VMware NSX Conversations

At VMworld 2013 and on the Virtualization Security Podcast there were many conversations about VMware NSX. These conversations ranged from how will we implement this new technology to security, scale, and other technical questions. In addition, NSX and what was needed to make it a reality may be the answer to a nagging security question. Brad Hedlund, from the VMware NSX team, joined the Virtualization Security Podcast to share with us some of the details around VMware NSX prior to the podcast.

How DevOps Can Help Automate the Pain Away

I spent two days at PuppetConf 2013 in San Francisco this week, and the common themes were automate everything, monitor everything, provide feedback early in the process, and focus on culture. All four of those topics aligned with the DevOps movement, with the goal of faster and more reliable deliveries. Companies that can deliver software more frequently with fewer issues have a competitive advantage over those who can’t.

When and Where to Use NAND Flash SSD for Virtual Servers

Keeping in mind that the best server and storage IO is the one that you do not have to do, then second best is that which has the least impact combined with best benefit to an application. This is where SSD, including DRAM- and NAND-flash-based solutions, comes into the conversation for storage performance optimization.

Recap of PuppetConf 2013 in San Francisco

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend PuppetConf 2013. When I walked into the first keynote session, I was shocked by the size of the audience. Over 1300 people were packed into the ballroom. Another 3700 had signed up to watch the event streaming online. Last year there were 800 people at the conference and only 300 the year before. Obviously, both Puppet and DevOps are hot topics these days.

Nutanix OS 3.5: Deduplication, New GUI, SRM, Hyper-V Support

Nutanix, one of the fastest growing IT infrastructure startups around, shows no signs of slowing down with their release of Nutanix OS 3.5. For those not familiar with Nutanix, they offer a truly converged virtualized infrastructure. This generally consists of four nodes in two rack units of space, where each node has CPU, RAM, traditional fixed disk, SSD, and Fusion-IO flash built in. Their secret sauce is really NDFS, the Nutanix Distributed File System, built by the same folks that created Google’s File System, as well as a unified, hypervisor-agnostic management interface.

Start of VMworld

It is the start of VMworld and my during my first days of meetings and briefings I have met up with a few companies like Quali Systems, Rackware and Intiqua that are focusing on automation. These meetings have further confirmed my thoughts from my previous post that automation has now made it mainstream and will continue to grow from here. I expect more and more 3rd party offerings that will automate more day to day tasks and so much more.