Category: VMware

Which is better? VMware or Nutanix?

I get this question all the time – “Hey René, you are an expert on VMware, why do you bother with Nutanix?” or vice-versa, depending upon whether I am talking to a VMware or Nutanix employee.

And my answer is, “Well it depends upon the customer requirements, both vendors have great solutions.” Let me elaborate, generally speaking both companies have the following attributes:

VMware

  • Extensive product eco-system that is getting broader and deeper each year
  • Broad support for third party vendors
  • Loads of nerd knobs exposed for complex use-cases
  • Rolls Royce of software and features
  • Likes to lead by acquisition
  • VMware is over 20 years old

Nutanix

  • An obsessive focus on simplicity
  • Second to none customer support
  • Great choice for simple use-cases
  • Likes to build from the ground up
  • Nutanix is 10 years old

In summary, my advice to customers is this: If you have very simple use-cases, you care about vendor support and you want things to work with the minimum of fuss, then Nutanix with AHV should be on your list. If you have complicated use-cases, your infrastructure team loves fiddling with software settings and you have a broad range of third party integrations into the hypervisor, then VMware is the way to go. Both companies have a vision that they are currently executing and will deliver working solutions, it just comes down to what the customer is trying to achieve.

vCSA 6.7 U2a with NSX-v 6.4.5 – Network and Security Navigator is replaced by {{node.title}}

This post is applicable to customers using VMware vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) 6.7 Update 2a with NSX-v 6.4.5.

Problem:

  1. vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Update 2a deployed and in use with NSX-v 6.4.5.
  2. Login to vSphere Client: https:// <IP Address or hostname of vCenter Server>
  3. In the vSphere Client UI, the Network & Security Navigator is replaced by {{node.title}}. Access this page from the Network & Security object.
  4. Login to the vSphere Web Client and verify the Network & Security Navigator functions correctly.

Continue reading vCSA 6.7 U2a with NSX-v 6.4.5 – Network and Security Navigator is replaced by {{node.title}}

VMware CAL Advanced Architecture Course Overview

For the past two weeks I have been attending the VMware Center for Advanced Learning (CAL) Advanced Architecture course. This is a 9-day course with updates from each of the business units of VMware, including instruction on architecture design and presentation skills. It is intended to include VMware employees and VMware Partners.

The primary objective of the course is to “strengthen architecture & solution skills in VMware Senior Consultants, Architects and Partners by establishing a baseline and model to interact with VMware Customers, leading the discovery, design and effectively communicate VMware solutions”.

First, let me say, if you have the opportunity to attend (by invite only) then you should jump at the chance. I wish this course had been available when I started my VCDX journey in 2012. Hats off to the VMware team that is investing and developing this program, it is a monumental amount of effort.

If you are attending, be prepared for 14 hour days, every day ends with a knowledge test delivered via VMware MyLearn and homework that needs to be completed that day. Each day starts at 8am and officially ends at 6pm, but my team were typically finishing around 8pm. Long days drinking from the fire-hose, but well worth it.

Partners are required to sign an NDA, so you really do get the inside track of what VMware is thinking and where they are heading.

It is a competitive environment, you are grappling against each other as individuals and as teams (you are split into teams of four). The objective is to design a solution for a fictitious corporation and on Day-9, present your vision to the C-level of the customer (staffed by the instructors). You are scored on the presentation and your ability to collaborate as a team.

The course framework is constantly evolving, since they seriously consider the feedback of each class that attends the course. For CALAAC8 (8th delivery of this course in the USA), we were the first to see a beta financial module and a Day-2 Operations model.

The most impactful day for me was the Advanced Consulting and Presentation skills session (Day-6), where a consultant from Mandel takes you through the skills needed to be an effective presenter at the executive-level. It is amazing how 8-hours of training and practice can yield such massive gains. I should also mention the VMware Application Platform vision presented by Emad Benjamin which was thought provoking (Day-5).

For the people that are successful in passing the Advanced Architecture course, they receive CAL Alumni membership and a Digital badge in Acclaim. They are also included in WebEx updates for the VMware strategy moving forward.

Those of you interested in attending this course, these are the upcoming dates (contact your VMware Manager or Partner Manager to be nominated):

  • IG3 – July 9-19, 2019: Paris
  • IG4 – August 6-16, 2019: Hong Kong
  • CALAAC9 – September 9-19, 2019: Palo Alto
  • CALAAC10 – October 14-24, 2019: Palo Alto
  • IG5 – November 12-22, 2019: Hong Kong
  • CALAAC11 – January 13-24, 2020: Palo Alto

Here are some photos from CALAAC8 (low resolution – do not have the high resolution files), I was lucky enough to win the Individual Contributor award and to be a part of the winning Team.

