VMworld 2007- The first 48 hours

So I am no in San Francisco and have just about got over the 10 hour flight from Heathrow. The flight itself was as good as a 10 hour flight can be and I must admit, I was quite impressed by just how much leg room I got in BAs World Traveler Plus cabin.

The view from the 35th floor in the Hilton is looking fine with views of Twin Peaks and the Golden Gate Bridge

So onto the reason I am here.

VMware have announced their new ESX 3i product which is a striped down hypervisor that can run on a USB jump drive as it is less than 32MB in size.

I can see how this could make disk-less ESX servers a reality and am keen to see how the vendors play this one out although in theory you can load this onto any USB jump drive and boot it on any server.

So VMware have given everybody a copy of this so I will be having a play when I get home next week.

HP have also been making a lot of noise about their C class blade system and also their new small blade chassis for non data centre use.

The show itself has close to 12,000 people attending this year and there have been some noticeably bottlenecks around the Moscone Centre but beyond that, it is well organised and enjoyable although the days are still very long.

The solutions exchange has been very useful this year with lots of exhibitors and the chance to spend quality time, talking through solutions and ideas. On top of this, the freebie count was on a level not seen for many years. So far I have in my hotel drawer:

• 9 T shirts
• 2 Caps
• Books
• Mouse Mats
• Loads of pens
• Puzzles
• Illuminated fans
• Flashing things (I have no idea what or why)
• Other desk junk

Then to top it off, last night a card with a prize draw ticket was passed under the door of all rooms in the hotel with the invitation to take it down to the 3Par stand to see if you had won the grand prize.

So the grand prize of a Nintendo Wii is now sitting right here with me so thankyou to the 3Par guys.

So tonight it the VMworld party on Treasure Island with the Theme of “The Streets of San Francisco”. Following last years Universal Studios party, expectations are high so expect another report in a couple of days when I am sober again.