Virtual Bonkeydave

UKVMUG 2019 User/Con – National Space Centre 27th November 2019 – Better Mental Health in the Community Presentation

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Tiny bit late i know, been meaning to put something on about this a few weeks ago. Well lucky enough to get a slot to present on mental health, every better it was a Community cross company presentation between :3 people from VMware

Myself Dave Marley (@bonkeydave) Simon Conyard (@virtual_simon) Michael Poore (@mpoore) from VMware and Craig Dalyrymple @cragdoo from BrightSolid

Joe Baguley (@JoeBaguley) made a guest appearance and then joining myself and Craig at the end for a Q@A session

Presenting on this topic is pretty hard especially when you have personal stories included. Myself, Simon, Michael and Craig as far as i am concerned did a grand job on the day. I even has a few customers in the audience so a first for me with that.

Feedback after the presentation has been great and heartwarming, it really does show the community understands the importance of Mental Health in IT and that we are all here to support each other.

We are back presenting at the London vMUG in April and then the Yorkshire vMUG in May so hopefully we will get good turn outs at the sessions on the day.

Pandora Box 6 Jamma Board Part 2

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So this is the headline for the Pandora 6 if you look on any resellers …. what grabs your interest is the words add’s support FBA MAME PS1 ….

Arcade Version Pandora’s Box 6 1300 PCB board HDMI/VGA/CGA for LED/CRT Support add FBA MAME PS1 game arcade cabinet coin machine 

  

  

1300 games . and can add games yourself 

As you can see from the above picture they have certainly improved the power under the hood…….. However the most important addition and a first time for pandora boxes is the ability to add your own games to the USB stick that contains the games already. OK in the past you could hack it within reason and add your own games however i never ever got this to work.

I ordered one from my usual supplier however thought is this too good to be true. Received it within a few weeks, this time little choice in colour. It was either fashionable pink for Jamma versions or horrible green for home versions ( none jamma interface ).  Usual Jamma packaging arrived with the Jamma box in bubble wrap and a quick little instruction manual. 

As you can see from below, it certainly is Pink.

Few screws on the back of my bartop to allow me to lay the back of the cabinet flat on a table.

Removal of 2 screws to take my Pandora 5 out…. Then replace with the new pink wonder machine. 

As you can see below, it really is straightforward to swap over : 

  1. Couple of screws to fix it firmly to the back of your bartop 
  2. Plug Jamma interface at the bottom
  3. CRT plug

Thats it…. Pandora 6 swap over, took me about 10 minutes. Obviously depends how you have built your bartop in the first place, however if you have followed most plans available with a quick search on google then your probably reasonably similar.

Below shows the USB drive thats used for storage, my advice would be to get a long male to female USB extension lead. This means you can leave the USB drive outside of your bartop so you dont need to un screw things when you want to add/remove games to the pen drive. Couple of pounds on amazon and you can get a decent one.

Thats it…….

Moment of truth, power my bartop on

Thats it for part 2, next one will show a few of the new nice touches available on the Pandora 6.

ESXi on a Raspberry Pi

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Unfortunately i had to pull out of VMworld Europe, i was working on Hands On Labs again….. Real shame but some personal issues this time meant i could not go.

Not to miss out, i got out of bed on the Tuesday got myself awake made the long walk to my office at home with a coffee to watch Tuesdays Keynote. I know not the same as siting in a massive hall with 13,000 people in – something i have done many a time as a customer….. Would not have done this anyway as an employee……. but would have been watching this somewhere.. As the keynote is coming to an end Ray comes on and just blows me away with a concept of running ESXi on a Raspberry PI……

I have 25 of the blighters in my office lol

You can watch the keynote replay here starting at 1:37:15.

If you then have a spare hour, i would advise you to watch the below breakout session which talks about IOT and the Raspberry PI…

On Tuesday, Chris Wolf and Daniel Beveridge had a breakout session at VMware Europe – CTO3509BE Edge: Automation, Analytics, and Real-Time Business and you watch the recording here.

