TinkerTry Demo at VMworld 2018 US! "See VMware vSphere 6.7 fly on Intel Xeon D with NVMe SSDs [VMTN12504U]" Wed Aug 29 1pm-5pm VMTN Blogger Table at VMvillage

Posted by Paul Braren on Aug 23 2018 (updated on Sep 3 2018) in
  • CPU
  • HomeLab
  • HomeServer
  • ESXi
  • GIGABYTE
  • VMworld
  • Xeon D-2100
  • Back in June, I excitedly announced I'm going to VMworld 2018 US, my 7th time attending, and I get to present! My presentation as a VMware employee had been accepted, but my proposal to present at the #vBrownBag was pending, and I didn't really know for sure if an invite from Community Leaders Corey Romero and Elsa Mayer would work out.

    Turns out not only are all the presentation proposals actually happening, but moments ago, I got word that Corey and Elsa actually managed to get my home lab themed live demo into the VMworld 2018 US Content Catalog as well! Because I'm there for 4 hours, you may prefer to get this on your schedule by clicking on the Yellow Star to Favorite it instead of the ADD TO SCHEDULE button:

    VMTN12504U-cropped
    • See VMware vSphere 6.7 fly on Intel Xeon D with NVMe SSDs [VMTN12504U]

      Paul will have U.2, M.2, and PCIe NVMe SSDs on hand including Intel Optane/3D XPoint. Visit to nerd out about the latest tech that fuels his portable but very powerful home datacenter, running the new vSphere 6.7 downloaded from VMUG Advantage EVALExperience, of course, with some dabbling in vSAN. Intel Xeon D systems from both Supermicro and Gigabyte will be featured this year, and it’s a great chance to meet the author behind all that home lab enthusiast and consumer electronics content at TinkerTry IT @ home – Efficient virtualization, storage, backup and more.

      SPEAKERS

      Paul Braren, Sr. Solutions Engineer, vSAN/HCI, Blogger, VMware

      Session Type: VMTN TechTalk
      Wednesday, Aug 29, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | VMTN Booth Blogger Tables, VMvillage

    I'm extremely grateful for this, as it makes the likelihood of people finding me and my LIVE DEMO so much higher. Even better, VMworld and #vBrownBag tend to publish sessions soon after they happen for everybody to see, as they realize the vast majority of IT Pros aren't able to get to VMworld in person. For those of you who will be there, I'll be pretty easy to find, and I’d love to meet you to hear your stories. Here's my daytime schedule summary:

    Where's Paul

    Intel Xeon D with VMware vSphere 6.7

    Featuring the popular Supermicro SuperServer and an (unreleased) GIGABYTE Server motherboard!

    GIGABYTE-Server-MB51-PS0-Motherboard-with-2-m2x4-cards--TinkerTry

    This year, I'll be featuring my Supermicro Xeon D-1541 SuperServer running vSphere 6.7 smooth as silk, with that awesome HTML5 UI. A special surprise this year is that a GIGABYTE Server MB51-PS0 that isn't even out yet! That's right, you can't even buy this particular Xeon D-2100 motherboard yet, but you sure can see it if you stop by my booth!

    Of course, I'll have Intel, Micron, and Samsung NVMe SSDs with me too, in M.2, and U.2, and PCIe flavors, of course. As for software, you can see the list in the description section of this video, updated for vSphere 6.7 of course. Admittedly, I'm not too sure that a monitor will be provided, so extended live demos of software might be a challenge, we'll see.

    TinkerTry-staging-area-getting-drives-ready-for-display

    Wait, there's more!

    Hankering for more storage tech? Here's a list of all 3 sessions I'm presenting at.

    Here's the details on the rest of my sessions:

    HCI2993BU-cropped
    • The Story of How Deloitte Migrated to vSAN [HCI2993BU]

      Deloitte selected VMware vSAN, our hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) platform, to lower their TCO and simplify infrastructure management. This project involved the migration from traditional infrastructure and three VBlocks (converged infrastructure) that were hosting over 4,000 virtual servers running business-critical applications. The VMs had to be migrated seamlessly, without any interruption to end users.

      In this session, you will learn about the architecture design choices, failure testing, performance testing, and recommendations based on Deloitte’s experience. Find out how vSAN provided Deloitte with a simple, intuitive set of tools to manage their HCI stack.

      SPEAKERS

      Jorvin Martinez, Manager, Compute Services and Delivery Engineering, Deloitte

      Paul Braren, Sr. Solutions Engineer, vSAN/HCI, Blogger, VMware

      Tuesday, Aug 28, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Lagoon F, Level 2

    VMTN5611U-cropped
    • What you need to know about running VMware w U.2, M.2, M.3 & PCIe NVMe SSDs [VMTN5611U]

      Feeling a bit confused about the differences between these form factors, and how you connect, configure, and update them? Stop by to see some samples of each, from Micron, Samsung, and Intel. Curious about hot swap U.2 drives? You'll also see an Intel Optane SSD featuring all-new 3D XPoint non-volatile memory, great for workloads that require extremely low latency.

      With sample hardware on hand, Paul will help you become knowledgeable about these newer storage technologies. Finally, SATA, SAS, and 3.5" spinning rust drives are becoming old-school, as new flash storage technology benefits home labs and datacenters alike.

      SPEAKERS

      Paul Braren, Founder/Owner, TinkerTry.com, LLC

      Thursday, Aug 30, 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. | VMTN Theater in the VMTN Lounge


    Video

    Playback of my VMTN TechTalk with vBrownBag is now available.

    Paul Braren - What you need to know about running VMware with U.2, M.2, M.3, and PCIe NVMe SSDs

    Like last year, I found it a bit challenging to actually do a live demo in a shared space with many guests nearby for various activities, so instead I focused on showing the physical gear to those who stopped by, along with discussing a variety of tech topics. For folks looking for a software demo of what you can do with a home lab like mine, using the equipment that I had brought with me to VMworld, here you go!

    VMworld 2017 US - TinkerTry IT @ home's VMware vSphere 6.5U1 demo featuring Intel Xeon D
    Unboxing of the GIGABYTE Server Xeon D-2123IT 4 core ATX Motherboard MB51-PS0 [in 4K]

    See also at TinkerTry

    gigabyte-xeon-d-2100-mb51-ps0-motherboard-first-look-unboxing

    im-going-to-vmworld-us-2018

    supermicro-superserver-sys-e300-9d-first-look

    connecticut-vmug-usercon-2018-homelab