User groups are groups of like minded individuals that are interested in the same topic. There are user groups for all kinds of thinks from knitting to photography to programming. One area that has a lot of user groups is virtualization. However all of these groups are under the control of a single virtualization vendor, VMware. The current list of VMware User Groups (VMUG’s) is located on the VMware communities page. The only problem with VMUG’s is that they are strictly controlled by VMware and do not explore all of the virtualization possibilities. So in central Iowa, where I am from, a new type of virtualization user group has been formed. We are calling the group “The VUG” or The Virtualization User Group.

The goal of The VUG is to discuss all aspects of virtualization, with a focus on virtualized operating systems in a vendor neutral manner. Discussion topics include, but are not limited to:

• VMWare - OS Virtualization
• Xen - OS Virtualization
• Microsoft Hyper-V - OS Virtualization
• Citrix - Application Delivery
• NoMachine - Application Delivery
• Apache - Virtual Hosts

The group meets once a month and is planning on bringing in presenters from many companies in the industry. We have a goal of expanding the original VUG to several smaller local VUGs in a similar way to Linux User Groups (LUGs) have formed. We are also hoping to start streaming and recording the meetings/presentations to allow others to attend the meetings without having to be in Central Iowa.

We also have a Google Group for our mailing list. After joining, you may use thevug@googlegroups.com to contact the list.

I’m excited to be a part of this newly developing community and will be reporting on it’s development and presentations in this blog. If you have anything that you would like to know about virtualization just shoot a message to me or directly to the group and we’ll see what we can do.

Matt