VMworld On-Demand Video Library

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In the past if you wanted to watch any of the sessions from VMworld you had to attend or hope someone uploaded something to youtube. This changed this year, you can now watch a good 90% of content using the on demand portal and go through the usual search criteria to get to the part you want. Whats even more fantastic you can also watch content starting from 2014……..

Just click on the below link which will take you off to the on demand library !!! Massive thumbs up for VMware in providing this feature

 

https://videos.vmworld.com/global/2018

 

 

Pandora Box 6 Jamma Board Part 1

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I have a cabinet in the dinning room set up for family use, have always just used Pandora Box jamma boards. I know they dont have as many games as using a PC or a Raspberry PI; however they just work out the box with no hassle meaning its just easy.

My trusty cabinet below is really easy made, when a new version of Pandara Box is released its a matter of 2 screws inside and a couple of leads swapped over.

Pandora Box 4 was pretty good then version 5 appeared at the end of last year which had out run on it and another few hundred games…….

About a month ago Pandora’s Box 6 was released which has raised the bar a bit. This post is going to be in a couple of posts as i intend to put a few pictures on and give my honest john review of where Pandora’s Box has got too….

 

 

 

1300 in 1

VMworld Europe 2018

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Alas i have to pull out working with the hands on labs team at the last minute due to family illness, real shame however just like in previous years the power of the internet allowed me to watch the keynotes !!!.

 

Little summary of some of the topics discussed on Day 1 this year :

 

Workspace ONE:

Workspace ONE Intelligence Automation Connector

 

Workspace ONE Intelligence, a cloud-based service that provides insights and analytics with automated remediation capabilities across a digital workspace environment, can now be leveraged with third-party systems via the Workspace ONE Intelligence Automation Connector. Building on existing out-of-box connectors to Slack and ServiceNow, the connector provides a way for customers to connect automated actions and notifications created in Workspace ONE Intelligence with their existing systems such as service desk platforms.

 

Workspace ONE Sensors for macOS

 

Workspace ONE Sensors enable customers to query any system attribute from silicon to software (firmware, BIOS, peripherals, apps, etc.) for visibility and compliance enforcement. This capability was previously announced for Windows 10 and today VMware is announcing the general availability of Sensors for macOS.

 

Dell Provisioning for Workspace ONE now with Dell ProDeploy Client Suite

 

Dell Provisioning for VMware Workspace ONE is a service that preconfigures devices in the factory and ships them directly to end users for a ready-to-work experience with all Windows applications pre-loaded and available immediately to users on first boot. Today, VMware and Dell announced this service is now part of Dell ProDeploy Client Suite, which offers comprehensive deployment services that complement the provisioning service. This service can be purchased together with a new Workspace ONE license at a special combined rate as part of ProDeploy.

 

Workspace ONE Integration with Flexera AdminStudio for Easy Win32 App Publishing

 

Workspace ONE customers can now publish existing desktop applications directly from Flexera AdminStudio into their Workspace ONE catalog, avoiding costly and complex re-packaging of Win32 apps.

 

Workspace ONE Intelligence Identity Analytics

 

Enhancements to the Workspace ONE Intelligence service provide insights that improve visibility from the device to the network and allow IT to automate remediation. VMware today introduced Workspace ONE Intelligence Identity Analytics. Leveraging data from VMware Identity Manager, Workspace ONE Intelligence will provide identify analytics that help IT proactively mitigate risks.

 

Collaboration with Trust Network partner Carbon Black

 

In addition to Workspace ONE’s intrinsic security capabilities, customers can leverage existing investments in specialised security solutions as part of the growing Workspace ONE Trust Network. By connecting with third-party solutions through Workspace ONE Intelligence, organisations can see a full view of their devices and users, along with the threats that are targeting them.

