Tag: VMware

VMware vSAN Specialist Exam (5V0-22.23) Study Links

I took the VMware vSAN Specialist Exam recently and these are the preparation resources I used:

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.

First Turbonomic Reference Architecture White Paper

Turbonomic and RoundTower Technologies are collaborating on a series of “Powered by Turbonomic” Reference Architecture and Best Practice Guide white papers.

Eric Wright and myself worked together on producing the first in this series, the Turbonomic Automation Platform with VMware vSphere Reference Architecture. Click on the link to download. Any feedback or questions you may have are welcomed.

Announcement – VMware VSAN 6.2

VMware Virtual SAN version 6.2 has been announced.  Two big improvements are the inclusion of Data Integrity (checksum on write and read) and improved UI integration into the vSphere Web Client.

This is the fourth major release of VSAN functionality.  VMware is definitely taking this product seriously and trying to evolve VSAN to a true enterprise-grade SDS stack.

If you are a customer that has an extensive investment in the VMware eco-system from a people, process and technology perspective, then VSAN could be a good choice if you are dipping your toes into the HCI space for a small part of your infrastructure.  Use-cases such as Management, DMZ, PCI, Dev/Test and EUC Clusters are a great fit, in my opinion.  If you are selecting an enterprise-wide solution for mission/business critical applications, then a more mature SDS vendor would be worth considering to minimise risk.

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