Senior Technical Education Services Consultant
From May 2014EMC · Franklin, MA
Technical education work inside EMC's services organization, with writing on the blog that reflects topics encountered in that role.
Jonathan Frappier
Technology writer · VMware, Virtualization & IT Infrastructure
A blog focused on VMware and virtualization, social enterprise apps, and the everyday IT infrastructure topics Jonathan Frappier writes about — including notes drawn from his work on home labs, automation, and EMC products.
Author
VMware & Virtualization
Home Lab
@jfrappier
On this site
Virtxpert collects posts, guides, and free assets for IT professionals working with VMware, virtualization, and related infrastructure. Skim the sections below or jump straight to a page.
- Home — recent articles on VMware administration, Git tools, and Ansible playbooks.
- About Jonathan Frappier — background and professional history.
- Free Tools — Flat Virtualization Icons for PowerPoint or documentation, plus PowerCLI Hacks.
- VMware vRA Series — vRealize Automation and Application Services home lab guides.
- Disclaimer — notes on independent opinions and trademarks.
Experience
A short list of roles associated with the blog's author.
Senior IT Administrator
May 2013 – May 2014lifeIMAGE · Newton, MA
Infrastructure and systems administration work at lifeIMAGE in Newton, MA before joining EMC.
EMC Customer Experience
Prior to 2014EMC (as a customer)
First-hand experience as an EMC customer, referenced in a March 2015 post about what stood out about working with EMC.
Credentials & Writing
Books, community programs, and writing credits linked to the site.
VMware vSphere Resource Management Essentials
A book on VMware vSphere resource management authored by Jonathan Frappier.
Packt Publishing
VMUG Blogger
Listed as a blogger through the VMware User Group community program.
VMUG · Bloggers program
Implementing VMware Horizon View 5.2
Winners announcement post tied to a Packt Publishing title on VMware Horizon View.
Packt Publishing · book giveaway
Education & Independent Learning
Self-directed study and lab work that shapes the blog.
EMC Networker 8 Troubleshooting
2013Hands-on troubleshooting
Posts from 2013 cover troubleshooting EMC Networker 8 connection issues — studying backup software behavior in a lab environment.
Home Lab Building
2015$1250 · 8-Core / 32GB / 750GB Flash / 2TB HDD
Home lab build posts covering an 8-core, 32GB RAM, 750GB flash and 2TB HDD configuration as a 2015 lab reference design.
Git Collaboration Tools
July 2015Meat in VMware Workstation
A July 2015 post walks through installing Meat, a Git collaboration tool, locally in VMware Workstation as a learning exercise.
Skills & Topics
Recurring subjects across the posts, tools, and series.
VM
VMware & Virtualization
Posts cover vSphere, vCenter 5.5 Appliance deployment, VSAN video resources, and EMC VNX Community Edition installations.
vRA
vRealize Automation & App Services
Home lab upgrade guides for vRealize Automation and vRealize Application Services from the on-site VMware vRA Series.
ANS
Ansible & Automation
Quick Ansible playbooks, ansible-galaxy init for creating roles, and a Sysdig install playbook in a test repository.
GIT
Git & DevOps Tools
Notes on Git collaboration tools such as Meat, plus Git-Tower tutorials and general version-control workflows.
DOC
Documentation Assets
Flat Virtualization Icons for PowerPoint or documentation and PowerCLI Hacks for VMware automation scripting.
SEC
Security & Monitoring
Posts on collecting Windows event logs with Alienvault OSSIM and Snare, plus related infrastructure hardening topics.
Virtxpert is a long-running blog dedicated to VMware, virtualization, and the broader landscape of IT infrastructure. The site gathers posts, guides, and free resources aimed at practitioners who design, build, and maintain virtual environments, from early home lab experiments to more polished production setups. Readers will find writing that treats virtualization as both a craft and a practical discipline, with attention to the tools, workflows, and habits that make day-to-day administration more reliable and more interesting.
Alongside core virtualization topics, the blog also touches on social enterprise applications, automation, and assorted notes that fall outside a quick social post. Keywords running through the archive hint at familiar territory for IT pros: vSphere, vRealize, nested ESXi hosts, OVA appliances, Ansible playbooks, Git repositories, and the steady rhythm of installing, configuring, upgrading, and troubleshooting. The result is a body of work that mirrors how virtualization professionals actually learn, mixing step-by-step walkthroughs with short reflections on what worked and what did not.
The visual design of the site reinforces that practical, reader-first tone. A near-white background, soft gray surfaces, and charcoal text create a calm reading surface, while a single accent blue highlights links, icons, and small badges that quietly point the way through posts and free downloads. Generous spacing, moderately rounded corners, and a centered content column keep attention on the writing itself, supporting a clean, product-like feel that suits a technical audience looking for clear information rather than visual noise.