With this in mind, today VMware unveiled a solution developed in collaboration with Trust Network partner Carbon Black. Now in preview the solution integrates Carbon Black, Workspace ONE Intelligence and VMware AppDefense to extend threat intelligence into the data center​, improve security posture, and automate the remediation of advanced threats​.

 

Okta Identity Cloud Integration

 

Also announced today are two new offerings that allow Workspace ONE customers to easily take advantage of Okta Identity Cloud. The partnership between Okta and VMware ties device trust to user identity via rich conditional access and provides employees with a central, more secure hub to access all apps, services, and devices.

 

VMware Workspace ONE Boxer

 

Workspace ONE Boxer now supports G-Suite corporate email, enabling organizations looking to leverage Google to manage email.

 

Workspace ONE Intelligence for Workspace ONE Secure Productivity Apps

 

VMware has built connectors to Workspace ONE Intelligence, so organizations can get insights into app engagement, crash rates, login times, user behavior, and more.

 

Support for Samsung DeX

 

Users can now access the Workspace ONE family of apps both on-the-go on their mobile device and connect their Galaxy S8, Note8, S9, Note9 and Tab S4 to a monitor, keyboard and mouse for a desktop computing experience with Samsung DeX. Employees can use their phone to open the VMware apps, use keyboard shortcuts, and drag and drop files all on the big screen.

 

VMware Horizon:

Instant Clones and App Volumes for Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS

 

VMware Cloud on AWS now supports Horizon 7 Instant Clones, App Volumes and User Environment Manager for just-in-time provisioning of stateless virtual desktops. Customers can spin up virtual desktops at an average rate of 1-2 seconds per desktop, and instant clones reduce storage consumed by up to 80 percent.

 

Consolidated Monitoring and Management

 

VMware is announcing integration of Horizon 7 with the Horizon Cloud Service. This integration provides unified visibility, health monitoring and helpdesk services for Horizon 7 deployments both on VMware Cloud on AWS and on premises infrastructure.

 

Automated Installation of Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS

 

VMware is previewing the ability to automate several steps of the Horizon 7 installation on VMware Cloud on AWS via the Horizon Cloud Service integration. This will greatly reduce the install time for Horizon 7 on VMC on AWS with streamlined UI for installation.

 

VMware Cloud Foundation 3.5

 

VMware Cloud Foundation 3.5 will deliver even greater flexibility as well as support an ever-growing set of workloads and cloud initiatives. VMware Cloud Foundation 3.5 will be validated with Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes on Dell EMC PowerEdge MX with additional integration for composing compute, storage and network on this kinetic infrastructure expected in future releases. This new release will bring composability features to VMware Cloud Foundation with HPE Synergy providing customers the benefits of a composable private cloud infrastructure with even more simplicity and flexibility in managing SDDC environments. Additionally, the new release will feature integration with VMware NSX-T enabling the automated deployment and lifecycle management of the network virtualization software as well as support for containerized applications and Kubernetes. VMware Cloud Foundation 3.5 will build on top of the extensive set of new capabilities and integrations delivered in VMware Cloud Foundation 3.0 including the choice of physical network switches (compared to previous versions that only supported a predefined list of supported switches).

 

VMware Cloud Foundation 3.5 will deliver:

 

Increased Flexibility:

  • New – VMware will validate this latest release of VMware Cloud Foundation with Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes on Dell EMC PowerEdge MX, with increased integration expected over time. PowerEdge MX is Dell EMC’s kinetic infrastructure, which was designed for the software-defined data center, with customizable modules of compute, storage and networking. A proven, complete hyperconverged software solution, VMware Cloud Foundation offers ecosystem support for all VMware vSAN ReadyNodes.
  • New – Support for composable features will be delivered through deep integration between VMware SDDC Manager and HPE Synergy Composer which is powered by HPE OneView. Customers can now dynamically compose physical resources using the VMware Cloud Foundation user interface to meet the needs of applications running on Workload Domains, thus increasing overall operational efficiency and automation.

