Yellow Bricks

Where do I download the vSAN File Service OVA?

Duncan Epping · May 25, 2022 ·

Last few weeks I had this question at least three times, surprisingly as I thought it wasn’t too difficult to find. The question was if my vCenter Server has no connection to the internet, where do I download the vSAN File Service OVA file that I can use to setup vSAN File Service manually? The UI provides the option to manually load it, but doesn’t provide a pointer to the location on the website where you can download it.

And actually, it is fairly simple, you go to vmware.com/downloads. You pick “VMware vSAN” as the product, then click on the “Drivers & Tools” tab, and then unfold “VMware vSAN Tools, Plug-ins and Appliances” and you should see the OVAs listed for the various versions. After you download the OVA, you can simply upload it from your desktop via the vCenter Server UI and continue the configuration of vSAN File Service.

Unexplored Territory 16: Google Cloud VMware Engine featuring Wade Holmes!

Duncan Epping · May 17, 2022 ·

In this week’s Unexplored Territory Podcast we have our long time friend Dr. Wade Holmes as a guest. We’ve bumped into Wade a few times over the past couple of years, first at a VCDX defense where Wade became the first VCDX certified person outside of VMware. Of course Wade also worked at VMware for years, and now the past years Wade has been at Google, which made him the perfect person to have this discussion with on the topic of Google Cloud VMware Engine, multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and security implications. Listen to it via Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3NfOxIz), Apple (https://apple.co/37SXOaI), our website, or your favorite podcast app!

New book: VMware vSAN 7.0 U3 Deep Dive

Duncan Epping · May 9, 2022 ·

Yes, we’ve mentioned it a few times already on Twitter that we were working on it, but today Cormac and I are proud to announce that the VMware vSAN 7.0 U3 Deep Dive is available via Amazon on both ebook as well as paper! We had the pleasure of working with Pete Koehler again as a technical editor, the foreword was written by John Gilmartin (SVP and GM for Cloud Storage and Data), the cover was created by my son (Aaron Epping), and it is once again fully self-published! We changed the format (physical dimension) of the book to be able to increase the size of the screenshots, as we realize that most of us are middle-aged by now, we feel it really made a huge difference in readability.

VMware’s vSAN has rapidly proven itself in environments ranging from hospitals to oil rigs to e-commerce platforms and is the top player in the hyperconverged space. Along the way, it has matured to offer unsurpassed features for data integrity, availability, space efficiency, stretched clustering, and cloud-native storage services. vSAN 7.0 U3 has radically simplified IT operations and supports the transition to hyperconverged infrastructures (HCI). The authors of the vSAN Deep Dive have thoroughly updated their definitive guide to this transformative technology. Writing for vSphere administrators, architects, and consultants, Cormac Hogan, and Duncan Epping explain what vSAN is, how it has evolved, what it now offers, and how to gain maximum value from it. The book offers expert insight into preparation, installation, configuration, policies, provisioning, clusters, architecture, and more. You’ll also find practical guidance for using all data services, stretched clusters, two-node configurations, and cloud-native storage services.

Although we pressed publish, sometimes it takes a while before the book is available in all Amazon stores, but it should just trickle in the upcoming 24-48 hours. The book is priced at 9.99 USD (ebook) and 29.99 USD (paper) and is sold through Amazon only. Get it while it is hot, and we would appreciate it if you would use our referral links and leave a review when you finish it. Thanks, and we hope you will enjoy it!

Of course, we also have the links to other major Amazon stores:

United Kingdom – Kindle – Paper
Germany – Kindle – Paper
Netherlands – Kindle – Paper
Canada – Kindle – Paper
France – Kindle – Paper
Spain – Kindle – Paper
India – Kindle
Japan – Kindle – Paper
Italy – Kindle – Paper
Mexico – Kindle
Australia – Kindle – Paper
Or just do a search!

Unexplored Territory #014 – Using ML accelerators efficiently with Justin Murray

Duncan Epping · Apr 19, 2022 ·

This was one fun episode. I just love talking to people about things that are relatively new to me, and AI/ML definitely is a relatively new topic for me. Justin Murray is VMware’s Tech Marketing guru on this topic and he had some great knowledge to share with us. On top of that, Justin just has a great way of simplifying/explaining things and always is a pleasure to see present/listen to. Either listen via the embedded player below or listen via Spotify: spoti.fi/3vtxjA6, Apple: apple.co/3ErCdSC, or anywhere else you get your podcasts!