Staying Current with VMware Technology
One of the common question I’m asked is- How do I stay current with virtualization technology
The answer is – Staying current takes time and work. Here are my Tips for staying current…
1. Join your Local User Group, show up, and get to know “Who are the People in your Neighborhood”
- In Phoenix we have one of the best VMware Users group in the world. 800+ Strong and they come from all over the state
- There are MANY vendors from all types of technologies (Storage, Backups, Networking, Server hardware, etc)
- User and Vendors alike present information in a Technical Fashion
- Phoenix VMUG regional meeting draws about ~300 Attendees from all types of industry
- Use these meetings to find out Who’s Who in the virtualization community and then starting asking LOTS of questions
2. Blog Sites – Read these sites frequently…
- Duncan Epping’s Blog – Yellow Bricks – http://www.yellow-bricks.com/ << TOP Rated VMware Blog
- Vaughan Stewart – The Virtual Storage Guy — http://blogs.netapp.com/virtualstorageguy/ << Mr. Vmware for NetApp
- Chad Sakac’s Blog – Virtual Geek – http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/ <<< Mr. VMware for EMC (Has an army called Chad Army)
- Gabe Van Zanten’s Blog – Gabe’s Virtual World – http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/
- Mike Laverick’s Blog – RTFM Ed. – http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/
- Scott Lowe’s Blog – ScottLowe.org – http://blog.scottlowe.org/ << Great author of many books and an EMC vSpecialist
- Jason Boche – Vmware Virtualization Evangelist – http://www.boche.net/blog/ << Old VMUG Minneapolis Leader, now works for Dell
- Local guy(Arizona) – Adam Baum – http://itvirtuality.wordpress.com/ <<< works for VCE and knows Cisco UCS
3. RSS Feeds
- Setup RSS Feeds to your Favorite Blogs sites – AND read them – Put your Smart Phone to use…
- VMWare has done a great job with Planetv12n. It is a blog consolidation of top bloggers
4. PodCasts
- John Troyer with VMware has done a great job putting together a weekly podcast around VMware based topics — http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=19367
- One thing I like about TalkShoe is all the previous pod casts are there for you to review.
5. LinkedIN
- Join a group, build your network, and start communicating
- This is a great way to track those people you meet
6. Twitter
- Twitter Really? Yes Really…. Companies like VMware use twitter to get information out to customers
- Find your favorite companies, find out their twitter feeds and follow them.
- If used properly Twitter is a great resource for valuable information
7. YouTube
- YouTube Really? Yes Really… Like Twitter YouTube is a great resource for quality information.
- Do simple searches for information or product, you’ll be surpised how much information you’ll find
- Companies like VMware have specific YouTube Channels and they frequently post Product and How To information
Here is my last link… This link contains most of the VMware Bloggers, Twitter Accounts, and RSS feeds in one spot.. http://vlp.vsphere-land.com/ << Priceless
All of this might seem a bit overbearing, and it can be at first. My recommendation is — start out small, read a few blogs, view some online content, ask questions, and repeat..
Before you know it you’ll be on the right track to staying current with virtualization.
