ Challenge community to learn more and post your comments.

 

Thanks everyone, and see you in the community!

The Global Services Team

 

 

The Community Pulse – Top VMTN Content from July 2018

Welcome vCommunity to the Community Pulse – a monthly blog series that delivers the most high traffic content in the VMTN forums for your consumption. The VMTN forums are a learning tool unlike any other. Read through these threads to explore how other IT professionals are administrating, optimizing, and supporting their unique environments. We invite you to contribute your knowledge to these and all threads on VMTN!

What were the top VMTN conversations this July?

10 top viewed threads in July:

  1. 503 Service Unavailable (Failed to connect to endpoint: in vCenter. Resolution in progress.
  2. ESXI 6.5 Free License ? in vSphere ESXi. Resolution in progress.
  3. VMware Workstation Pro 14 – Fails To Start Due To CPU Non-Support in Workstation. Resolution in progress.
  4. cant copy/paste from guest to host in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  5. vCSA 6.5 installation stuck at RPM installation in vCenter Server Appliance. Resolution is in progress.
  6. VMware Workstation and Hyper-V are not compatible. Remove the Hyper-V role from the system before running VMware Workstation in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  7. autostart VM from ESXI 6.5 web client in Virtual Machine, Guest OS and VM Tools. Resolution is in progress.
  8. failed to lock the file cannot open the disk in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  9. VMware Workstation 10: No internet on guest on NAT Settings in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  10. High Sierra and Fusion “stuck” keys in Fusion. Resolution is in progress.

Top 10 communities, based on thread and reply creation in July:

  1. ESXi
  2. Workstation Pro
  3. Technical Community Resources and Help
  4. VMware PowerCLI
  5. VMware vCenter
  6. VMware Fusion (for Mac)
  7. VMware vSphere
  8. vCenter Server
  9. VMware View
  10. vRealize Automation Tools

 

To get real time updates on content being created within the forums, you can:

  1. Subscribe to a communities RSS Feed. Feeds are available for each community on the right-hand side, in the Actions box.
  2. Opt in to “Follow” a community. This option is available on the right-hand side, parallel with the community name. Any community you choose to follow will appear in your “My Communities” list, accessible through the tap navigation. To receive email notifications around communities that you follow, confirm in your preferences that you have opted in to email.
  3. Bookmark a community thread to receive notifications on the progress. This is only available at thread level. It is on the right-hand side, under the Actions box.

Questions on the Community Pulse? Please reach out to the VMware Community Manager, at jenniferg@vmware.com

VMTN Community Experiences You Don’t Want to Miss at VMworld

At VMworld this year, there will be awesome experiences that we hope the VMTN Community will find entertaining and want to partake in – including some for those who cannot attend the event. Get excited and get signed up for the following:

At Home vCommunity members:

  1. Beams (VMworld US only):
  • 3 Beams at the VMTN Community Area.
  • Beams are video conferencing tools which provide the freedom to explore VMvillage from the comfort of your own home.
  • Sign up now!
  1. VMTN Homepage Takeover
  • Featuring: videos, VMworld social, podcasts, blogs, {code}shop updates, and links to the forums with information on the latest VMware announcements.
  • Bookmark this page to Stay Connected.

For the in-person attendees:

  1. vBrownBag TechTalks – A VMTN Member
  1. Closed Booth Available for Podcast, Vlog, or even Webinar creation
  1. Blogger Program 
  • Blogger tables will be set-up to provide a space for bloggers to write, charge, and network.
  • Don’t forget to stop by and say hi to VMware Blogger Program Manager, Elsa Mayer.
  1. VMware {code}
  • Come visit VMware {code} program manager, Kripa Sitaraman, in the VMTN Community Area to learn about the {code}shop! Check out our {code}shop and espresso bar where you get “buy” cool prizes using Code Coin earned through our BlockChip App
  • Register for the VMware{code} Power Session sessions. Search “VMware{code}” in the app or click here: https://bit.ly/2uKc2ns to view online.
  • Don’t miss the Monday night Hackathon!  It won’t disappoint! For Information & Sign-up Instructions: https://bit.ly/2LHbBk8

