Posts Tagged ‘dell storage forum’

Boston bound for Dell Storage Forum 2012

Posted: June 5, 2012 in Events
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Next week I will be heading to Boston for Dell’s Storage Forum. This will be my 4th Dell Storage Forum and my second time to the Boston area. The last time I was there, it was early March and it began to snow. Now being from Texas I was not accustom to driving in the snow, especially behind snow plows, so this was quite the experience for me. This was also the first year after the scheduled completion of the Big Dig. Boston’s transportation renovation that was … well not a good time to be traveling to the area from out of state. This time should be very different as the venue for Storage Forum is right across the channel from the airport, which really does fit with Fluid Data theme.

This is going to be an exciting event, with loads of activities planned and off-site events from #StorageBeers to a trip to Fenway and the green monster. Dell TechCenter has brought back the SAN Challenge and a short rack full of equipment. We hope to bring a little more hands on to the expo booth this year, so stop by and see Dennis (@DennisMSmith) and myself during your breaks and lunches. Dennis and I look forward to chatting with everyone about storage or what ever comes to mind.

When I am not manning the booth, I will be taking in some sessions to help capture what is new and exciting coming from Dell and their storage portfolio, I may be joining Dennis in the hands-on-labs. Of course you can follow the action here and via my twitter stream during the event.

Tech Prep: Dell Storage Forum 2012 London

Posted: January 4, 2012 in Tech Prep
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So I am headed to London next week for the inaugural Dell Storage Forum 2012: Europe.  I am very excited to be going to London to cover this event for Dell.  I am excited about visiting London and meeting the many friends I have made via social media from the UK and surrounding European countries.

Once I found out that I would be traveling overseas I started making a list of the things that I would need to make my trip enjoyable.  I mean I like to fly and all, but 14 hours in an airplane at my height is not that enjoyable, so I had to find some creative ways pass the time.  I have my android powered phone, which on a good day of moderate use will last me about 14 hours on a full charge.  Since I would be using the phone heavily during the flight to play games, etc. I doubt that I am going to get anywhere near the 14 hours.  But wait I have an android tablet that I can watch movies on, so that should last me for a while too right.  Well, to be honest I am not sure how long the battery lasts under heavy, so I had to get creative.

For VMworld 2011 I bought one of those rechargeable battery packs that you can use to recharge phones, mp3 players and even tablets.  It is a 5000mAh one with two charging ports and 2A of output, pretty good for something about the size of a pocket camera.

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You would think that would be enough, well not for me.  I thought if one was could two of these external battery packs would be twice as good.  So off I went to get a second one.  After arriving at the online store I noticed a larger capacity pack for about the same money as the 5000mAh.  Now this one is a whooping 9900mAh with dual ports just like the first one.  So I put on my EE hat and said, this is the one to buy and off it went to the shopping cart.

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Ok, I am all set right?  Wait, I have to charge all this stuff.  Battery packs, camera battery, phone, tablet, laptop, mp3 player, etc.  Ah, well just plug them in to a power strip and charge them all at the same time.  Opps, forgot about the difference in plugs, not to mention voltage.  Now I had to go out and get the voltage/converter plugs for UK to US.  What about a power strip?  Can I use one with the adapters/convertors?  Honestly, I have no idea if I can or not.  Since this will be my first trip to the UK, I really have no idea what to expect, so I have to plan for everything.  Off to one of my favorite online stores to get a USB charger with more than one port.   I found this little gem with 4 ports (phone, tablet, mp3 player, camera) all from on electrical outlet … Sweet!

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This is a 4 port USB charger, now it still has the US style plug, but given I live in the US this is okay and I have the UK to US adapters so I am all set.

Be sure to follow me on twitter at @iSCSIKing to follow my adventure in London for Dell Storage Forum 2012.