Expanded Customer Use Cases:

  • New – Integration with VMware NSX-T 2.3 – which simplifies the implementation of network and security tasks around Kubernetes – will enable support for containerized and cloud-native application use cases. This includes support for VMware PKS, the enterprise-grade Kubernetes solution.
  • Previously, VMware Cloud Foundation 3.0 introduced support for multi-site use cases including the use of vSAN Stretched Clusters as well as the quick and easy movement of workloads across private and public clouds using NSX Hybrid Connect.

 

Latest VMware Product Innovations:

  • New – VMware Cloud Foundation 3.5 will include support for recent VMware product releases including vSphere 6.7 Update 1, featuring simple and efficient management at scale, built-in security for applications, infrastructure, data and access as well as increased support for artificial intelligence (AI) and ML workloads, among other capabilities. Integration with VMware NSX-T 2.3 will enable support for container environments as well as a simplified workflow and a new search interface to allow administrators to search for objects and events within the NSX-T system and perform operations quickly. The new release will also feature VMware vRealize Automation 7.5 with broadened developer use case support through VMware PKS integration for Kubernetes cluster management. VMware vRealize Operations 7.0 will enable customers to adopt a ‘self-driving’ approach to monitoring and managing their data centers and cloud environments.

 

VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail

 

At VMworld 2018 Europe, Dell EMC announced a preview of VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail. The combination of Dell EMC VxRail and VMware Cloud Foundation is expected to offer customers the simplest way to build a private cloud with enterprise-rich features including multi-site and multi-cluster with fully automated deployment and lifecycle management of the entire stack.

 

vRealize Network Insight 4.0

 

Today, VMware also unveiled vRealize Network Insight 4.0. The latest release will be able to troubleshoot application connectivity in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. New functionality will enable customers to troubleshoot the path between a virtual machine (VM) on-premises to an EC2 instance in Amazon Web Services (AWS). VMware vRealize Network Insight 4.0 will also introduce comprehensive visibility across underlay and overlay networks including sflow support, new visibility for VMware NSX-T topology and events as well as support for Cisco ACI underlay and Cisco ASA firewall. Available as packaged software and as a VMware Cloud Service, VMware vRealize Network Insight helps customers to accelerate application security and networking across private, public and hybrid clouds. For VMware NSX customers, vRealize Network Insight helps drive successful outcomes no matter the stage of NSX adoption.

 

VMware Skyline Proactive Support for vRealize Operations

 

VMware Skyline, a proactive customer support technology, automates data collection to proactively review a customer’s VMware environment. The service provides prescriptive recommendations to improve overall environmental health and performance and includes VMware Skyline Log Assist—which eliminates the time-consuming process of manually uploading log files needed by Technical Support Engineers to assist customers with solving technical challenges. VMware Skyline proactive findings and recommendations will be available within vRealize Operations in early 2019.

 

 

VMware Validated Designs for Cloud Providers

 

Continued growth in VMware Cloud Verified partners, with 27 partners including more than a dozen partners across Europe now holding the VMware Cloud Verified designation, up from only five a year ago. VMware Cloud Verified partners have fully deployed VMware Cloud infrastructure and enable customers the performance and scale to support their application requirements.

 

New VMware Validated Designs (VVDs) for Cloud Providers are now available, enabling partners to deploy and operate VMware cloud infrastructure for a wide range of use cases and provide a fast, proven path to achieving VMware Cloud Verified status.

 

Previously announced solutions across the Cloud Provider Platform are now generally available, including VMware Cloud Provider Pod, VMware vCloud Director 9.5, VMware vCloud Availability for Cloud-to-Cloud DR, and VMware vCloud Usage Insight Service.

 

IBM Cloud Private Hosted on VMware vCenter Server

 

IBM Cloud Private Hosted can now be installed on VMware vCenter Server on IBM Cloud, which supports the management and orchestration of virtual machines and containers within a common security model and private network. With IBM Cloud Private Hosted on VMware vCenter Server, clients can containerize stateless components of a virtualized application while maintaining stateful components such as databases within the virtual machine. It also enables clients to modernize applications with the IBM Cloud Private catalogue of services including Blockchain, AI and event services, among many others.