7. CloudCred

  • CloudCred & the VMware Hands-On Labs partner again to bring you the Hands-On Labs Challenge!
  • Each lab and workshop will have its own unique, corresponding task on the CloudCred website so you can play to WIN.
  • Every day, we’ll give away a GoPro 6 HERO camera to a player from the Top 10!
  • Every day, we’ll give away 5 Raspberry Pi’s a random to lab attendees!
  • Grand Prize winners on Thursday will take home an Apple iPhone 6+, an Apple Smart Watch, and a DJI Spark Drone!
  • And if that’s not enough, take a Hands-On Lab to earn Code Coins – then spend them in the VMware Code Shop in the Communities area! Buy anything from delicious lattes & chocolates to smart devices, tee-shirts, or a Nintendo Classic gaming system.

       So make sure you take a Hands-On Lab & get in the game with CloudCredibility.com 

       Visit CloudCred community manager Noell Grier in the Hands-on Labs area at VMworld US or Europe, to learn more.

  1. vExpert Party
  • Each year, vExpert Advocacy Manager, Corey Romero, hosts all of the vExperts for an after-hours event at a fantastic location near VMworld.
  • If you are a vExpert, watch your email for invitations to both the US and Europe parties.

And that’s a wrap! I will see you folks either virtually, or in person at the VMTN Community Area in VMvillage in about a month.

For further information or questions around these programs, email the VMTN Community Manager, jenniferg@vmware.com.

 

 

 

Congratulations to VMTN Community Warrior, @continuum!

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. This program will continue to recognize users who commit time and energy to engaging with peers in the VMTN community. Learn more.

Congratulations to VMware Technology Network’s newest Community Warrior, @continuum for being a beneficial contributor to our community. We are truly thankful for everything you do to help the VMTN community.

Learn a little bit more about @continuum…

Which VMware communities are you involved in?

I started with Workstation as I had no access to ESX compatible hardware until about 2008.
Later I got quite involved in the Converter forum – I even developed a LiveCD  for Coldclones when VMware decided to discontinue their own version. Nowadays I rather search for recovery related posts in all forums. Even if I miss a post myself – other community members tell folks to contact me directly when they post any recovery topics.

What is the most difficult thread you’ve addressed on VMTN?

The most difficult thread I ever addressed in VMTN was the challenge to run VMware Workstation on top of a Windows LiveCD. Normally VMware Workstation requires a user-account to run on Windows but a Windows LiveCD only uses one SYSTEM account only.
So everybody I asked about this said it is impossible. One and a half year and countless hours later I finally was able to solve  the problem and I could celebrate one of the happiest victories of my  live. The next few years I offered a construction kit for a Windows  LiveCD with VMware Workstation on my website and had lots of happy  users.

What is the most rewarding thread you’ve addressed on VMTN?

The most rewarding thread I ever encountered in VMTN was the request to recover some vmdks from an unreadable VMFS-volume. That thread was in 2007 or 2008 if I remember right.
After some weeks of work I discovered an approach to recover lost vmdks after a VMFS-corruption. Later I added more work into this approach and got better and better the more cases I looked into. 3  years later I lost my boring factory job and thanks to this rare skill set I was able to find a new job for a german VMware Partner Company. Nowadays I run my own small business and offer VMware recovery support to world wide customers.

Are you working on any projects you think the VMTN community would be interested in? (book, blog, etc)
Yes – I maintain a Linux LiveCD that I use to assist users with remote support when they run into problems with VMFS-corruption. Unfortunately  major changes in ESXi 6 and later make this even trickier as before and  I am trying to keep up to date with the latest changes. This LiveCD is available on my site www.vm-sickbay.com. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to keep this site up to date. At the moment I have a lot of research to do to keep up with the latest changes in the ESXi-product.

Anyway – I still offer my support in all VMTN posts that are somehow related to my recovery skills.

How do you work with VMware day-to-day?

I offer recovery support for VMware customers. So typically I scan VMTN for any questions in my area and if required I get in contact with those users and fix their problems. Another part of my time goes into research as the VMFS-filesystem and all the related recovery topics are only poorly documented – if they are documented at all. I used to work for a german VMware partner for a couple of years – but that company was not interested in my recovery work so I decided to try my luck as a freelancer.

