Although it is the summer holiday season in Europe, we don’t take a break when it comes to releasing new podcast content. This episode features one of the first VMware bloggers ever (maybe the first!?), who now is responsible for Cloud at Oracle, Richard Garsthagen. Richard introduced us to the world of Oracle Cloud VMware Solution. Very interesting stuff if you ask me, and with some unique capabilities compared to other public cloud offerings. (Especially from an operational point of view!) Listen now on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3bB5QXE), Apple (https://apple.co/3SCPoa2), or anywhere else you get your podcasts! Or simply use the player below.
VMware
Nested Fault Domains on a 2-Node vSAN Stretched Cluster, is it supported?
I spotted a question this week on VMTN, the question was fairly basic, are nested fault domains supported on a 2-node vSAN Stretched Cluster? It sounds basic, but unfortunately, it is not documented anywhere, probably because stretched 2-node configurations are not very common. For those who don’t know, with a nested fault domain on a two-node cluster you basically provide an additional layer of resiliency by replicating an object within a host as well. A VM Storage Policy for a configuration like that will look as follows.
This however does mean that you would need to have a minimum of 3 fault domains within your host as well if you want to, this means that you will need to have a minimum of 3 disk groups in each of the two hosts as well. Or better said, when you configure Host Mirroring and then select the second option failures to tolerate the following list will show you the number of disk groups per host you need at a minimum:
- Host Mirroring – 2 Node Cluster
- No Data Redundancy – 1 disk group
- 1 Failure – RAID1 – 3 disk groups
- 1 Failure – RAID5 – 4 disk groups
- 2 Failures – RAID1 – 5 disk groups
- 2 Failures – RAID6 – 6 disk groups
- 3 Failures – RAID1 – 7 disk groups
If you look at the list, you can imagine that if you need additional resiliency it will definitely come at a cost. But anyway, back to the question, is it supported when your 2-node configuration happens to be stretched across locations, and the answer is yes, VMware supports this.
New book: VMware vSAN 7.0 U3 Deep Dive
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
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!
Unexplored Territory #013 – Exploring VMware Cloud on AWS with Adrian Roberts!
In episode 013 we talk to Adrian Roberts, Head of EMEA Solution Architecture for VMware Cloud on AWS at AWS. Adrian discusses the various reasons customers are looking to utilize VMware Cloud on AWS, discusses some of the challenges, and of course the opportunities that arise when you have your VMware workloads close to native AWS services. Listen to the full episode via Spotify (spoti.fi/3DDCoJX) or Apple (apple.co/3r1qAvV)