
The Virtually Speaking Podcast is a weekly technical podcast dedicated to discussing VMware topics related to private and hybrid cloud. Each week Pete Flecha and John Nicholson bring in various subject matter experts from VMware, recently acquired by Broadcom, and within the industry to discuss their respective areas of expertise.
Episodes

Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Exploring VMware Cloud Foundation: Inside the Private Cloud
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Welcome to a special 10-part series on the Virtually Speaking Podcast: "Exploring VMware Cloud Foundation." In this series, hosts Pete Flecha and John Nicholson interview various subject matter experts to break down the components that make up VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and provide insights into its powerful capabilities for private cloud environments.
In this kickoff episode titled "Inside the Private Cloud," Pete and John sit down with VP of Product Management, Paul Turner, and Director of Product Marketing, Rick Walsworth. Paul discusses the vision for VMware Cloud Foundation following VMware's acquisition by Broadcom, emphasizing how VCF is a key focus of the acquisition. Rick provides a comprehensive overview of VCF's features, highlighting how they streamline the deployment and management of cloud infrastructure. This episode serves as an essential introduction to the series, offering a clear understanding of what VCF is and the value it brings to modern cloud strategies. Don't miss this foundational discussion as we embark on our journey through VMware Cloud Foundation.
Links Mentioned:
- VCF Landing Page
- Announcing General Availability of VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1.1
- VCF Webinars
- VCF YouTube Page
- Virtually Speaking YouTube Page
- Virtually Speaking Podcast
Watch the Entire Series
- Ep 01: Inside the Private Cloud
- Ep 02: What’s Inside
- Ep 03: The Cloud Admin Journey
- Ep 04: VCF Compute
- Ep 05: VCF Storage
- Ep 06: VCF Networking
- Ep 07: A Cloud Management Experience
- Ep 08: VMware Private AI
- Ep 09: Data Services Manager
- Ep 10: VMware vDefend
The Virtually Speaking Podcast
The Virtually Speaking Podcast is a technical podcast dedicated to discussing VMware topics related to private and hybrid cloud. Each week Pete Flecha and John Nicholson bring in various subject matter experts from VMware and from within the industry to discuss their respective areas of expertise. If you’re new to the Virtually Speaking Podcast check out all episodes on vspeakingpodcast.com and follow on Twitter\X @VirtSpeaking

Monday May 20, 2024
The Rise of the Data Processing Unit (DPU)
Monday May 20, 2024
Monday May 20, 2024

In this episode of Virtually Speaking, Pete and John dive deep into the transformative impact of Data Processing Units (DPUs) on virtual infrastructure with special guest Dave Morera from vSphere Technical Marketing. They explore how vSphere Distributed Services Engine leverages DPUs to modernize infrastructure by offloading critical functions from the CPU. This advancement enables significant resource savings, accelerated networking, and enhanced workload security. Dave explains how the integration of DPU lifecycle management into vSphere simplifies operations, reduces the need for third-party tools, and strengthens security with agentless controls. Tune in to learn how DPUs are enhancing performance, improving workload consolidation, and reducing total cost of ownership while simplifying infrastructure management and boosting security.

Tuesday May 14, 2024
VMware Desktop Hypervisors
Tuesday May 14, 2024
Tuesday May 14, 2024
In the latest episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete and John dive deep into the world of desktop hypervisors with special guest Michael Roy. The discussion takes us on a journey through the history of desktop hypervisors, exploring their various use cases and shedding light on recent changes in licensing following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware.
Desktop hypervisors, notably VMware Fusion and Workstation, have revolutionized the way we approach virtualization on personal computers. These powerful tools enable users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single machine, opening up a world of possibilities for developers, IT professionals, and enthusiasts alike.
During this episode Michael Roy delves into the myriad use cases for desktop hypervisors, highlighting their importance in software development, testing, and education. We explore how these tools have become indispensable for developers seeking to test their applications across different environments, as well as for IT professionals managing complex systems.

Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
Analyzing HCI Storage Performance in a vSphere Environment
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete and John sat down with Chen Wei, the creator of HCIBench, from VMware by Broadcom. HCIBench streamlines HCI benchmarking, simplifying a once-complex process.
Chen Wei shared HCIBench's journey, emphasizing its user-friendly interface, which caters to both novices and experts. We explored its technical architecture and discussed key metrics like throughput and latency crucial for assessing HCI performance accurately.
Our conversation also touched on HCIBench's collaborative development model, driven by user feedback and community contributions. Looking ahead, Chen discussed upcoming features and the tool's evolving role in the HCI industry.
Tune in to gain insights into HCI benchmarking and discover how HCIBench is shaping the future of infrastructure optimization.
Links Mentioned:
- Download HCIBench - https://via.vmware.com/hcibench
- Blog: How do I Identify if I have bad performance
- Reference Architectures - https://core.vmware.com/reference-architectures
The Virtually Speaking Podcast
The Virtually Speaking Podcast is a technical podcast dedicated to discussing VMware topics related to storage and availability. In each episode, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson bring in various subject matter experts from VMware and within the industry to discuss their respective areas of expertise. If you’re new to the Virtually Speaking Podcast check out all episodes on vSpeakingPodcast.com and follow on Twitter @VirtSpeaking

Thursday Mar 28, 2024
VMware Live Recovery
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Thursday Mar 28, 2024

Last week VMware by Broadcom announced the general availability of VMware Live Recovery, an innovative solution that delivers unmatched cyber and data resiliency for VMware Cloud Foundation environments. VMware Live Recovery is the industry’s first solution that combines enterprise-grade disaster recovery with purpose-built cyber recovery in a single management experience across clouds. On this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast Pete and John welcome Mike McLaughlin and Cato Grace to discuss the details of this new solution.

Friday Feb 23, 2024
Friday Feb 23, 2024

There are two new tools to help understand and calculate the required subscription capacity for the new VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) offerings, which are licensed based on physical CPU Cores for compute and total raw physical storage (TiBs) for vSAN. On this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast Pete and John welcome William Lam to discuss the details of these new scripts and how demonstrates with a live demo.
Links Mentioned
- WilliamLam.com
- VMware KB 95927 - Counting Cores for VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation and TiBs for vSAN
- VMware KB 96426 - License Calculator for VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware vSphere Foundation and VMware vSAN

Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Is this thing on?
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
The Virtually Speaking Podcast is venturing into the world of live streaming. On this mini episode, Pete and John discuss the new Apple Vision Pro and promote our upcoming Live Stream with William Lam this Friday at 1:00 EST. Enjoy!

Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
VMware Cloud on AWS version 1.24
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024

On this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast Pete and John welcome Glenn Sizemore to share the details of VMC on AWS SDDC Version 1.24.

Friday Nov 10, 2023
A closer look at Data Services Manager with Cormac Hogan
Friday Nov 10, 2023
Friday Nov 10, 2023
This week VMware announced the latest release of VMware Data Services Manager (DSM), version 2.0. DSM enables the provisioning of data services (e.g., databases, object stores) on vSphere infrastructure. This release builds on earlier versions of VMware Data Services Manager 1.x, but also extends the product.
On this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast Cormac Hogan shares the details of this new release.

Friday Nov 10, 2023
What’s New with VMware Cloud at VMware Explore Barcelona
Friday Nov 10, 2023
Friday Nov 10, 2023
VMware Explore Barcelona was filled with innovation, tech previews, and releases from the VMware Cloud team. The announcements included new partnerships for VMware Private AI, proactive detection capabilities in Ransomware Recovery, and advanced data service capabilities and new partnerships with Data Services Manager. The common denominator of all of these is VMware Cloud Foundation.
On this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast Pete and John welcome VP of Product Marketing Prashanth Shenoy to discuss how VMware Cloud Foundation enables customers to simply operations and deliver consistent experiences across clouds.

