SNW still attracts a great audience

Oh yeah, Gina is on the ring!

If you are a “qualified end user” and would like to attend SNW for free, here’s a discount code courtesy of our friends over at Nekkid Tech!

Storage Networking World (SNW) is something of an insider show, but it still attracts a reasonably solid audience of end-users, analysts and press, and companies. My experience is certainly different from most others, since I spend much of my time in one-on-one conversations with enterprise storage companies and rarely attend the presentations, keynotes, or industry plug fests that inevitably occur. And it’s really too bad that I don’t have time for the awesome on-site training and certification that always has been a part of SNW.

Instead, I’ll be back to back with briefings and conversations with various companies. As always, I will publicly disclose who I’m talking to and invite your feedback and questions during my conversations. I will be on site from Monday afternoon through lunchtime Wednesday, and expect my calendar to fill up quickly. If you are a PR professional or corporate representative, now is the time to e-mail me!

Ask me for your very own FCoTR token pin!

Once again, my presentation on Fibre Channel over Token Ring (FCoTR) was rejected by the shortsighted and humorless conference organizers. How can they deny the awesomeness that is FCoTR twice in one year? I’m thinking I should hold a counter event in protest, handing out “tokens” at the door! Instead, find me on the show floor and I will be happy to give you a pin to show your support of this exciting new technology!

Monday and Tuesday night will no doubt find me at the JW Marriott hotel bar. This is where some of the most informative (not to mention amusing) interactions at SNW always occur. Any end-users wearing FCoTR buttons can have a drink on me, and any vendors similarly adorned have my permission to buy me a beer! Come to think of it, I’d be happy to take a beer from anyone at all!

Quick! Someone push Greg Knieriemen into the pool!

This year, SNW returns to Orlando Florida, though not to the beautiful Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. Instead, we will be at the equally grand JW Marriott Grande Lakes, just down the street. As always, I’ll be staying elsewhere to avoid the “conference tax” levied by these giant hotels! Without a corporate expense account, I just can’t justify spending twice as much then a “just fine” hotel right down the road.

It’s always fun to attend SNW, and I look forward to seeing new faces and old friends at the JW Marriott. Again, if you would like to arrange a briefing or conversation (or maybe lunch or dinner), now is a good time to drop me an e-mail!

It's always awesome reconnecting with old friends at SNW!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | Storage Networking World (SNW), Orlando
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We should all step up to support math and science education

Although I am a big believer in personal face-to-face meetings, it often seems like a waste of energy to attend big tech conferences. I’m certainly making the rounds this year, having already made multiple trips to the West Coast and even the UK, and heading out again three times next month. That’s why I was pleased to see that one of the conferences I’m speaking at is trying to do some good for the local community: Interop will donate to math and science related projects in Las Vegas, and I encourage others to do the same.

Donors Choose

I’ve been involved with DonorsChoose.org before, encouraging friends and fans of Gestalt IT and Tech Field Day to support a classroom project and the general cause of science and technology education for girls. I have also given to the charity personally and respect it very much.

Donors Choose allows donors literally to choose specific classroom projects to support, acting as a sort of grant program for schools in need. Teachers outline specific requests, and donors decide which projects to fund. This is one of the most transparent and direct charities I know of.

Some may question why schools need extra funding at all, but no one involved in the American public education system would raise such doubts. School systems are strapped for cash, and can rarely fund classroom supplies and enrichment programs. In fact, teachers are expected to buy their own supplies using their meager salaries, and the IRS caps deductibility of these purchases at just $250.

The Conference Connection

Contrast the situation of public school teachers and students in cities like San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Dallas with the extravagant trade shows that take place there, and it’s almost enough to make you cry. Corporations spend thousands of dollars on fancy booths and flashing tchotchkes, while attendees fly in, ride around in taxis, and stay at hotels. Meanwhile, often just across the street, students lack basic supplies, up-to-date textbooks, and facilities productive to learning.