How can people follow/get in touch (Twitter,etc)?
Nowadays I rarely use my twitter account @sanbarrow.
But I actively monitor my skype account “sanbarrow” and answer all questions related to any recovery problems.

Thanks @continuum!

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email jenniferg@vmware.com.

Discover VMware Technology Network: 5 Ways to Gain Points

This is the second blog in a series. See the first blog here: VMTN Global Forums

Screen Shot 2017-05-11 at 11.05.53 AM

The foundation of VMware Technology Network is peer-to-peer support and engagement. Community is powered by human connection – the warm feeling of helping another person and the satisfaction of collaborating to solve a problem.

And then there’s the added bonus to participation, the cherry on top, gaining points. The happiness when your answer is marked correct and you can almost hear the points adding up. A little competition to spice things up never hurts, right?

If competition is something you thrive on, and you went to get onto the Weekly, or All-time communities leaderboard, I’m here to help. These are the 5 ways you can gain points on communities:

 

  1. Correct Answer – 10 Points. Having an answer marked as correct is the most efficient way to gain points quickly. Set yourself up for success:
    • Take advantage of the Browse feature to identify unanswered questions.
    • Opt-in to Follow communities you are interested in so you get email notifications when new discussions are posted.Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 3.14.22 PM
    • Bookmark your favorite communities so they are always accessible
      .
  2. Helpful Answer – 6 Points. If you know a partial answer to a question, or a resource that might shed some light, go ahead and post it. An answer doesn’t have to be perfect, a user can mark your response as helpful and you still receive points.

  3. Reply to an Answer – 1 Point. Sometimes you will answer a question and the user will forget to mark it correct. It happens! Sometimes, you have posted a questions and are politely responding with a comment like, “thanks for posting, this was helpful.” Engagement is always rewarded. As a contributor, you will receive 1 point for taking the time to reply to a question.
  1. Create a Document – 1 Point. Did you write a white paper, case study, or a study guide around a VMware product or solution? Post it on communities. Not only are you sharing your knowledge, helping others, and expanding your clout, you gain a point for doing so.
  1. Create a BlogPost – 1 Point. If you don’t host a personal blog, but have something to say, post a blog to your community profile. This is low maintenance blogging, where you’ll receive views, but have very little up-keep. If you do host a blog, post an abstract and a link to your blog on communities. The community’s audience wants to read the technical content being written. Plus, every blog you post gains you a point.

While utilizing these 5 methods, keep in mind that as a community member, one must give to receive. Be sure to always mark answers correct or helpful on your queries, like other user’s status updates, and respond to questions. Visit communities to start gaining points now!

For further information on status/badge levels, gaining points, and gamification visit the Community Rewards Points System FAQ or email the VMTN Community Manager, katieb@vmware.com.

Congratulations to Community Warrior, @daphnissov

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. In 2018, this program will continue recognizing users who commit time and energy to engaging with peers in the VMTN community. Learn more.

VMware Technology Network’s newest Community Warrior, @daphnissov, captures the meaning of community in his actions every day and it’s a privilege to honor him for his contributions.

Any VMware user who has been on communities since 2015 has likely interacted with the newest Community Warrior, @daphnissov, and left the forums better for it. Rather than try to capture the value he adds, I will let the Community Warrior nomination submitted by another user do the talking:

“For a vRA installation, he spent his own time troubleshooting my issue and trying to replicate a rather specific error within his own environment. Seeing that this was my first post as well as interaction with another forum member, I can only say that other places are hard pressed and should be lucky to find one as him/her/it (AI or something)”

Thank you for all that you do @daphnissov – we are lucky to have you contributing to VMTN!

Learn a little bit more about @daphnissov…

Which VMware communities are you involved in?

I am involved with many of the VMTN Communities on an almost daily basis including vSphere, ESXi, vCenter, vRealize Automation, vRealize Orchestrator, vRealize Operations Manager, vRealize Log Insight, vSAN, VMware Workstation, and VMware Fusion. Although I’ve been on the communities for a number of years, I came to the realization (sometime earlier) that it’s fairly unsportsmanlike conduct of me to always be the beneficiary of others’ generosity and knowledge without ever reciprocating, and so I ramped up my contributions over the past year.

