Photos: VMworld 2012

SAN FRANCISCO -- VMworld -- When you can get 22,000 people to show up to a U.S. conference during the last week of summer break, that's clout.

VMworld was larger last year, people tell us, but VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) decided to split the conference, with a Barcelona half coming in September. Meanwhile, the U.S. portion packed the halls and exhibit floor at Moscone Center here, showing the extent to which network virtualization has overtaken enterprise IT.

Software-defined networking (SDN) was definitely part of the chatter, although it didn't take over the show. Give it time. The Nicira Networks Inc. acquisition is just a few days old. (See VMware to Buy SDN Startup for More Than $1B and VMware Insists It's Not Warring With Cisco.)

Click the photo below to launch the slideshow.

— Craig Matsumoto, Managing Editor, Light Reading

Full House

Are they excited to be at VMworld? They sure look it.

Talking Tech

CTO Steve Herrod focused on BYOD for his day-two keynote.

Overflow

Savvy attendees watched the keynotes in VMworld's massive Hang Lounge -- basically a big break space full of games and snacks.

Hangin' Around Attendees take advantage of the Hang Space's couches while pretending to still be listening to the keynote.

Sitting Room Only

Floor space wasn't as comfortable as the couches in the Hang Space, but it still beats that shoulder-to-shoulder keynote experience.

Deep Thought

Is he checking his phone or planning his next move in Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots?

Chad's Demo

EMC's Chad Sakac -- of Chad's World and v0dgeball fame -- participates in VMware's first-ever demo showdown.

Streaming Keynote

The outpouring of humanity after Tuesday's keynote. By the way, the guy in the VMworld house ad at upper left -- doesn't that look like Martin Casado of Nicira?

Donuts!

Or doughnuts. Like we care.

On the Air

Another helpless captive of EMC's in-booth TV studio.

'Ask Me!'

Dell recruiter Tim Malate shows off the fabulous pens you could use to sign your employment contract.

Just a Toy

VMware gave out yo-yos. No comment on their stock's performance.

Monkey Man

Xsigo presenter Mike Goudeau surrounded by little flying monkeys. They're no match for Larry.

Shredding

V3 reported surprisingly few injuries at its flattened-out half-pipe. Oddly, they didn't let beer-carrying attendees try it out.

Not Really Here

Vidyo's experts had to be somewhere else, of course, so Vidyo could show off its telepresence.

White Formation

Arista's legion of little white robots prepares to conquer the world.

Right Here

If you're looking for VXLAN, apparently these guys took it.

Blue Formation Infoblox's legion of little blue robots prepares to ... hey, wait a minute.

The Hard Stuff

NaviSite is really ready for the Tuesday afternoon booth crawl, which began at 4:30.

4:31 p.m.

You had to move fast to get to HP's snack bowls.

Konichiwa

Hitachi went with a sushi theme for the booth crawl. Beats stale popcorn and Budweiser.

Giving Them What They Want

Veeam brought its booth-crawl attraction down to the basics: beer and bacon. Just bacon.

Seriously. Bacon.

Once the word (and aroma) got out, the line at Veeam's booth got huge. They couldn't get the bacon onto the plates fast enough.

Raise a Glass

Mike Morrissey and Jeff Easter of Lowe's enjoy the fruits of Tuesday's booth crawl.

Concentration

People just can't resist this claw game, as F5 proved yet again.

Good Cloud

Wait, what's that on the carpet? Bad cloud! Bad cloud!

Crowd Around

Serious comment by one longtime analyst: "It's so strange that these tradeshow gimmicks actually work."

Catastrophe

The free espresso machine is down for repair. The masses prepare for panic in the streets.

Not LRTV

An IBM photo shoot takes a lot of setup and planning. Apparently.

Floor it!

Forget virtual racing. Kaspersky Labs brought in the real thing.

More Racing

SafeNet's pit crew fuels up. It was too obvious to pass up.

Dessert

Did we mention the food? Just checking.

Peering into the Universe

Adaptive Computing's light cube provided hours of diversion, according to some.

Debrief

Gary Bronson and his team of FedEx employees, all attending from Memphis, take a moment to discuss their VMworld game plan.

Careful Wording

Don't call it a Genius Bar. You wouldn't want to get in trouble over trade dress or anything...

Retro

Bryan Peroutak would end up with the 69th highest score (so far) in Juniper's Asteroids tournament.

Retro II

Lunar Lander rules. Just saying.

Who's Got Next?

Late in the afternoon, the Hang Space really did become a place to just hang out.

California Sun

Much less was going on in the big blue room they call "outside."