Let the Journey Begin!

Server virtualization is only a beginning.

Now is the era of the cloud.  There is the public cloud such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft’s Azure. There is also the private cloud where companies host the cloud services on local premise. Of course there is the hybrid cloud where companies have both private and public cloud.

I think in a few more years there is the personal cloud just like the personal computer where individuals will have one or more cloud for them to use and can be access via different devices.

Apart from the commercial cloud offering, there is the open source cloud and network virtualization. It is not easy to keep up with all the Open* such as OpenStack, OpenFlow, OpenVswitch, OpenDayLight etc.

I am a software engineer for networking equipment. In my 20 years working for a Networking Equipment Manufacturer, I have work on device driver, ATM, SNMP as well as network access control.  

Four years ago I started my journey to the cloud. With my background as a software engineer for networking equipment, it should be natural for me to get into SDN or NVF or OpenVswitch but I have chosen to go after the cloud infrastructure.

By chance I got to attend Interop 2010 for free (hotel, transportation and food is on me). At that time server virtualization is starting to pick up steam and VMware brought server virtualization to maturity.

After I have attended Interop, I feel that virtualization is the industry trend and is starting to pick up. After much effort, with many late night studies and setting up a home lab I struggled for one year and after 2 retires I was able to get my VCP 4 and subsequently VCP 5 certification. Good thing VMworld 2013 is only announcing vSphere 5.5 otherwise I will have to catch up again.

Then I have a chance to look into Citrix’s server and application technology. It was at this time that I found out I am lacking of the knowledge for the Microsoft Infrastructure. Citrix is heavily connected to Microsoft. I tried to learn more about Microsoft’s various technologies and especially the Group Policy when Citrix used that to tune their XenApp deployments. I thought of taking classes or online course but budget is a problem – they are all very expensive.

There came Microsoft Windows Server 2012. As Microsoft is pushing this new server, there are tons of promotions and free education opportunities. Thanks to Microsoft Learning and TrainSignal (recently acquired by PluralSight) I am able to pass 70-410, 70-411 and 70-412 and achieved my MCSA for Windows Server 2012. Hyper-V is really catching up with VMware.

With understanding of VMware and Microsoft infrastructure technologies, I am now ready to really start my journey to the cloud. My next objective is to master Microsoft’s private cloud technology and then move on to OpenStack.

Check back again to watch me journey into the cloud.