May 2018 -

Where did my FTT go?

May 31, 2018 Stijn Depril 0

VMware has launched the latest generation of vSphere and VSAN and this comes with a nice list of new features and options for VSAN6.7. From this list I will highlight something new for the HTML5 client. 4Kn drive support. vSphere and vSAN FIPS 140-2 validation. HTML5 interface. vRealize Operations within vCenter Server. Windows Server Failover Clustering support. Intelligent site continuity for stretched clusters. Witness traffic separation for stretched clusters. Efficient inter-site resync for stretched clusters. Fast failovers when using redundant vSAN networks. Adaptive resync for dynamic management of resynchronization traffic. Consolidation of replica components. vSAN destaging optimizations. Health check additions and improvements. vSAN Support insight. Swap object thin provisioning and policy inheritance improvements. Where did my FTT go? In the lastest edition of vSphere […]

Passing the AWS Certified Developer – Associate Exam #AWS @acloudguru @AWS @AWS_UKI #vExpert @PSIServicesLLC

May 25, 2018 Bilal Ahmed 0

So, following on from my previous post on passing the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, I will now go into what I did to pass this exam! Now, to be fair there isn’t much to tell. If you have studied and passed the Architect exam, there is minimal studying you need to do to pass the Certified Developer Exam! To prepare for the exam, I bought the CloudGuru Udemy course: Udemy CloudGuru AWS Certified Developer Course At the start of the course, they mention that there is some solid overlap between the training material and what key things you need to focus on for the Developer exam if you have already done the other. I practised the things I already knew […]

The Evolution of Storage – A VMUG presentation (Dutch)

May 17, 2018 Stijn Depril 0

Back in March, I shared a presentation with Duncan Epping during the NLVMUG. This VMUG is one of the biggest and oldest VMUGs in the world. I presented the current state followed by Duncan, who is very well positioned to cover all the things that are still work in progress. A month ago the NLVMUG Usercon published the presentation video on YouTube. Enjoy this presentation.

Flashblog: DCIS-Cube

May 12, 2018 Stijn Depril 0

Over the last couple of months I had been involved in the development of the ‘DCIS-Cube’, the new architecture that will be used as a ‘portable’ and easy deploy-able system by NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency). Portability and the ease of deployment of infrastructure in regions of deployment have always been challenging for the NCI. When they have to deploy a small datacenter to support a mission somewhere on the globe, they have to ship a couple of racks with hardware to that specific place. Apart from the logistical nightmare of moving a ton of hardware, they are struggling with the actual deployment of all that hardware as well. As every single mission has different requirements they can’t prepare the solution somewhere […]

First impressions: VMware HCI assessment

May 11, 2018 Stijn Depril 2

VMware launched a new HCI assessment tool. Last week Duncan Epping reached out to me. He had a customer asking him if he could have a look into the environment so they could better size the environment with VSAN. I got in contact with the customer on Friday and on Tuesday we had a call in which we discussed the whole environment. Even Mister Epping is impressed with it. Customer reached out a week ago, wanted to know if vSAN would be an option for them. Connected them with @sdepril and within 3 days a full report was produced using the new VMware HCI Assessment tool. It is really powerful! Read more about the tool here: https://t.co/G8u6gpPaCz — Duncan Epping […]

VCDX Journey – Part 1 – Lessons Learned

May 10, 2018 Manny Sidhu 0

There’re a lot of blog posts and videos out there of people describing their path to the VCDX. They’re all good reads/views and you can glean some valuable information out of them. What hasn’t been done enough of is how you shouldn’t do this, where people tripped and what they learned from the process. After all, it’s the “I did it..” posts that make music. This post describes some bits of my journey towards this credential and more importantly, I’ll make an attempt at telling you what I did wrong or not enough of or too much of. Given the VCDX is about real world designs too, this post might be helpful in everyday jobs. Before anything else, I’ve got […]

VCDX Journey – Part 3 – Design Scenario

May 10, 2018 Manny Sidhu 2

Part 3 of this series will go over the oft overlooked design scenario. My advice with scenario is to (while keeping in mind I haven’t achieved the number yet): Listen carefully and keep prying out information from the panelists. They’re playing the role of customers, sometimes difficult customers. Maybe one of them won’t speak at all only to throw that wrench in when you’re about to clinch it. Watch out for that silent panelist 😉 If that wrench is thrown, tell them you’re going to erase a certain section of the whiteboard because the information you wrote on there is now irrelevant because of a changed requirement or a new constraint you’ve discovered as a result of that wrench. Make […]

VCDX Journey – Part 2 – Where I Messed It Up

May 10, 2018 Manny Sidhu 0

This post will cover those bits where I messed it up. In case you missed Part 1 of this series, check it out here. So in no particular order: Insufficient technical depth This might be a strange one to some, especially the people just starting out on this path. You’ll likely hear – keep your presentation at the logical level – by a lot of people. This is true for the most part and you should absolutely avoid getting tangled in a time-wasting explanation of say how multi-NIC vMotion works. Instead focus on how this decision fulfilled a business need (things like minimizing maintenance windows etc..). But.. I realized after the first two attempts the panelists were prodding me for […]