Over the past several months (since May, 2008 in particular), I have been blogging about the use and impact of virtualization in software engineering; and virtual lab automation in particular. Thank you all for reading and your interest in 
this blog. From all at VMLogix, our best wishes to you for a very happy and prosperous 2009! As we enter the new year, I wanted to share with you the some summary information from the blog.
Top posts of 2008
This blog has had ~13,000 views and has 93 published posts to date. The top 5 posts (based on views) on this blog have been:
- Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware ESX Server Impact on Virtual Lab Automation (1096 views)
- Management tools available for Hyper-V (568 views)
- Test environment network configurations made easy with Virtual Lab Automation (448 views)
- Importance of Linked Clones in Virtual Lab Management (358 views)
- IBM Rational Quality Manager/RTLM Demos (215 views)
I also spent some time going through the posts and pulling together a set of reading recommendations if you are new to virtual lab automation and the technology. Here is the list, I hope you find it as a useful index into the blog:
Key reading recommendations/posts if you are getting started with Virtual Lab Management (Regardless of your hypervisor choice — across XenServer, VMware or Hyper-V)
About Virtual Lab Automation as a Technology
- Importance of Linked Clones in Virtual Lab Management
- Enterprise Labs – Best Practices with Virtual Lab Automation
- What Virtual Lab Automation offers over and above a Hypervisor
- Test environment network configurations made easy with Virtual Lab Automation
- Network fencing – Yet another key feature from Virtual Lab Automation Products
- Automation in Virtual Labs — What exactly do we mean by it?
- Features and functionality in Virtual Lab Automation solutions
- Seven Tips on Virtual Test Lab Automation
- Getting by with desktop virtualization for your testing needs? Here is what you are missing
- Reigning in and Arresting VM sprawl in your Test Environments
How VLA would fit in your ecosystem (other products, many lab users etc.)
- Test automation tools and Virtual Lab Automation
- Virtual Lab Automation – Who are the many users?
- Virtual Lab Automation Product Integrations
- Test Lab Management – Can it help you make a better decision on when to ship software?
- Virtual lab automation to manage your software assets in the lab
- Creating a Private Cloud to run your Virtual Test Environments
- Self serve IT enabled in the software lab through virtual lab automation
- Software trials and evaluations – How can they be made more effective?
Virtual Lab Management Technology Benefits
- Quantifying the savings on your test cycles from your virtual lab automation deployment
- Control and reduce the IT cost spending in your software test lab
- A Framework to Estimate Cost Savings from Virtual Lab Automation Solutions
- The Benefits of Software Lab Consolidation using Virtual Lab Automation
- Keeping Test Lab Operational Costs Low
- Virtual Lab Automation as a Strategic Purchase in your Software Labs
In 2009, we will continue to maintain this blog focus on the management and use of virtualization in various aspects of software engineering. We do look forward to staying engaged with you.
Once again, best wishes for a great 2009!
- Srihari Palangala
