Virtualization, Cloud, Infrastructure and all that stuff in-between
My ramblings on the stuff that holds it all together
Monthly Archives: December 2011
London VMware User Group Jan 26th 2012
Posted by on December 14, 2011
We (the steering committee) are pleased to announce that the agenda for the next London VMware User Group is now online and registration is open.
The full agenda is available in this handy PDF file and you can register using this link
We have a great agenda lined up with hands-on labs from Embotics (who you may remember from a previous event) and we hope you enjoy the multi-track layout.
Usual place, usual time.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Main event 10:00 – 17:15
Networking Reception 17:15
Meeting Location
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry 33 Queen Street
London, EC4R 1AP (map)
Hope to see you there!
16Gb RAM upgrade for MacBook Pro
Posted by on December 13, 2011
I have a 2011 13” MacBook Pro (Thunderbolt model) which is my main workhorse machine, I wanted a highly specified machines that was very portable and this absolutely fitted the bill (if it was VERY expensive) – buy the best, or buy twice as someone I know always says, and I’ve come round to his way of thinking!
When I ordered it the maximum amount of RAM you could order was 8Gb, Crucial have since released a 16GB upgrade (2 x 8GB SODIMM modules) – you can find out if your MBP can take it from this link
The following is what I ordered..
- CT2625478 16GB kit (8GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM Upgrade for a Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) System £242.99 (Ex. VAT)
- CTSCRDRVRPH0 Screwdriver for Upgrading Notebook Memory £2.49 (Ex. VAT)
Obviously you don’t have to order the screwdriver but I needed a new one and it perfectly fitted the small screws to remove the underside of the case.
It’s very simple to fit, just remove the screws from the underside, making sure you note which hole they match up to as there are two different lengths, pop out the existing modules and screw it back together. done.
And, the finished result..
Very cool as I can now use Fusion 4 to run a multi node nested ESXi cluster (ala vTARDIS), Hyper-V and my normal Windows 7 VM all on a single machine, mine also has an SSD so it’s about as fast as it can get with that workload.
Crucial probably isn’t the cheapest place to get these from, but by the time you factor in your effort tracking down cheaper modules and running the risk that you may have to return them if they turn out to be incompatible just isn’t worth the bother IMHO.
They seem to have a 5% discount offer which may or may not work in your country – the code is BOOKFIVE which applies to DRAM, solid-state drives and a variety of accessories.
This sticker was part of an overall upgrade process, and was secondary in importance to the following sticker for anyone who regularly reads pistonheads.com 
This blog is not dead. but it is a little bit quiet
Posted by on December 8, 2011
Apologies for the lack of posting, this is another one of those I’ve been too busy to blog busy excuse posts.
I have a ton of stuff I am working on – including the next London VMware User Group meeting on Jan 26th and vTARDIS 5 posts as well as a very challenging customer project.
But, the main reason is that all my spare time is currently going into a new book that I am writing for Wiley/Sybex on building a private cloud with VMware Technology including vCloud Director 1.5, vSphere 5.0 and Hopefully some vFabric coverage.
You can pre-order it on Amazon at this link, and if you’d like to see it on the Kindle I would strongly recommend clicking on the part of the page shown below 
Virtualization, Cloud, Infrastructure and all that stuff in-between 