Other Resources:

Rapid VCP

Last week I was at VMware EMPOWER and had some interesting conversations with other partners and VMware Education that provided an insight into how quickly the VMware eco-system is evolving. Also included was the announcement of the new VMware Partner Connect program and the planned fifth VMware on AWS Master Service Competency.

The summary – with the move to VMware Cloud SaaS services, VMware has most definitely moved from a waterfall development approach to agile sprints. Gone are the days of the 2-year development cycle and products are now being released with a quarterly cadence. This means that VMware Education and Certification has to match that cadence. And VMware Partners have to keep up if they want to maintain their Solution and Master Service Competencies. Welcome to the turbo-mode certification treadmill!

The certification and accreditation requirements of these competencies generally looks like (they do vary – check links for exact breakdown):

You can deduce from the list above, that the VCP plays a big part in how a VMware partner proves mastery of skills and solutions. And with the increase in VCP cadence, it will be difficult to keep up. However there is light at the end of the tunnel: VMware allows the upgrade from VCP6-NV to VCP-NV 2019 by completing a free online course. Bingo! This is what we need for every VCP – a free online course that allows you to quickly and cheaply upgrade your VCP from the previous version.

The table below shows that VCP-NV 2019 is the only one to provide a free upgrade with the online “What’s New” course. VCP-DCV 2019 and VCP-CMA 2019 require a hefty fee (might as well read the free documentation and spend $250 to take the new exam instead) and the EUC tracks do not support it, you have to sit the latest exam – no bueno!

You may make the argument that VMware will not generate education and certification revenue. My opinion is that every VMware partner makes a significant recurring investment in VMware training and certification to become a partner and maintain that skill-set. VMware wants to increase their revenues year-on-year and the VMware partner eco-system is responsible for a large percentage of those revenues. Remember that some vendors (e.g. Nutanix) provide all of their online and on-site training services for free; they understand that partner training is good for business.

My hope is that VMware Education modifies their upgrade policies for VCP (and possibly VCAP), to give partners and customers the ability to complete a free online course to maintain their service & solution competencies. I still have a strong opinion that the Master Service Competencies should also have a mandatory VCDX requirement (including the SDDC Service Competency).

References:

Horizon View Design Considerations

This is the VMware Horizon View Design Deep-Dive.  I have aggregated all of the design considerations that Wayne Conrad and myself needed to answer for our VMware Horizon View architecture design.  Brevity and bullet-points are used to keep the information concise and readable. They are phrased as questions the architect needs to answer.

Continue reading Horizon View Design Considerations

Top vBlog 2018 Success

This last four months have been crazy busy, with defending VCDX number 4, Dell-EMC Master Enterprise Architect (DECM-EA) and Nutanix Certified Sales Expert (NCSX) plus holding down my day job and family life, it has been a marathon. I am glad I made it to the other side largely intact. To top that off, last week it was a pleasure to be voted #10 in the Top vBlog 2018 voting and also to win the Favorite Independent Blogger category as well. This type of award enhances your blogging experience, it means that your community recognizes and appreciates the effort expended. Thank you for reading my content and voting!

It was very competitive this year, indicated by the points totals for positions #6 to #12 where there was a tiny 47 point spread. This emphasizes the importance of having a great Google Pagespeed rating and being consistent with posting content year on year, to maximize your point score. It was also great to see many newcomers to the Top 25 and Top 10, it goes to show you that anyone can blog and be successful.

Those of you that are blogging and are looking to break into the Top 50, Top 25 and Top 10 lists, my advice is to pick a niche that is unique to you and your voice and then focus on that. My specialty area is Architecture Design, including the master-level and expert-level certifications for design; it took me a while to find that voice, but once I did, I was good to go. If I can do it, there is no reason why you cannot also.

It was great to see Angelo Luciani jump a massive 28 spots to #30 this year, an OG blogger/VMUG leader and a true community advocate. The same goes for Paul McSharry, up 22 spots to #27. Great work guys, keep it up.

Big thanks to Eric Siebert, Eric Wright, Angelo Luciani and John Troyer for their efforts and Turbonomic/Nutanix for sponsoring the event.