I think I speak for all of VMTN when I say we’re glad you did! Tell me, how do you work with VMware day-to-day?

 Well, my day-to-day can be very VMware filled, but I am currently a Senior Solutions Architect for Sovereign Systems, a VMware partner, where I architect, design, and then implement the full SDDC stack of solutions, so everything from vSphere up to cloud management platforms and all things in between. I have the privilege of working with an awesome team who, in turn, get to help and guide customers of all sizes through their virtualization and cloud journeys.

After that, I can often be found in my home lab where I tinker with (and sometimes break) more VMware products and find interesting ways to solve real-world problems with them. And, of course, assisting others on the VMTN Communities is a daily hobby as well.

Wow – that’s fantastic. Can you tell me the most rewarding thread you’ve helped to answer in the forums?

That’s tough since I get a lot of reward just knowing that I was able to make a difference in any thread, but also difficult in just finding posts since I have a hillock of discussions to which I’ve contributed (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a sentence). This one was rewarding to see resolved, however.

What is the most difficult thread you’ve helped to answer?

That’s also tough as there have been some real head-scratchers. Generally, whenever there are any discussions which necessitate a full environment be deployed it’s got to be pretty interesting. This one was a good candidate.

You are clearly a VMware expert. What advice would you give to community members on learning more and becoming a better professional?

The first thing is to get involved in the communities. Let the problems experienced by others be your problems and, in turn, let the solutions build your knowledge. Do one thing each week which scares you by taking you out of your comfort zone. Never hesitate to state the obvious. Shun no knowledge, regardless of what it may be. And never be afraid to admit ignorance on a subject—the beginning of all wisdom starts with the phrase, “I do not know.” Your struggles as you attempt to find those answers will result in tremendous personal and professional growth.

Are you working on any projects you think the VMTN community would be interested in?

I’m always working on at least three things at once, it seems. Blogs are constantly in the works and some of the ones forthcoming include things like LACP use in vSphere; for the automation folks I’m continuing my exploration of the SovLabs extensibility modules for vRealize Automation; and for those more operations-centric I’ll be diving into vIDM usage with vROps and vRLI soon. I am also trying to finish up a fairly substantial article that covers any and every form of vSphere migration type which I hope to expand into a book at some point. I’m also working towards my VCDX.

I’ll look out for updates… How can people follow you or get in touch?

I’m fairly accessible over either Twitter (@chipzoller), LinkedIn (Chip Zoller), or send me a private message through the VMTN Communities.

Thanks @daphnissov!

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email katieb@vmware.com.

Contribute to VMTN Challenge Lab Communities to Win an Amazon Echo Dot

VMware Hands-on Labs and VMware Technology Network have partnered to create a new learning resource: the VMTN Challenge Lab Communities.

What are the VMTN Challenge Lab Communities? These are six new communities based on the six Hands-on Labs Challenge Labs. The Challenge Labs are designed by the HOL team based on input from VMware’s Global Support Services. The labs take users through scenarios in a virtual environment that often lead to support requests, in order to help better prepare them for facing issues in their own environments. The challenge labs are broken down by module, each module takes the user through a different task.

The VMTN Challenge Lab Communities contain documents with links to forum content relating to each module. Each discussion linked to in the community docs leads to a discussion of how a user faced a challenge similar to that module in their production environment, and solved it.

These communities mean you don’t stop learning once you’ve completed a Hands-on Lab Challenge Lab. You can educate yourself on the real-world scenarios our customers are running into so you are better prepared to manage your datacenter.

Through February 1st if you post a challenge and solution that you have faced with one of the challenge lab products, you will be entered to win 1 of 5 available Amazon Echo Dots. We are calling on you to help us enrich these communities with more valuable content.

Along with holiday cheer, this year spread knowledge, experience, and advice to other community members, while also giving yourself the chance to win a new Amazon Echo Dot!

  • Substantial explanation of a challenge and solution are required as this will be used as a learning resource for community members
    • Content must be original
    • An alternative solution to a module within a challenge lab is acceptable
    • Constructive feedback on challenge labs is acceptable

Any questions? Reach out to katieb@vmware.com, and as always, thank you to all those who contribute to our thriving community.

