Updates from VCI Day 2013 at VMworld

Yesterday was VCI day at VMworld.  I was lucky enough to be able to fit it in to my schedule to attend, and get a day to explore San Francisco to boot.  We did get an overview of some of the new releases coming out, most of which you can read about directly from VMware.  Here are a few things that stood out to me from the technical discussion.

• Faster performance in the web client, and a new warning in the Windows client warning that it was going away (we all knew that was coming).
• Drag and Drop  in the web client.
• Sphere Flash Read Cache and vSAN
• SSO has been completely rewritten under the hood.
• The vCenter Virtual Appliance embedded database now supports up to 500 hosts and 5000 VMs
• Packet capture from the command line now supports vnics and vmnics in addition to vmks.

In addition to the updates to tech, there are some updates to the certification program.  VMware has announced their new entry level cert, the VCA.  There is a 3 hour online class and online test to get the cert.  The VCA is intended to show "I'm familiar with Cloud/Virtual Desktop/Viritualization Technology" not I am qualified to work on it.  If you are at #vmworld, you can get a discount and check it out while you are there.  

Something else new in the certification world.  VMware is partnering with measureup.com as their official VMware Practice Exam Partner.  I will take the opportunity in the next few weeks as I am studying for my Cloud cert to test out the program and report back.

Finally, VMware has introduced a new tool to help navigate online and instructor led training, VMware Learning Paths.  This site along with VMware Learning Videos and VMware Ceritification Videos can help you get the most out of your training dollars and your time with an instructor.

Sadly I am not attending the rest of VMworld this year, but there is lots to follow on twitter and Google plus using #vmworld.

On a personal note, for years when someone would give me directions that included "up"  like "go up to Wadsworth" I would inform them that up is not a direction, it does not tell me where to go unless I'm in a helicopter.  Well, on Saturday I learned that in San Francisco, "up" is in fact a direction.