This year we wanted to make things even more exciting by hosting our Product and Solution Demos on our internal VMware cloud – VSEL.

Why a Demo Cloud?
The Key benefits for moving our demos to the cloud:
-  Scalable, repeatable demos allowing our world wide employees to leverage the Demos created for VMworld – (Demos are published in our Internal Catalog)
-  Lower our production costs by not having to ship servers around the world (Shipping a fully loaded kit to Copenhagen can cost up $35K)
-  Fun thing to do using our latest products!

About the Architecture
The VMworld Booth Demos are running from our internal clouds using embedded ESXi, vCloud Director 1.5, View 5.0 and vShield Edge to name a few products.

Some stats on our Demo Cloud
-  120 UCS Blades running 4 core processors each
-  ½ Petabyte VNX Storage (thanks EMC)
-  520 Virtual Machines
-  10G backend

How the Products work together….

1.  VMware View - Provides a working desktop for users. This is the entrance to vSEL environment and can be accessed from both the Corporate Network and Internet, using PCoIP protocol.

2.  VMware Cloud Director 1.5 Provides the lab environment for individual users to log into their own regional private cloud peer communities and work with vPods, which are vApps that leverage embedded virtualization environment consisting of vCenter, ESXi, and datacenter services needed to run an infrastructure.

3.  Embedded Virtualization - ESXi is run within a virtual machine, resulting in multiple virtual ESX Servers (vESX) running on a single physical ESXi Server (pESX). "Virtual Virtual Machines" (vVMS) are run within these vESX Servers.

vPODs: vApp within vCD combined with embedded virtualization results in a completely self contained working unit known as the "vPod". In other words, a vPod is simply a vApp that uses embedded virtualization, vESX servers and vVMs, to create a single working "virtual virtual data center" that can be mapped to a single user.

Want to learn more?

1. Visit us at the VMware Booth: Come and see the VSEL infrastructure hard at work.
2. Attend Ford Donald’s Session: Virtual SE Lab (vSEL) Building the VMware Hybrid Cloud CIM 1436 (twitter  #cim1436) to learn all about the architecture powering the VMworld Demos and enabling VMware SEs. Great reason to wake up at 8:00 AM

Special Thanks to all the people that have made this project come to life !

~ Pablo Roesch
Group Manager Cloud Infrastructure Technical Marketing

Make sure you have VMworld with you while at the conference with the official VMworld 2011 mobile application. It is a show program, breakout session schedule builder and Solutions Exchange guide for attendees of the VMworld conference. The application is synced to email stations throughout the event and is compatible with iPhone, BlackBerry, and all other smartphones.

With the mobile application, you can: - View sessions by day and track - Schedule Breakout Sessions - View Hands-on Labs - Browse exhibitor listings by name - Find your way around the expo - Create a personal agenda containing the Breakout Sessions you pre-registered for - Complete session surveys - Follow the event’s Twitter stream - Receive the latest conference news Visit www.vmworld.com/mobile on your phone to download and install the official VMworld mobile application.

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There are some great events and locations for attendees to take advantage of at VMworld. Here are just a few of the special activities taking place, plus a location for you to lay back and relax during your time in Las Vegas.

Welcome Reception
Monday, August 29, 5:00pm - 7:30pm
Start your time at the conference with good food and good conversation. Catch up with colleagues, talk to technology partners, bump into Knowledge Experts and enjoy some down time with professionals in your field in the Solutions Exchange. Plus, don't miss Elastic Sky in the Hang Space from 4:30pm - 5:30pm.

Hall Crawl
Tuesday, August 30, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Enjoy a refreshing beverage while you see the latest products and services from over 250 exhibitors in the Solutions Exchange.

VMworld 2011 Party  Wednesday, August 31, 7:00pm - 11:00pm This year’s party is so big we have to hold it in 3 Locations - Hall A, Hang Space, and The Pools at Venetian and Palazzo! Start the evening in the Hang Space, enjoying a variety of great food, complimented with wine, beer and cocktails. Wander into Hall A, the rock party, complete with lighted teepees, roving entertainment, and an opening act that will set the tone for the rest of the evening. At 8:00, our special guests take the stage in what will be a sound, light and sensory experience you won’t believe. But the night isn’t over after the concert. Head up to the pools at the Venetian and Palazzo at 9:00pm where signature drinks and world-renowned DJs and VJs close out a night you won’t forget!

Hang Space
Take a break from the VMworld action for a bit in the Hang Space, just in front of the Solutions Exchange (Halls B & C). We will create a truly relaxing park, complete with trees, plants, benches and fun diversions. Play a game of volleyball, chill out with a snack on a blanket on the grass (that’s right, we said grass!), or socialize with friends. It’s like being outside without leaving the building! You will also find stations to send email, recharge your cell phones, and be as productive as you like, all in a relaxed atmosphere.

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The VMworld Hands-On Labs (HOLs) are yet again taking a leap forward to provide a user experience greater than any other in the industry with 24,000 lab hours being made available to conference attendees during VMworld. The HOLs will be serviced by a globally distributed public cloud which stretches across our Sponsor Datacenters; Switch in Las Vegas, Terremark in Miami, and COLT in Amsterdam all powered by vSphere 5.0 and vCloud Director 1.5.

New this year - The Labs have been designed around typical customer use case and business scenarios. This will allow conference attendees to have a hands-on experience exercising workflows that relate to real-world scenarios. There will be 27 distinct labs available; two of which will have manuals available in German and Japanese along with the default English. We will also be offering three partner labs this year from Cisco, EMC and NetApp. For the full list of labs being offered please refer to the U.S. Content Catalog.