The Community Pulse – Top VMTN Content in October 2017

The Community Pulse is a blog delivering the most trafficked threads from the past month, to help you stay up to date with relevant technical content from VMware community members around the world. The VMTN forums are a learning tool unlike any other. Read through these threads to explore how other IT professionals are administrating, optimizing, and supporting their unique environments.

10 top viewed threads, created in October:

  1. VMware workstation player 14 does not start in Workstation Player. In progress resolution by @bluefirestorm
  2. Windows 10: Fall Creators Build 1709 Experiences in VMware Horizon. Resolution by @angelage1
  3. Workstation Pro 14 upgrade from ver 12 production blank screen when running existing VMs in Workstation Pro. Resolution by @xindayu
  4. Not enough physical memory is available in Workstation Pro. Resolution by @continuum
  5. vSphere 6.0 web client causing flash to crash in browsers in VMware vCenter. Resolution by @daphnissov
  6. VMware Fusion 10.0.1 doesn’t see USB devices anymore in VMware Fusion (for Mac). Resolution by multiple contributors delivering multiple solutions.
  7. Shockwave flash has crashed issue in Chrome in vCenter Server. Resolution by multiple contributors delivering multiple solutions.
  8. VMware player 14 does not start on Ubuntu 17.10 in Workstation Player. Resolution by @daphnissov
  9. 500 Internal Server Error after 2.12 to 2.13 upgrade in VMware App Volumes. Resolution by Raymond_W
  10. Upgraded from 7.0.1 to 7.3.1, getting “You cannot access your applications or desktops”… error in VMware View. Resolution by @steveromine

Top 10 communities, based on thread and reply creation in October:

  1. ESXi
  2. PowerCLI
  3. Workstation Pro
  4. VMware Fusion (for Mac)
  5. VMware vCenter
  6. VMware Horizon
  7. vRealize Automation Tools
  8. VMware NSX
  9. vRealize Orchestrator
  10. VMware vSphere

To get real time updates on content being created within the forums, you can:

  1. Subscribe to a communities RSS Feed. Feeds are available for each community on the right-hand side, in the Actions box.
  2. Opt in to “Follow” a community. This option is available on the right-hand side, parallel with the community name. Any community you choose to follow will appear in your “My Communities” list, accessible through the tap navigation. To receive email notifications around communities that you follow, confirm in your preferences that you have opted in to email.
  3. Bookmark a community thread to receive notifications on the progress. This is only available at thread level. It is on the right-hand side, under the Actions box.

Questions on the Community Pulse? Please reach out to the VMware Community Manager, at katieb@vmware.com

Congratulations to VMTN Community Warrior, @rcporto

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. In 2017, this program will be recognizing users who commit time and energy to engaging in the VMTN community. Learn more.

This week’s Community Warrior burst into the VMware Technology Network community program from left field at the end of last year, and has made his mark. Congratulations to the newest Community Warrior, @rcporto!

@rcporto originally joined communities in 2011, became a vExpert in 2014, and came to my attention late last year, when he won a prize in the CloudCred VMTN Challenge. This was a raffle around the VMTN Badge on VMware’s gamification platform, CloudCred.

Not a month later, he reached out with interest in becoming a VMTN Community Moderator. Today @rcporto is not only a User Moderator, he’s a global moderator, who owns and manages the Brazilian Portuguese community.

Thank you for all that you do @rcporto. VMTN would not be the same without your commitment.

Learn a little bit more about @rcporto…

What was the first VMware product you ever used, where and when?

The first VMware product that I used was the vSphere ESXi 3.5, back in 2009, to virtualize some workloads for a client of my company.

What inspired you to become a VMTN Community Moderator recently?

The VMTN community had a lot of great moderators doing a wonderful job to keep the threads clean and in the correct location, but I noticed that a lot of messages, mainly from other languages, like Brazilian Portuguese, do not get the same attention from moderators. I decided to become a moderator to keep my eyes mainly on Brazilian Portuguese messages, since this is my native language, but I spread my attention to English threads as well.

You sure do… Check it out.

How do you work with VMware day-to-day?

I work for a VMware partner, and my main role in my job is to implement, administer and troubleshoot VMware vSphere environments, the vRealize suite products and vCenter Site Recovery Manager, as well as others.

