vChat – Episode 11 – Results of the Best Free vSphere Tools Survey & Answering Viewer Questions

In Episode 11 of our vChat series Eric Siebert and David Davis are joined by Doug Hazelman (@VMDoug on Twitter) of Veeam Software. In this vChat, we announce the results of our top free vSphere Tools survey and answer viewer questions about vSphere. The full rankings of the free tools and tons of links related to viewer questions are found below the video (scroll down).

vChat is a regular virtualization video chat covering VMware vSphere, Cloud Computing, Virtualization News, and maybe some geeky humor. Regular contributors are 3 vExperts – Simon Seagrave (TechHead.co.uk), Eric Siebert (vSphere-Land.com), and David Davis (VMwareVideos.com).

Sponsored by VMware vSphere Video Training from Train Signal.com

You can now SUBSCRIBE TO VCHAT on iTunes!

SHOW NOTES:

Just prior to VMworld 2010 in San Francisco (on August 26 to be exact) I posted a Top Free vSphere Tools Survey. Kendrick Coleman and I spoke to over 2000 people at both VMworld SF and Copenhagen about the best free vSphere tools and, in those sessions, we asked attendees to make their opinions heard by voting on what THEY thought were the best free tools in this survey.

I was impressed that we received 579 votes in about 6 weeks! (THANK YOU VOTERS!) The results of the survey in, for the top 10 ranked free tools, in graphical form, are:

And here are links to each of the free tools as well as their associated score in the survey:

1. Veeam FastSCP 8.87
2. Veeam Monitor Free 8.5
3. Veeam Reporter Free 8.28
4. PowerGUI and VMware PowerPacks 7.11
5. RV Tools 6.71
6. Vizioncore vEcoShell 6.27
7. Vizioncore vConverter SC 6.23
8. VMware Guest Console (VGC) 6.15
9. Vizioncore vFoglight Quickview 6.04
10. Xangati for ESX 5.91
11. Vizioncore vOptimizer WasteFinder 5.87
12. vSphere Mini Monitor 5.82
13. vKernel StorageView 5.82
14. XtraVirt RDP Plug-in 5.76
15. TriLead VM Explorer (VMX) 5.75
16. vKernel CapacityView 5.69
17. vKernel AppView 5.69
18. Ultimate Deployment Appliance (UDA) 5.57
19. Solarwinds VM Console 5.44
20. Solarwinds VM Monitor 5.39

Answer to question I asked Doug – difference between various Veeam Reporter versions and which include PowerShell – Veeam Monitor Comparison Matrix. Also note that Veeam Monitor and FastSCP do not offer PowerShell but Veeam Backup/Replication and Reporter DO.

Also, I want to thank all the companies and individuals that take time to release free tools!

Next, in the vChat, Eric and I answered questions we received from loyal viewers on the Train Signal Facebook Fan Page. On that page, Train Signal had a contest where you could win a VMware Labs T-Shirt if you submitted a question for us – THANKS TO THOSE WHO ASKED QUESTIONS!! Here are links associated with most of the topics that Eric and I covered:

• Videos covering the upcoming VMware iPad vCenter App and iPad View Client with PCoIP
• VMware Flings can be found at VMware Labs
• Other currently available vSphere iPad management app from Nym Networks
• Special thanks to Kendrick Coleman and his list of top free vSphere tools from KendrickColeman.com
• VMware vCenter SQL Database Best Practices from VMware.com
• VMware vCenter Server Performance Best Practices from Eric Sloof at Ntpro.nl
• How to Upgrade to VMware vSphere 4.1
• vSphere 4.1 Upgrade Guide
• vSphere 4.1 Upgrading from vSphere-Land.com
• Test ESXi 4.1 today, migrate smoothly from ESX tomorrow by Eric Siebert
• Upgrading hosts from ESX to ESXi in seven steps by Eric Siebert
• Affordable shared storage options for VMware vSphere
• VMware vSwitch vs. Cisco Nexus 1000V by David Davis and Bob Plankers
• Eric Siebert’s free e-book from Veeam.com – The Expert Guide to VMware Data Protection and Disaster Recovery