 

In addition to IBM Cloud Private Hosted, IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions are now integrated with the IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, which provides a fully managed Kubernetes environment, so customers can concentrate on application development.

 

To provide a unified networking solution that will bridge IBM Cloud Private and the IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, IBM is expanding use of virtual cloud networking with the adoption of VMware NSX-T Data Center. As the foundation for a software-based network architecture that delivers services to applications and data wherever they are located, NSX-T provides consistent networking and security for all deployment models, including VM, containerized and bare metal. NSX-T has been validated by IBM as a supported network stack for IBM Cloud Private.

 

To support on-premises workloads, VMware vRealize Operations is now available on IBM Power Systems. With VMware vRealize Operations for Power, IT managers can monitor a heterogenous infrastructure from a single dashboard, allowing them to more efficiently allocate resources and free them from the time-consuming process of switching between multiple tools to manage a sprawling infrastructure.

 

IBM and VMware also announced that VMware will use Watson to help improve customer service across VMware support portals. Instead of static drop downs, now VMware customers can leverage Watson to quickly and easily communicate with the portal in natural language. Watson is designed to detect product type and version, analyze issues and match those issues with an expert engineer for faster resolution and a better customer support experience.

 

VMware to Acquire Heptio

 

VMware announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Heptio, a leader in the open Kubernetes ecosystem. Heptio’s products and expertise help organizations deploy and operationalize Kubernetes. Terms were not disclosed.

 

Founded in 2016 by Joe Beda and Craig McLuckie, two of the creators of Kubernetes, Heptio has applied its unique insight to a growing set of products, open source projects and contributions to upstream Kubernetes. This is complemented by Heptio’s work with organizations through training, support and professional services that speed integration of Kubernetes and related technologies into the fabric of enterprise IT. As a result, Heptio will be able to open new channels for VMware to further engage the open source community and harden upstream Kubernetes as well as support the cloud native needs of the largest enterprises in the world upon closing.

 

VMware and Pivotal have delivered PKS, the industry’s most comprehensive Kubernetes portfolio covering customer use cases for on-premises deployment and as a cloud service. The offerings enable organizations to operate Kubernetes and run their modern applications in a cloud-agnostic fashion. Upon completion of the acquisition, Heptio’s Kubernetes solution, expertise and community leadership will enhance the VMware portfolio and further accelerate enterprise adoption of Kubernetes.

 

VMware Blockchain

 

Announced today, VMware Blockchain is a service that will provide permissioned blockchain for enterprise consortiums which is intrinsically more secure than public blockchains. VMware Blockchain will provide the foundation for decentralized trust while delivering enterprise-grade scalability, reliability, security and manageability. The service will be integrated into existing VMware tools to help protect the network and compute functions that underlie a true enterprise blockchain.

Bit about me

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I started as a graduate at ICL ( changing to Fujitsu ) and have spent over 23 years in the IT industry. First role  as an IT engineer progressing then making the jump into senior management running a large IT product line. I decided to go back into a technical role and was involved in some high profile projects over the years ending my career at Fujitsu as a principal architect. I have Keept close to the ever changing world of technology and have adapted over the years.

Since joining VMware in 2015 I have  presented at numerous industry, analyst and technology partner events. Whilst enjoying his current position of Snr. Technical Account Manager working with numerous industry verticals and helping them move forward with their digital transformations. I am also a mental health first aider within VMware and have presented numerous times on the topic.

Log insight – new deployment wizard

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It is a best practice for single-node deployments to use the vRealize Log Insight integrated load balancer (ILB) and to send queries and ingestion tra c to the ILB. This does not incur overhead and simpli es con guration if you want to add nodes to create a cluster for your deployment in the future