This is why I applaud Interop and United business media for their support of DonorsChoose.org. They are encouraging attendees, exhibitors, and speakers to donate directly, and are linking completed evaluation forms to corporate donations to the charity. For every evaluation form filled out, Interop will donate an (unspecified) amount of money to DonorsChoose.org classroom projects.

I encourage everyone attending Interop (and EMC World, which is also in Las Vegas that week) to support this effort by donating directly to the Interop giving page at DonorsChoose.org.

And I’ll do one better:

I will personally match any contributions to Donors Choose made by attendees at my two sessions, up to a maximum of $1000. If you come to my session, and are willing to donate to this worthy cause, I will join you in supporting it. Since I am cheap and don’t gamble, Donors Choose may help schools in Las Vegas get more money from me then United Airlines, Hilton Hotels, and the taxi services!

Stephen’s Stance

All of us must examine our lifestyle and consider helping others. Contributing to support math and science education is perhaps the most worthy cause, since it is an investment in our future. The students we help through Donors Choose are the next generation of IT product vendors and users, and we must all give back to the community. I look forward to seeing you at Interop and EMC World, and hearing how you will help drain my checkbook!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | Interop: Giving Back To Local Schools Through DonorsChoose.org
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Personal, Virtual Storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Donate your conference backpacks to school kids in need!

Trade shows are a veritable swag-fest, some with great loot and some with junk. I’ve been critical of the booth babe and chotchkie phenomenon, but my friend Kevin Houston has a better suggestion: Donate your (useful) swag like backpacks and pens to school kids in need.

Kevin first suggested this to me at HP Tech Forum after I refused the giveaway backpack I wouldn’t have used. It turns out that he’s been doing this for a while, with a focus on the backpacks so many vendors distribute. It’s funny – my own son uses my VMworld 2009 backpack and I have to admit it’s a well-built and useful bag. But I hadn’t thought of the underprivileged kids out there who could use it even more.

Did you know that 41% of kids in the United States come from “low-income” households? According to the NCCP, over half of the kids in Arkansas, DC, and Mississippi are under financial stress. I’m sure back-to-school time is a serious disappointment for many kids whose parents can’t afford a new backpack, pencils, and other school supplies. Many don’t realize that school districts can’t afford enough supplies either. In fact, it’s so common that the IRS allows teachers to deduct up to $250 in out-of-pocket expenses to equip their classrooms with basic supplies.

So I’d like to echo Kevin’s call: It’s time for us techies to lend a hand and support education. The next generation needs us! When you come home from VMworld and similar events, load that backpack up with school supplies (notebooks, pencils, scissors, and the like) and donate it to a local school. They’ll be glad for the help!

Photo by Kevin Houston

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | Donate Your Swag to School Kids In Need
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Boche.net and Gestalt IT are giving away a trip to VMworld 2010 in San Francisco!

VMworld is an awesome event, and one of the few technical conferences that is still growing even as the old standbys falter. But it’s also expensive – a pass costs almost US $2,000, and airfare isn’t cheap these days, either. I was so pleased to see Jason Boche offering a VMworld 2010 pass as a contest prize that we at Gestalt IT decided to pitch in, too. We’ll pay for airfare for the winner, as well as providing them a platform to share what they learn at the event.

The economy remains pretty bad, and I know many people who are out of work or otherwise unable to afford a luxury like a tech conference trip. But this is just the sort of event that can kickstart community involvement, a career, or a job hunt. Don’t underestimate the value of attending in person – You really ought to go!

So head over to Boche.net and enter the contest, and check Gestalt IT for details on the air travel!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | Contest: Free VMworld Trip Thanks To Boche.Net and Gestalt IT!
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Personal, Virtual Storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

I’m pleased to be heading back to Interop this spring with two sessions on enterprise storage. Although significantly changed from the old “Networld + Interop” days, the event is enjoyable and technical, with many interesting sessions and speakers. And the New York show at least had plenty of end user attendees!

