Technology – Page 15 – Gabbs' Random Thoughts

Virtual Updates 2020-06-08

vSphere 6.7 End of Support date extended
People were unsure why VMware had vSphere 6.5 and 6.7 with the same end of support date in November 2021.
Well, now vSphere 6.7 has an end of support date of October 15, 2022.
VMware Blog post is here.

vSphere 7 – Kubernetes Pods Explained
I like Mike Foley’s ability to explain nearly anything.
His focus on security over the past years has been awesome.
Now he’s explaining how vSphere Pods work on vSphere 7.
A quick read, and you understand it.
Do you need to know the details of how to run apps in containers?
No (helps, but not required), but as a vSphere Amin (or IaaS provider now), you need to get a good understanding of what you’ll be running.

Virtual Updates 2020-05-25

VMware VCP & VCAP – Around the World
Love this annually released infographic.
VMware Blog post is here.
VCDXs Around the world? VMware Blog post from 2018 is here.

DEMO VCF with vSphere 7 & Kubernetes
This is pretty cool.
On the StorageHub part of the VMware website, you now have a click-through demo of deploying this (on VCF workload domain).
Kinda a Hands on Lab light version…
I like this, as it can show someone how simple it is to use VCF to manage a full SDDC stack, or even one that uses NFS or FC.
Good demo tool for all. 10-15 minutes for your first review.

Virtual Updates 2020-05-11

Best Post from VMware on vSphere 7 with Kubernetes
This comes right from Kit Kolbert, VMware’s VP & CTO of the Cloud Platform Business Unit.
There have been slightly varying messages heard by my clients, and this will be the default page I send them to.
This VMware Blog post explains how Kubernetes IS built into vSphere 7, but that to leverage its full capabilities, you need NSX, and how to get there today with VMware Cloud Foundation.

Azure VMware Solutions
Run VMware infrastructure in Azure?
Looks like its coming, as it is now in Preview….
Microsoft is flexing its muscles here with Windows & SQL Server licensing benefits (can’t fault them for that one).
My big concern here though….is support.
How is Microsoft Azure support going to compete with VMware support (not that VMware support has any advocates out there)?
Here is a Microsoft blog post on this.

VMware Official (not-official) Visio Stencils updated!
Why oh why has VMware NEVER released proper Visio stencils?
I’ve been questions VMware staff for years on this one.
Good thing the community has you covered.
Graham Barker has you covered.
His latest post has the updated VMware Visio stencils based on SDDC (which are used in VVD (VMware Validated Design) documents.

Virtual Updates 2020-04-27

VMware finally has Remote Testing!
Well, its announced, and available since 4/20 (huh huh).
VMware Blog post here.

GitHub for Teams if now free?
Yup. GitHub post about it here.
Yes, premium features still cost money, but they cut the pricing too.
Not what I expected ….

VMware Tanzu – more releases….
So Tanzu itself is not a product.
Just like vRealize is not a product…it is a set of products with a common brand
That is Tanzu…..many products under a common brand.
Tanzu Application Services has been released.
Tanzu Build Service has been released.
Tanzu Kubernetes Grid has been released.
Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (formerly known as VMware Enterprise PKS) 1.7 is now generally available.
Read more at VMware Tanzu site.

Virtual Updates 2020-04-13

This week is a bit light.
I spent so much time these past 2 weeks reading the vSphere 7 documentation, rebuilding the classroom to run vSphere 7 (and doing all the patching of the Windows OS), and updating process documentation, that I missed keeping up on this post.

vSphere 7 – Released
OK, so there are a lot of things on this one note.
I’ll have a collection once you click “read more” on this post.
I’ll link the release notes here, but the collective of posts and informative notes will be linked as a collection below.
I’ve read through the 3500 pages of documentation already.
Lots of good information in there.
I have prepped a vSphere 7 What’s New that I plan on delivering to folks who would like to hear it.

Remote Access, VPN, VDI, or EUC
Lot of conversations about this these past few weeks.
I am doing a session on this today.
Thought I’d share some really good posts around that.
Brian Madden post on VMware’s Blog Site on VDI or VPN, what that means, and the considerations you should take, depending on your partners.
VMware has a Steps to Enable a Remote Workforce with Workspace ONE
This post gives the 10,000 foot view of the process of standing up Workspace ONE.

Virtual Updates 2020-03-30

VMware Wavefront – Covid-19 Dashboard
The power of VMware Wavefront put to good use in this time.
Check out the 3 x dashboards created in Wavefront monitoring Covid-19 stats.
Just remember, Wavefront can model just about anything you want.

vSphere 7 – vSphere Lifecycle Manager
Been waiting for this feature….
Imagine Update Manager not only applying patches, but also, firmware, drivers, BIOS, and other updates to your hosts?
Well, that’s vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
Desired state, compliance validation, auto-remediation (if you want it).
No more reading the Compatibly Guide (well, during updates and upgrades…still need to use that guide to select hardware.
This VMware Blog post highlights it, though it was written for vSAN….

Virtual Updates 2020-03-16

VMware GA Announcements…
There are so many good announcements, but they are broken up into quite a few sections.
If all you want is the news release summarizing everything….here you go.

Project Pacific – now becoming vSphere 7
Want to see the replay of the 3/10 announcements….
Here it is.
Frank Denneman did an amazing post this week on how Kubernetes workloads will be placed on a VMware Cluster, how DRS works with this, and how the workflow of the workload being deployed.
A great read.
A different post on The Medium goes into the technical overview.
Reading both of these articles will set you up for a much better understanding of what bringing Project Pacific to vSphere is about.
And remember…VMs can be defined too with Project Pacific…
I prefer this mind-map found on VMware’s site, which has all the new features laid out, and links to videos about those features.

VMware Tanzu
Tanzu was announced at VMworld as the Multi-Cloud Multi-Cluster Kubernetes management and deployment tool.
There is a couple of VMware HOL on this….
HOL-2032-01-CNA – VMware Tanzu Mission Control
HOL-2032-91-CNA – VMware Tanzu Mission Control Simulation
Recommend you give it a go…2 hours well invested.
A few videos I cam across that cover some of its uses….
IAM (Identity & Access Management) Control with Tanzu Mission Control
Container Registry Management with Tanzu Mission Control
Integrating AWS accounts with Tanzu Mission Control
You can see where Tanzu is going…..