Join us and take one of the HOLs to get more in-depth knowledge into the technologies you want to learn more about; at a time that best fits with your schedule.

Hands-on Labs Hours:

Sunday, Aug. 28           2:00pm - 8:00pm
Monday, Aug. 29           7:00am - 3:00pm
Monday, Aug. 29           5:00pm - 8:00pm
Tuesday, Aug. 30          10:00am - 10:00pm
Wednesday, Aug. 31     7:00am - 7:00pm
Thursday, Sept. 1          7:00am - 4:00pm

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      Podcasting at VMworld 2008

We are doing something new at VMworld this year, something that will put you, our community podcasters, in the limelight.

For the week of the show we will be broadcasting four or more hours daily of live streaming video on the "VMware Community TV" channel. This new channel is in addition to the "VMworld TV" video features and "VMworld Live with the Cube" industry interviews we've created in previous years. We're producing a few hours of programming, but we'd like to open up the channel to YOU, the VMware Community, to produce your own segments at VMworld this year.

We will have a video podcasting station set up which you can book and use to stream your session live on VMworld TV. If you have some experience in podcasting or video production, you can book a slot to fill with guests, commentary, or your own produced footage.

If you would like to use the podcasting equipment (audio or video) for your own uses outside of VMware Community TV, you can book that as well outside our broadcast hours, although capacity is limited.

In your proposal, please let us know the topics and/or guests for your show. The topic should be related to VMworld -- cloud, virtualization, or other VMware-related topics. Segments will be about 20 minutes and start on the half-hour. The podcasting station is self-serve, but will have some technical assistance standing by. Community content takes first priority in scheduling but exhbitiors with community-oriented topics are encouraged to create a proposal.

We can't guarantee that we can give you the time slot you want, but we'll try to accommodate your busy VMworld schedule.

Approximate broadcast times: Monday-Thurs 10:30-2:30.

> Submit a proposal for VMware Community TV & Podcasting

Questions? Contact us at jtroyer@vmware.com or @jtroyer or @VMwareCommunity on Twitter.

View the schedule page: vmware.com/go/vmworld-community

   Not your typical vMeetup

The whole layout of VMworld is new again this year. Right outside the Solutions Exchange (remember -- bring your comfortable shoes!) is going to be what we're calling the "Hang Space" -- not sure if that's our internal code name or if it'll be something like "The Stately VMworld Relaxation Gardens" by the time it gets to your program, but let's just use "Hang Space" for now. In that space, along with lots of room for, um, hanging, will be other landmarks like the VMworld Bookstore and the always-popular VMworld Community Lounge. In the lounge is where a lot of action takes place, and where you'll find our community and social media team hanging out all week. We'll have tables and power for our blogging colleagues, but everyone is welcome to come by and hang out. The Community Lounge is also a great place to use as a meeting point.

New this year we're also having a full program of vMeetups in the Community Lounge! What's a vMeetup? Well, that's up to you! The vMeetup schedule is a completely open schedule that will be set by the attendees of VMworld in half hour blocks Monday through Thursday throughout the entire week of VMworld Las Vegas. vMeetups are just like Birds of a Feather meetings or Special Interest Groups that you're familiar with at other conferences. These aren't for presentations; these are chances to get together with like-minded individuals and talk!

Your vMeetup could be for....

• - people interested in a virtualization or cloud topic (security? building a cloud requirements document? high performance computing?)
• - administrators of a particular piece of software (Notes? Blackboard? Oracle Apps?)
• - IT professionals in a particular industry (K12? Dental Practices? Logistics? Retail?)
• - other people in your city or region without a VMUG
• - meeting a book author
• - discussing how to do something (one for people interested in starting a virtualization blog)
• - or you tell us what you want to talk about ... it's in your hands!

The vMeetup schedule will NOT be in the Schedule Builder -- you'll find it online, on the Big Board in the Hang Space, and on screens in the Community Lounge. We'll lock in as much of the schedule as we can before the show so that you can plan around any interesting vMeetups. These vMeetups are also separate from the Knowledge Expert Group Discussions that you can find in the Schedule Builder on topics like Cloud Security and Memory Management. VMworld exhibitors are welcome to propose a vMeetup, but priority will be given to community-submitted topics, and we encourage you to submit topics that can engender discussion among community members, or meetings of like-minded individuals around a particular topic. Each organization is limited to one vMeetup per day.)

#vMeetup Scheduled Times in the VMworld Community Lounge

Monday 9:00am - 3:30pm

Tuesday 10:00am - 5:30pm

Wednesday 9:00am - 4:30pm

Thursday 9:30am - 2:00pm

> Propose a Community Lounge #vMeetup

Please share the schedule page as: vmware.com/go/vmworld-meetups
Promote with Twitter hashtag: #vMeetup

Join your fellow VMworld attendees in a special bike ride and fun run on Monday, August 29 in Red Rock Canyon (about 30 miles away from the Las Vegas Strip). You can enjoy either a 23 mile bike ride or an hour run/walk taking in the sights of the Las Vegas desert and towering cliffs of the canyon.   You will start the day meeting everyone at 5am, yes that is really early but you have to beat the heat, and be shuttled to the starting point. From there the groups will head out and be returned to The Venetian by 8:30, with time to shower and prepare for VMworld.

This is a great opportunity for you to meet some colleagues and network before hitting the ground running with education and all that VMworld has to offer.

There is a cost associated with the Bike Ride and Fun Run to cover shuttle costs, bike rentals and such, but all proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Red Rock Canyon, an organization dedicated to the preservation, protection and enrichment of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Visit the sign-up page for more information and we look forward to seeing you on the roads.

--The VMworld Team—

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