VMworld 2014 - Day 3

It's also the the day after the night before for some, and hence often quieter first thing in the morning (as was the case again this year).

For some reason, all of the sessions that I had originally planned to attend, and already had in my calendar, I had been unregistered from and several I couldn't get back into. I did manage to squeeze into a session about the inner workings of EVO:RAIL (SDDC1337 – Technical Deep Dive on EVO:RAIL) that provided some useful background for me. I like the idea of where VMware (and their hardware partners) are going with it (there are definite pluses), but the current 16 host limit per vCenter and allegedly higher cost per appliance compared to other converged hardware offerings might be off-putting to some customers. Humorously, some of the questions asked at the end of the session indicated that quite a few people still don't quite understand such converged hardware solutions – it's clearly a growth area.

Unable to get into the sessions that I wanted, and with time before my flight back running short, I called in at the certification area to ask a few questions around forthcoming certification updates. I'm looking to complete the VCAP CID and CIA exams but I wanted to know about when they'll cover vCAC (I mean vRA) 6.x. No firm answer on that sadly.

One final thing I managed to squeeze in was a stop at the vGiveback area to build a paper aeroplane. If you missed this or are wondering what it's about, vGiveback was a challenge area where attendees could build and throw paper aeroplanes to earn charity donations that VMware will make after the conference ends. Sam McGeown had found a design that was capable of doing the distance to the €1000 zones. Sadly, it was getting the plane to fly in a straight line that was the problem. In the end, it was only a €30 plane but every little helps.