Although I am very experienced with VMware, becoming active in VMTN by replying to user’s threads contributed a lot to my knowledge on real world issues and best practices. I’ve found the VMware KBs and documentation are awesome, and if you search correctly, there is a good chance you’ll find the answer to your problem. Many times when I reply, I don’t know the solution, but since I am familiar with these resources, I can search a solution and reply to the user.

Are you working on any projects you think the VMTN community would be interested in?

Right now, I am busy with my full-time job tasks, but my personal project regarding the VMTN community is to achieve the Guru status in the next six months, so I would like to invite VMTN users to post your questions. It would be my pleasure to try to answer them.

How can people follow/get in touch (Twitter,etc)?

Twitter: @richardsonporto | VMTN: @rcporto

Thanks @rcporto!

This is wise advice from a hard working community warrior: answer questions and ask questions to become a better professional. Get involved and get to know your resources.

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email katieb@vmware.com.

 

Congratulations to #VMTN Community Warrior, @sreec

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. In 2017, this program will be recognizing and rewarding users who commit time and energy to engaging in the VMTN community. Learn more.

The VMTN Community Warrior program is back and better than ever after a brief break during what may go down in history as the best, and busiest, VMworld season of all time. Thank you to our last Warrior, @firestartah, for keeping the throne warm.

 

Congratulations to @sreec – our newest community warrior!

What makes @sreec a community warrior?

  • He is on the top participants list for three communities on VMTN: vCloud Director, NSX, vCloud Networking and Security.
  • He has achieved vExpert and vExpert-NSX based on community contributions, like the NSX book he wrote and published in 2016.

The list goes on from there… Thanks for all that you do, @sreec.

Needless to say, with NSX adoption growing every day it was exciting to be able to ask this Community Warrior to weigh in on what drew him to network virtualization, VMTN, and his upcoming projects.

Check out what @sreec had to say….

How did you get involved with VMTN?

When I was working with VMware from 2011-2016 I focused on a wide range of VMware products like vRealize Configuration Manager, vSphere, vCloud Director, vCloud Networking and Security, vCloud Connector, NSX, and more.

VCD is one of the products which I worked extensively with, and that’s where I started liking network virtualization. Considering the complexity of troubleshooting in VCD, I used VCD labs and I started looking at vCloud Director communities to better understand customer queries and then contributing to them as much as I could.

Over a period of time, I realized VMTN is by far one of the best technical hubs for VMware technologies and every day I spend 1-2 hours and follow the NSX & VCD communities.

Why are you passionate about NSX?

VMware NSX is at the forefront of the software-defined networking revolution. I come from a storage background and I switched my job to the virtualization field. I knew this was the right track to focus on and the last 8 years have been truly remarkable for me. I worked with the vCloud Network Security solution during its early days and I liked the concept of network virtualization.

My immediate focus was to clear VCAP-CIA and I achieved it very shortly followed by VCAP-DCA & DCD. I’m a strong believer of learning a technology in a way that makes people understand it very easily. If one cannot explain a feature/design, that shows a lack of knowledge in that area.

After spending a lot of hours in labs and reading blogs/books, I started training candidates on VCD, VCNS & NSX. For me this is where my passion for software-defined networking started. A few months back, I cleared VCAP6-NV and achieved VCIX track.

Having seen the technology transform all the way from VCNS to NSX for all types of workload all I want to say is NSX is a cherry on top of VMware product portfolio. It’s because of the large ecosystem, coupled with the fact that customers can leverage NSX in Private/Public and build a true network hybrid platform. We don’t need to chase a use case for implementing NSX. This product fits in extremely well for all types of workloads & environments and that is why I’m passionate about this technology.

Are you working on any projects you think the VMTN community would be interested in? 

Having learned a few things about NSX, I decided I should give something back to the community. My first contribution was the NSX book – VMware NSX Network Essentials. The focus is on core components of NSX, how to deploy, and manage it effectively.

Thank you for the time, wise words, and great community contributions.

To connect with @sreec for regular updates, follow him here:

Twitter: @sreeec ; VMTN: @sreec ; LinkedIn

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide server saving support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email katieb@vmware.com.