Top Resources to Learn about vCloud Director – UPDATE AUGUST 2011

In September 2010 I published a very popular article, Top Resources to Learn about vCloud Director,  here on the VMware vCloud blog. Since that article a major revision has  been released to vCloud Director and copious resources have been  released or updated.

On July 12, 2011 VMware introduced “the first comprehensive cloud  infrastructure suite” with policy, reporting, and self-service provided  by the newly announced (and soon to be available) vCloud Director 1.5.

New with vSphere 5 and vCloud Director 1.5, you’ll find powerful new  features like linked clones, third-party switch support, globalization,  SQL server support, vShield Edge VPN integration, vCloud API  enhancements, vSphere 5 support, and more.

With this new release come great new resources – read more to find out.

The Latest Resources for vCloud Director version 1.5

I have broken this list of vCloud Director resources down into categories to help group similar resources together. Here you go:

VMware Official Resources

• NEW– What’s New in vCloud Director 1.5 Technical Whitepaper
• VMware vCloud Product Page
• VMware vCloud Director Community Forum
• VMware vCloud Director Developer Community
• VMware vCloud Director Evaluator's Guide
• VMware vCloud Director Security Hardening Guide
• VMware vCloud Director Documentation

NOTE: vCloud Director 1.5 Documentation will soon be released and this link will be updated then.

vCloud Director Resources on the Web

• NEW– What’s New in vCloud Director 1.5 Presentation from Eric Sloof
• NEW– VMware Labs - CloudCleaner
• NEW - How to remote access a Linux GUI from a vCloud environment using a PC or an iPad?
• NEW– HyperVizor.com - Publishing the vCloud Director Portal on the Internet
• NEW - Integrating VMware vCloud Director with vShield Edge and vShield App
• NEW - Changing/Renewing your SSL certificates on vCloud Director Cells
• NEW - Advanced Guide: VMware vCloud Director in a Box (works on 4GB Laptops)
• NEW - KendrickColeman.com – Installing vCloud Director 1.5 with SQL Server 2008
• NEW– SearchCloudComputing.com - VMware vCloud Director 1.5: Small but definite step forward
• NEW– Mike D’s Blog - How to Import Existing VMs Into vCloud Director
• NEW– Mike D’s Blog – VMware Enhances Cloud Tools: vCC and vCO Plug-in
• NEW Book: Cloud Computing with VMware vCloud Director by John Arrasjid (VCDX #1), Duncan Epping, Steve Kaplan, Ben Jin, and Raman Veeramraju
• Yellow-Bricks.com - Unloading the vCD Agent
• Yellow-Bricks.com - vCD Networking Part 1
• Yellow-Bricks.com - vCD Networking Part 2
• Yellow-Bricks.com - vCD Networking Part 3
• Yellow-Bricks.com - vCD Allocation Models
• Yellow-Bricks.com - Creating a vCD Lab on your Mac / Laptop
• FrankDenneman.com - Provider vCD- Cluster or Resource Pool?
• NTPro.NL / Eric Sloof - VMware vCloud Director Explained
• VMware KB 1026339 - VMware vCloud Director Components
• VMware KB 1026324 - Catalogs in VMware vCloud Director
• Hypervizor.com - Video Guide: Taking VMware vCloud Director for a spin... and on the go!
• Hypervizor.com - Designing your Private Cloud with VMware vCloud Director - part 1
• Hypervizor.com - Migrating your VMs from vSphere to vCloud Director and vice versa
• Hypervizor.com - vCloud Director Networking Architecture Diagram
• Hypervizor.com - vCloud Director Cell Architecture Diagram
• RTFM-Ed.co.UK - Installing VMware vCloud Director -Databases and Certificate Experience
• SearchCloudComputing.com -VMware vCloud Director: Ready for launch by Mike Laverick
• SearchCloudComputing.com -Software and licensing requirements for vCloud Director by Mike Laverick
• SearchCloudComputing.com - Setting up VMware vCloud Director by Mike Laverick
• BOOK: Foundation for Cloud Computing with VMware vSphere 4 by John Arrasjid, Duncan Epping, and Steve Kaplan

vCloud Director Videos on the Web

• NEW - Bluelock – VMware vCloud Director Overview
• NEW– Deepak  Puri, VMware's Director of vCloud Business Development, speaks with  Bluelock's Bill Busch, Director of Strategic Partnerships, about  "Building the Cloud for Tomorrow"
• NEW– VMwareTV - VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers
• NEW– Eric Sloof – Using the VMware vCloud Connector
• NEW– VMwareKB - How to Install VMware vCenter Orchestrator Plug-in for vCloud Director
• NEW– VMwareTV – vCloud Director Product Demo
• VMware Meet the Engineer Video:  vCloud Director Catalogs with Orran Krieger
• VMware Meet the Engineer Video:  vCloud Director Networking with Anupam Dalal
• VMware Meet the Engineer Video:  vCloud Director Security with Serge Maskalik
• VMware Meet the Engineer Video:  vCloud Director Resource Management with Tichomir Tenev

Special Thank You to Haney Michael at Hypervizor.com for the following list of vCD Videos from VMware, on YouTube:

• Understanding and using the VMware vCloud Director web interface
• How to configure Oracle databases for use with VMware vCloud Director
• How to install and configure vShield Manager for use with VMware vCloud Director
• How to install VMware vCloud Director on the first server
• How to create Sysprep packages for use with VMware vCloud Director
• How to attach a vCenter Server to VMware vCloud Director
• How to create a Provider Virtual Data Center in VMware vCloud Director
• How to create an Organization within VMware vCloud Director
• How to create External Networks in VMware vCloud Director
• How to create a Network Pool in VMware vCloud Director
• How to add a catalog to an Organization within VMware vCloud Director
• How to collect diagnostic information for VMware vCloud Director

Upcoming vCloud Director Resources

• COMING SOON– New      vCloud Director Education courses - Deploy and Manage and Architecting the      VMware Cloud

Now that VMware vCloud Director is version 1.5, it is obvious that it  is gaining acceptance with cloud providers, resources to learn about it  are ever-expanding, and major new features have been added. Stay tuned  to the vCloud Blog and this blog post for updated links to download  vCloud Director 1.5 bits and documentation as soon as it becomes  available! And be sure to follow the @vCloud handle for future updates!

David Davis is a VMware Evangelist and vSphere Video Training Author for Train Signal.  He has achieved CCIE, VCP,CISSP, and vExpert level status over his 15+  years in the IT industry. David has authored hundreds of articles on the  Internet and nine different video training courses for TrainSignal.com  including the popular vSphere video training package. Learn more about  David at his blog or on Twitter and check out a sample of his VMware vSphere video trainingcourse from TrainSignal.com.