Software Defined, Storage, Virtualization

VMware Virtual SAN Stretched Cluster Sizing Guidance

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StretchedWith the release of Virtual SAN 6.1 in September, Stretched Clusters and 2 Node support was introduced. There has been some general guidance given around sizing some of the bandwidth between sites, as well as between the sites and the witness.

How those bandwidth requirements are calculated hasn’t been publicly available. Site to site bandwidth is based on the number of writes a workload has, while site to witness bandwidth is based on the number of Virtual SAN components on a Virtual SAN datastore.

Working with the Virtual SAN Engineering team and Virtual SAN Product Management, we’ve put together a white paper on how these bandwidth requirements are calculated, as well as some examples.

Download the Virtual SAN Stretched Cluster Bandwidth Sizing Guidance white paper for more information on how to size bandwidth for Stretched Clusters and 2 Node configurations.

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Software Defined, Storage, Virtualization

Virtual SAN 6.1 and ROBO Edition

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Anyone who has ever had to buy infrastructure for remote or branch offices, or very small offices, has been faced with the predicament of choosing the right combination of capacity, performance, availability, and cost. It can be a daunting task, to keep costs down, while providing a capable and resilient platform for remote workers.

What does it really take to service the needs of remote offices?
Maybe a local Domain Controller for authentication, some DNS services, a local proxy of some sort, or possibly a database or two. Before the days of virtualization, any one of a few deployment options could have been used. Maybe a single server with all services installed locally was preferred, or possibly a few servers with services somewhat distributed across them. Then there was challenge of sizing a solution to fit. Doing this was not uncommon, having had to support such a configuration, a couple questions come to mind. (more…)

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Software Defined, Storage, Virtualization

VSAN Health Check VIB Installation & vSphere ROBO/Essentials Plus

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I was talking with a fellow VMware guy, Matt Lydy, at VMworld Barcelona and he brought something to my attention around the Virtual SAN 6.x Health Check Plug-in. Matt is a Technical Account Manager in Ohio. I had the pleasure of working the VMware booth with him at VMworld US. He mentioned that the Health Check plugin requires Dynamic Resource Scheduling (DRS). I was pretty sure this wasn’t correct, but upon further conversation, he specified that DRS is required for the automatic installation. At that point a lightbulb went off. It certainly does. (more…)

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Security, Storage, Virtualization

Quick update & Info on VMworld 2015 Sessions

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It has been a while since I’ve posted.  Really heads down lately, getting to know my new role.  As a refresher, I’ve moved from a Field Support role as a vSpecialist at EMC to a Tech Marketing role at VMware in the Storage and Availability group.

As much as I’d like to say I’m done with drinking from the firehose, I’m really not.  I’m focusing on Virtual SAN, and the partner ecosystem that works with it.  Lots to learn & lots of folks to work with (internally & externally). It is really different, having the visibility I have now, than before. It is very exciting, and needless to say very busy, with VMworld coming up. (more…)

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Storage, Virtualization

My Tour of Duty is up. Time for a new assignment.

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In November of 2010, I announced that, after 15 years, would be leaving the customer side & joining the ranks of “Chad’s Army.”

Since joining EMC, I’ve grown & learned more than I could have imagined. Going through vSpecialist on-boarding, at least from a mentally challenging perspective, seemed similar to basic training.  The camaraderie that I have had with all of my vSpecialist brothers & sisters is very similar to what I had with my military family. We knew that everyone else always had our back. At the same time, we all had the same mission, that we had to perform with some pretty solid values.  My Air Force core values were easily applied to my EMC role.

Those were “Integrity First,” “Service before self,” & “Excellence in all we do.”

My Tour at EMC
In EMC’s Federal Division, I initially supported Civilian Agencies.  I’ve worked with customers including some departments like, the VA, DOE, DHS, FEMA, and others, not to mention multiple integrators supporting those customers, and more.  For the past two years, I’ve primarily supported the U.S. Military & organizations bringing additional value & resources in support of the U.S. Military’s mission.

At the same time, being a vSpecialist, I have had opportunities to support the greater EMC & VMware community at EMC World, VMworld, VMware Partner Exchange, & various other conferences/workshops in various technical, organizational, & speaking roles.

I’ve been fortunate in having traveled to a couple different countries I had not been to during that time, as well as quite a few domestic places I had not had the pleasure of experiencing.

For those that follow me on twitter, I’m sure they’ve seen some of my “colorful” travel mishaps. Unfortunately, there have been so many, we have an internal message board named “Jase Does Travel Advice” where people can get a laugh about some things I haven’t mentioned publicly.

Other than some of the crappy travel, I would say my time at EMC has been pretty awesome. Again, I’ve learned quite a bit, & have made some pretty awesome friends along the way. I highly recommend EMC as an employer.  Great folks, great direction, great strategy, & always changing to remain competitive. (more…)

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