Interop Las Vegas is April 25-29, 2010, and registration appears to still be open. Let me know if you’ll be there!

My two sessions:

State of the Art Thin Provisioning

Wednesday, April 28 10:15 AM–11:15 AM

The concept of thin provisioning is not new, but the state of the art has advanced, adding awareness between the operating system and storage device for enhanced efficiency. This session introduces the value proposition and concept of thin provisioning, covers the technology of the major thin storage vendors (3PAR, BlueArc, Compellent, Dell, EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, NetApp, Pillar) and operating system integration layers (Symantec, VMware, and T10), and presents novel approaches from Data Robotics, Apple, and cloud storage systems. We will present the pros and cons of these various approaches in the context of enterprise storage management.

The Right Approach to Cloud Storage

Wednesday, April 28 11:30 AM–12:30 PM

Enterprises are now leveraging cloud storage services at a rapid pace and are looking for qualified answers on how using a cloud platform can increase efficiency and ROI simultaneously. The old model of purchasing expensive storage systems or using large amounts of tape are prehistoric, adapting a new approach to storage is necessary in today’s tough economic climate as budgets continue to be slashed and performance upkeep is critical. This session will enable users to learn about the benefits and economies of scale as it relates to developing/implementing a cloud storage solution, a focus will be placed on performance, cost-effectiveness, user experience, and customer service/satisfaction.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | Thin Provisioning and Cloud Storage: My Interop 2010 Topics
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The Symposium will be held August 4th through 6th and attendance is free for qualified IT end-user folks. I’m very much looking forward to presentations by Nth President, Mark Gonzalez, Raghu Raghuram of VMware, Scott McClellan of HP, Chuck Brown of Intel, AJ Casamento of Brocade, Dave Crespi of Emulex, Kumar Malavalli of InMage, and my friend, Shannon Smith and Chris VanWagoner, both of CommVault. There will also be some excellent hands-on lab opportunities with the latest storage gear. Victoria Halsey’s Hamster Revolution talk looks great, too!

I’ll have a Birds of a Feather Lunch table on Tuesday focused on cloud storage. On Wednesday I’ll be moderating a panel on cloud computing, featuring McClellan, Raghuram, Brown, Van Wagoner, and Geoff Tudor, co-founder of Nirvanix. Thursday I get my own keynote, where I’ll be presenting Three Enterprise Storage Problems You Can Solve Today.

What: Nth Generation Symposium

Where: Disneyland, Anaheim, CA

When: August 4-6, 2009

How: Register on-line

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | LA Folks: Come to the Nth Generation Symposium!
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I hope you, or a representative from your company, will join me and the folks from Nirvanix and my friends like W. Curtis Preston and Marc Staimer, Charles Curran and Dan Gordon from Valhalla, and just about everyone else in the industry for Greg Duplessie’s Business Development event in Boston.

This is strictly an industry insider event – no end users, exibitors, tchochkes, or contests, just serious networking and business development. The kind of stuff that has always been going on behind closed doors and in the lobbies at Storage Networking World and Storage Decisions, but without the distraction of the actual conference!

If you are going, and are interested in discussing public managed storage in the cloud (or happen to have Red Sox tickets for June 8, 9, or 10) drop me a line. Let’s meet up in Boston!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | All Business Development All The Time!
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Storage Decisions 2008 dates and locations:

• Chicago, May 13-15
• Toronto, June 5-6
• New York, September 23-25
• San Francisco, November 4-6

The format is being tweaked this year (as has the editorial direction of Storage Magazine) to include more in-depth technical content, and I’m sure the show will remain excellent. If you haven’t been, you’ve missed out – there are no product vendors on stage or even in the sessions, so it’s very focused on real-world users of storage technologies, and the sessions have always been top notch!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2008. | Storage Decisions 2008 Dates Are Announced!
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.