Yellow Bricks

by Duncan Epping

UT-Podcast

#113 – Procuring hardware for a vSAN based VCF infrastructure – featuring John Nicholson!

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I’ve been on the Virtually Speaking podcast several times, so it was time to invite one of the hosts to the Unexplored Territory Podcast and discuss his favorite topic, hardware configurations, and the bill of materials! John Nicholson goes over all the ins and outs of procuring new hardware and talks about ordering components for existing hardware. We discuss NICs, Switches, Ready Node configurations, Emulated Ready Node configurations, NVMe devices, and much more.

Especially in todays world of ever increasing memory prices, and difficulty to procure hardware, the suggestions John makes around re-using existing hardware with vSAN ESA are very valid. Also, the use of Memory Tiering is definitely something every customer should consider. But before I share all the nuggets, just listen to the episode on Spotify (bit.ly/4r66flp), Apple (apple.co/4raF5Kj), the embedded player below, or watch it on Youtube.

During the discussion, various blogs and videos were mentioned, make sure to check those as well!

#112 – Introducing VMware vDefend featuring Chris McCain!

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A few episodes ago we had Yves Hertoghs on the show to discuss networking, so I decided it was also time to discuss security. As Chris McCain has been at the forefront of networking and security at VMware for over a decade, it only made sense to reach out and invite him to introduce vDefend! As always the episode is available on Spotify (https://bit.ly/46aiOog), Apple (https://bit.ly/4kCOsk9), the embedded player below, or if you want to watch it on youtube that is also an option!

Not only was Chris part of the Explore keynote, but he also delivered various excellent sessions on networking and security in the past couple of years, and I would highly encourage you to watch those as well!

#111 – VMUG Connect, coming to a city near you soon! (Featuring Brad Tompkins)

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In 2025, the first VMUG Connect event was held in the US, and as it was a big success, VMUG decided to repeat that formula in Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Toronto, Dallas, and Orlando. I invited Brad Tompkins to the show to explain what these VMUG events are all about and also provide some insights into the world of VMUG.

During this episode, Brad went over the agenda for VMUG Connect Amsterdam, and explained what VMUG itself is all about. Brad also discussed the different types of events that VMUG organizes, and had a call to action: participate! I could not agree more. I truly believe that VMUG is a great way to grow your network, grow your skillset through for instance, public speaking, or simply grow your knowledge by attending a session or having discussions on anything with your peers.

Listen to the full episode via Spotify (https://bit.ly/3M0Jxga), Apple (https://apple.co/45Fhjye), or online via Yellow-Bricks here. Or simply watch the video on youtube!

I have the pleasure and honor of hosting a keynote session in Amsterdam at Connect in March. I hope to see all of you there. For more details on pricing, locations, and more, make sure to visit the VMUG Connect website. Also, if you are planning on attending, I would highly encourage you to book asap as we’ve seen Explore on Tour selling out everywhere…

 

#110 – vSAN over Fibre Channel featuring Rakesh Radhakrishnan!

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After Rakesh and I shared the news at Explore, and Explore On Tour, that vSAN would potentially be able to use Fibre Channel as a transport layer, the phone has been ringing nonstop. It was time for me to invite Rakesh and ask him to explain what vSAN over FC is all about. In this episode Rakesh covers the why, the what, but unfortunately the when is still a question. Nevertheless, this episode is a must-listen or watch, as I decided to also make it available on youtube this time. Pick what you prefer! Listen on Spotify (https://bit.ly/3YMdlzP), Apple (https://apple.co/45OncsI), or listen via the embedded player below, or just click the video!

Discussed papers/links:

#109 – Introducing Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) featuring Yves Hertoghs

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VMware Cloud Foundation 9 has brought the ⁠Virtual Private Cloud networking model⁠ front and center in the vSphere UI. Not only has it become extremely easy to provide a self-service solution for networking, but it also comes with a plethora of networking services and capabilities. Maybe even more importantly, it allows networking-noobs (like myself) to consume advanced functionality without having to file dozens of service requests. In this episode, Yves Hertoghs explains what a Virtual Private Cloud is and discusses all the ins and outs around the Transit Gateway, vDefend, subnets, and much more.

You can listen to the episode on Spotify (bit.ly/3MArJs9), Apple Podcasts (bit.ly/3YtUhWQ), or online via the embedded player below.

If you like to learn more about VPCs, make sure to read the various blogs, and watch the various Explore sessions on the topic. There’s plenty out there to dive straight into it!

Plenty of things to read and watch during the upcoming holiday season, I am going to take a short break as well, but I will be back in January for sure! Enjoy,