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The Virtual Disk API, or VixDiskLib, is a set of function calls to manipulate virtual disk files in VMDK format (virtual machine disk). Function call semantics are patterned after C system calls for file I/O. This API enables partners and software vendors to manage VMDK directly from their applications. These library functions can manipulate virtual disk on a VMware Workstation or similar product (hosted disk) or virtual disk contained within a VMFS volume on an ESX Server (managed disk). Hosted disk is an original VMware concept meaning a disk managed by the Workstation host for a guest operating system. The Virtual Disk Development Kit is a collection of C libraries, code samples, utilities, and documentation to help you create or access VMware virtual disk storage. The kit includes:

 The Virtual Disk library, a set of C function calls to manipulate virtual disk (VMDK) files.
 C++ code samples that you can build with either Visual Studio or the GNU C compiler.
 Virtual Disk Manager utility to manipulate offline VMDK files on Windows or Linux (clone, create, relocate, rename, grow, shrink, or defragment).
 DiskMount utility to access files and file systems in virtual disks on Windows or Linux.
 Documentation about the Virtual Disk library and the command-line utilities.

Undeleeb Din over at VMware presented the VMware Update Manager training module at the VDM TTT this week in Frimley. I captured some video footage which can be viewed here. The VMware Update Manager keeps systems up-to-date and reduces the number of vulnerabilities. VUM is all about Automated Patch Management and Patches ESX hosts and the VMs and templates hosted on them.

This evening Thomas Hagedorn over at Magirus Nordic treated us a nice Italian dinner. We had a lot of fun especially the four birthdays in the same restaurant  led to a lot of singing and handclaps. Earlier today I had the opportunity to speak with Mike Laverick about the battle of the RPD protocols. He also shared his findings about the Virtual Desktop Manager 2. Finally I couldn’t resist asking him about the upcoming Advanced Technical Design Guide, and why it’s taking so long ;-). I recorded the interview and you can download it here.

Today I attended the Virtual Desktop Manager 2 Train The Trainer course at VMware in Frimley (UK) delivered by Andy Cary, Undeleeb Din and Richard Garsthagen.  It was a great day with lots of discussion about Group Policy’s and mandatory profile’s besides that we looked at the classroom setup. As always I brought my camera with me and made some pictures during the course. I even managed to collect some video footage and posted it on Blip.tv.

Monday the 7th of April I’ll fly to London Heathrow. I’m staying at the famous Lakeside International Hotel. This hotel is also known from the Frimley Green Darts Tournament. On Tuesday I’ll attend the Virtual Desktop Manager Train the Trainer. This hands-on training course, aimed at experienced VMware Infrastructure 3 administrators, covers installation, configuration, and management of a VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) using VMware Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM). I’m among the top VMware trainers from Europe, so stay tuned, because I’ve packed my camera and microphone.

Today VMware launched VDM2 as a part of VMware VDI: Delivering Desktops from the Data Center. The abbreviation VDM stands for Virtual Desktop manager, the connection broker software that supports a VDI environment. I participated in the Beta and deployed VDM2 in a production environment. When Capgemini Outsourcing had obtained an outsourcing contract from office Furniture group Ahrend last September, it has taken over management of the office ICT environment and the service desk. As the senior system administrator at Ahrend I created a VDI pool with desktops. During the transition of all the hardware from the Ahrend Datacenter in Nieuwegein to the Capgemini datacenter in Amsterdam,  the Ahrend ICT colleagues could easily move to the Capgemini office without losing their old desktop. There are two things I really like about VDM2; the first one is the automatic provisioning and the second one is USB support. VDM2 really made the transition to Capgemini run a lot smoother. VMware has asked me to act as a marketing reference for this launch, so I can speak to the press and author a quote. I already created an install and configure presentation which I presented to the Dutch VMUG audience last December. When you need any further information please let me know.

  Photo taken by Viktor van den Berg