With only a few days left until VMworld Europe 2018 kicks off in Barcelona, I would like to highlight some of the many Kubernetes focussed sessions. I’ve selected a bunch of breakout sessions and meet the expert sessions based on my exposure to them at VMworld US or the quality of the speaker.

The content catalog has marked some sessions as “at capacity”, but experience thought us that there are always a couple of no-shows. Plans change during VMworld. People register for a session they would like to attend but get pulled in an interesting conversation along the way. Or sometimes you suffer from information overload and want to catch a breather. In many cases, spots open at sold-out sessions and therefore it’s always recommended to walk up to sold out sessions and try your luck.

Tuesday 06 November

11:00 – 12:00

[NET1285BE] (Breakout Session)

The Future of Networking and Security with VMware NSX

This talk provides detailed insights into the architecture and capabilities of NSX-T. We’ll show how NSX-T addresses container workloads and integrates with frameworks like Kubernetes. We’ll also cover the multi-cloud networking and security capabilities that allow consistent networking policies across any cloud, public or private. Finally, we’ll look at how SD-WAN has become part of the NSX portfolio, enabling networking and security to be deployed from cloud to data center to edge. More info.

By Bruce Davie, CTO, APJ, VMware

12:15 – 13:00

[MTE5044E] (Expert Roundtable)

Selecting the Right Container Platform for Your Use Case with Patrick Daigle

There are a variety of containers and Kubernetes platforms out there in market today. Ever got confused and wanted some expert insight into what types of container or Kubernetes platforms are best suited to your use case?

By Patrick Daigle, Sr. Technical Marketing Architect, VMware

13:15 – 14:00

[MTE5209E] (Expert Roundtable)

Cloud Native Applications and vSAN with Myles Gray

Learn how vSAN can provide storage for next generation applications autonomously, including Kubernetes, PKS or any K8S distribution and moves the provisioning of storage from the admin into the hands of the developer.

By Myles Gray, Sr. Technical Marketing Architect, VMware

14:00 – 15:00

[CNA1553BE] (Breakout Session)

Deep Dive: The Value of Running Kubernetes on vSphere

In this technical session, you will find out how VMware vSphere provides a lot of value, especially in large-scale Kubernetes deployments. With 20 years of engineering experience in kernel and distributed computing, VMware solved many challenges Kubernetes currently faces. Building on work done with enterprises running Kubernetes at scale, you will see a hypothetical customer scenario to illustrate the benefits of running Kubernetes on top of VMware vSphere and avoid the common pitfalls associated with running on bare metal. More info.

By Frank Denneman, Chief Technologist, VMware

Michael Gasch, Customer Success Architect – Application Platforms, VMware

15:30 – 16:30

[HCI1338BE] (Breakout Session)

vSAN: An Ideal Storage Platform for Kubernetes-controlled Cloud-Native Apps

The session discusses how VMware’s HCI offering (vSphere and vSAN) is becoming a platform of choice for deploying, running and managing the data needs of Cloud-Native Applications (CNA). We will use real world examples to highlight the benefits of an HCI control plane for Kubernetes environments. More info.

By Christos Karamanolis, Fellow and CTO Storage & Availability, VMware

Cormac Hogan, Director and Chief Technologist, VMware

Wednesday 07 November

11:15 – 12:00

[MTE5057E] (Expert Roundtable)

Next-Gen Apps on vSAN by expert Chen Wei

Are you planning to migrate your next-gen workload to the vSAN cluster? Attend this roundtable to talk to our vSAN Solutions Architect about different aspects regarding putting Next-gen applications on vSAN. Those aspects include the next-gen application deployment best practices, performance tuning, availability/performance trade-off. Bring the questions and let’s talk.

Chen Wei, Sr. Solutions Architect, VMware

12:30 – 13:30

[CNA1493BE] (Breakout Session)

Run Docker on Existing Infrastructure with vSphere Integrated Containers

In this session, you will find out how to run Docker on vSphere with VMware vSphere Integrated Containers. See a live demo on how vSphere Integrated Containers leverage vSphere for isolation and scheduling. Find out how vSphere Integrated Containers are the ideal way to host containers on vSphere, providing a Docker-native experience for end users and a vSphere-native experience for IT. More info.

By Patrick Daigle, Sr. Technical Marketing Architect, VMware

Martijn Baecke, Cloud Evangelist, VMware

13:15 – 14:00

[MTE5116E] (Expert Roundtable)

Function as a Service with Mark Peek

During this roundtable, we will discuss Dispatch, the VMware framework for deploying and managing serverless style applications.

By Mark Peek, Principal Engineer, VMware

15:30 – 16:30

[DC3845KE] (Keynote)

Cloud and Developer Keynote: Public Clouds and Kubernetes at Scale

This session will cover VMware’s strategy to deliver an enterprise-grade Kubernetes platform while supporting the needs of DevOps and CloudOps teams. VMware’s Cloud and Developer keynote will outline how to deliver developers a consistent experience across native clouds while enabling operators with more flexibility and control for how they support next generation workloads. More info.

By Guido Appenzeller, CTO, VMware

Joseph Kinsella, Vice President and CTO, Products, CloudHealth, VMware

15:30 – 16:30

[CNA2755BE] (Breakout Session)

Architecting PKS for Production: Lessons Learned from PKS Deployments

In this session, you will get a deep dive into PKS within the context of real-world customer deployment scenarios. The speakers will share the lessons learned from their successful PKS and NSX-T deployments, and show you how to architect PKS for a production environment.

Come and learn about the do’s, don’ts, and best practices. After this session, you will be better equipped to deploy and manage enterprise-grade Kubernetes in your infrastructure and use NSX-T to bridge the gap in network and security for container workloads.

By Romain Decker, Senior Solutions Architect, VMware

Dominic Foley, Senior Solutions Architect, VMware

Thursday 08 November

15:00 – 16:00

[NET1677BE] (Breakout Session)

Kubernetes Container Networking with NSX-T Data Center Deep Dive

In this session, you will get technical details of how the NSX-T Data Center integration with Kubernetes in Pivotal Container Service (PKS), OpenShift, and upstream Kubernetes is implemented. Get a deep dive into each identified problem statement, find out how the solution was implemented with NSX-T Data Center, and see a demo of each of the solutions live on stage using PKS with NSX-T Data Center. More info.

By Dennis Breithaupt, Sr. Systems Engineer (NSX), VMware

Yasen Simeonov, Technical Product Manager, VMware

Product Preview

This year the UX team organizes design studios that allows you to provide feedback on a future product. The product you will see will blow your mind. But since it’s NDA, I can’t tell 😉 Just show up and see for yourself!

Every day – multiple sessions available

[UX8011E] (Design Studio)

Kubernetes on vSphere

Do you want to offer Kubernetes? Explore user interface concepts for managing containerized cloud native applications using vSphere together with other products such as PKS.

This session is part of the VMware Design Studio where you have the opportunity to participate in interactive sessions exploring technical previews and early design ideas. Because of the early nature of these designs, participants will be asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to participate.

By Boaz Gurdin, User Experience Researcher, VMware

Pamel Shinh, Product Designer, VMware

Hope to see you there. Enjoy your VMworld!