Confessions of a Virtualization-aholic: Get on Board, People!
"Hi. My name is Aaron ... and I'm a Virtualization-aholic."
"Hi, Aaron" The crowd responds in unison.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are at the event of all events. VMworld 2009 is upon us. Indeed, this is the Mecca for those of us with a passion for using next generation technology to actually solve problems. You'd think this would be a passion for everyone. But oh no. It's been a tough road for us. In the past we've been branded as fools, labeled as sinners and banished to no-man's-land. A mythical world, somewhere between operations and development. A lonely place somewhere north of a town called Hardware and south of city called Application."
I pop a CD in a nearby jukebox and pump Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" through the air. In my experience, everything is more dramatic with the proper musical backdrop. Fogerty's words pour through the speakers ...
Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the
storm
I know, it's been coming for some time.
When it's over, so they say, it'll rain a sunny day,
I know, shinin' down like water.
"Like Noah building the great Ark, we've been working hard laying our virtual infrastructures and warning everyone of a great flood of virtualization. And also like Noah, we've been ridiculed and slandered."
Everyone is nodding in agreement to these truths. One guy has his head in his hands, sobbing like a little girl. Another screams out "Ooooo, Lawd have a-mercy!"
"But a few years ago, things started to change for us. A tipping point, if you will, occurred as we collectively shouted to the world ... NO MORE! No longer will we be made the villain. No longer will we wait in the dark shadows of the data center, scavenging for small server projects. No longer will we secretly virtualize servers without telling the business owner! The dam is cracking and the virtualization flood is imminent ... GET ON BOARD, PEOPLE!!!"
"Preach it, sister!" Comes from somewhere in the back of the room. Did he just call me a girl? Was it my purple shirt that threw him off? Anyway ...
"And they heard us didn't they? Oh yes, they heard us loud and clear. This year, as I stand here before you at VMworld 2009, I'm happy to say it's a different story for us. The crowds are forming and, at long last, they are flocking to our virtual arks. Just look around you! There are almost 13,000 of your fellow addicts here at VMworld 2009. The labs are overbooked and the sessions are overflowing into the hallways. Did y'all see the on premise data center of a mere 776 physical servers powering over thirty thousand VMs for labs and demos? Where are the nay-sayers and server huggers now? Probably sitting right next to you in the labs and breakout sessions!"
"HALLELUJAH!!"
