Just a quick reminder to all of you UK based VM TechHeads out there that the London VMware Users Group is on Thursday 10th February 2011.  If you want to register to attend or are interested in finding out more check out this link through to the London VMUG site.  Below is an outline on what you can expect, notice there is a special appearance by that crazy and all round nice Dutch guy Gabe van Zanten who will be speaking on ‘Cheap Disaster Recovery using PowerShell scripts’. Also Alan Renouf will be holding his usual PowerCLI session which is also well worth attending. All this combined with the other interesting presentations it should prove to be a good VMUG indeed!

10.00 – 12.00      Roundtable Strategy Session with Martyn Storey and Mark Stockham; Enterprise Management – optional (spaces limited)
11:00 – 12:00      PowerCLI session with Alan Renouf – optional

12:30 – 13:00      Arrive & Refreshments

13:00 – 13:20      Welcome & News (Alaric)

13:20 – 14:00      Sponsor presentation (Veeam Systems)

14:00 – 14:30      VMware Certification – Preparing for Success (Scott Vessey)

14:30 – 15:00      Cheap Disaster Recovery using PowerShell scripts (Gabrie van Zanten http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/)

15:00 – 15:20      Refreshment break

15:30 – 16:00      Advanced vCenter Alarming and Automation (Simon Long, VMware)

16:00 – 16:30      Transatlantic Datacentre migration (Chris Dearden, JFVI)

16:30 – 16:45      Close

17:00                    Pub

I won’t be attending the VMUG this time around as I’ll be over at VMware Partner Exchange though definitely plan to be at the next one.  To all of you who will attend the VMUG have fun!

Wow!  I can’t believe Christmas is upon us once again, where has this year gone?  I know they say time goes faster with age but this is ridiculous.  Though as with almost everything there is a silver lining and in this instance it means that the festive season is upon us and as such what better time to have a Christmas vBeers!
This month’s vBeers will be a little bit special as it is being combined with the famous Storage Beers meaning our storage brothers and sisters will also be in attendance which can only add to the usual fun and interesting geeky conversations. Even the HP Storage Guy, Calvin Zito all the way from the good ole US of A will be attendance.  I will be bringing Christmas crackers to get us into the festive mood so feel free to partake in silly Christmas hat wearing…

vBeers is open to everyone so whether you are a VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer user/fan or none of the above it really doesn’t matter as “it’s all about the virtualization” and of course ‘the storage’.  So don’t worry if you don’t know anyone as that won’t last for long with this friendly bunch.

When & Where

The venue (details below) will be the usual  ‘Cittie of Yorke’ with it’s great atmosphere and fine selection of both beer and non-alcoholic beverages. Snacks are also available.  So come along and join in some festive cheer with your fellow storage and virtualisation peers. See you there! 

Location: The ‘Cittie of Yorke’, London
Address:  22 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6BS
Date: Thursday 2nd December
Time: 6:00pm onwards
Map: Click here

Is your other/better half (delete where applicable) jealous of you attending the upcoming VMworld Copenhagen event or perhaps you are feeling guilty of heading away without them?  If so, never fear!  Bring them along and have them take part in a fun-filled schedule of activities in and around Copenhagen whilst you attend the VMworld conference during the day. 

Spousetivities is an exciting event initiative created and run by Crystal Lowe who has already run two very successful Spousetivities events both at VMworld San Francisco 2009 and more recently a couple of weeks ago at VMworld San Francisco 2010.  Past Spousetivities events have included things such as sight seeing, vineyard tours, photographic excursions and of course the optional organised shopping trip.  The events are well structured and the feedback I have heard from others around the Spousetivities events has been great!

So why not head over to the Spousetivities web page here for more details and have your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/other join you for your trip to VMworld Copenhagen.