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Networking and Storage (VMware)

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VMware Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) – What it is and what to look for in storage implementations. By now you are hearing a lot about Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) at the VMworld 2014 event and why it is so important to manage the end-to-end infrastructure, from compute to storage, at the virtual machine (VM) and virtual disk (vDisk) level.

VMware Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) – What it is and what to look for in storage implementations

Virtualization meant VMs and vDisks are the unit of management at the compute layer. VMware® Virtual Volumes is meant to bridge the gap by extending the paradigm to storage specifically on VMware vSphere® deployments. The buzz around VVOLs to extend the VM-level management to storage layer is great validation of what we at Tintri strongly believe – fundamentally the storage layer also must understand and provide data management services and visibility at VM-level.

Tintri has been delivering on this promise and shipping products for almost 4 years. Hundreds of customers are enjoying VM-level management across hundreds of thousands of VMs on thousands of Tintri VMstore systems. ISCSI Basics - Thomas-Krenn-Wiki. This article will explain the principle function manner of iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface).

ISCSI Basics - Thomas-Krenn-Wiki

Like Fibre Channel, iSCSI provides all of the necessary components for the construction of a Storage Area Network. iSCSI is defined in RFC 3720. iSCSI Components For iSCSI communication, the following components talk with each other: Virtual Volumes (VVols) vs Traditional Storage. VMware KB: Understanding storage device detection in ESXi. VMware Gets Real About Virtual Storage. VMware has talked about software-defined storage and a virtual SAN for a long time, but the tangible software it delivered still relied on shared storage--or in the case of its Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA), it wasn't ready for prime time.

VMware Gets Real About Virtual Storage

This year's VMworld in San Francisco featured real software to back up the software-defined storage story. In the near term, VMware users will have three significant software-defined storage products: vSphere Flash Read Cache for server-side caching, VSAN to create hybrid storage pools from server attached devices, and good old Virsto for better snapshots and write acceleration. The vSphere Flash Read Cache, frequently known as vFlash after the more ambitious development project from whence it sprung, is built into the ESXi 5.5 kernel, though VMware may choose to only enable it for users with Enterprise or Enterprise Plus licenses.

While it does run at the hypervisor level and is well integrated into the vCenter administration, vFlash is primitive. How To Create VMware Virtual Volumes. How To Create VMware Virtual Volumes VVOLs, as they're known, could revolutionize your datacenter.

How To Create VMware Virtual Volumes

Learn how they work and how to set them up. By Tom Fenton02/26/2015 At the VMware Partner Exchange (PEX) in February, VMware announced vSphere 6.0. vSphere was an evolutionary release for VMware, with one major exception: It included Virtual Volumes (VVOLs), a revolutionary new feature. VMware And Storage: Start With Basics. VMware storage: SAN configuration basics. VMware storage entails more than simply mapping a logical unit number (LUN) to a physical server.

VMware storage: SAN configuration basics

VMware’s vSphere enables system administrators to create multiple virtual servers on a single physical server chassis. The underlying hypervisor, vSphere ESXi, can use both internal and external storage devices for guest virtual machines. In this article we will discuss the basics of using storage area network (SAN) storage on vSphere and the factors administrators should consider when planning a shared SAN storage deployment.

VMware storage: SAN basics vSphere supports internally-connected disks that include JBODs, hardware RAID arrays, solid-state disks and PCIe SSD cards. SAN storage, however, provides a shared, highly available and resilient storage platform that can scale to a multi-server deployment. Storage virtualisation vs software-defined storage - StorageBuzz. The aim of this blog post is to try to iron out some misunderstandings in two common terms in storage.

Storage virtualisation vs software-defined storage - StorageBuzz

Two terms that are actually really rather connected; storage virtualisation and software-defined storage. First let's deal with storage virtualisation. Here at ComputerWeekly.com we're pretty certain that there's a good deal of confusion about this term. In our yearly poll of readers we keep hearing that "storage virtualisation" is a key priority on IT department to-do lists for the coming year. This year that figure was 36%. That figure seems unusually high. So, when those questioned in our poll ticked "storage virtualisation", what many probably thought we were asking was "is storage for virtualisation a priority? " Meanwhile, storage virtualisation products allow organisations to build storage infrastructure from multiple vendors' hardware.

Storage virtualisation products include EMC's VPLEX, IBM's SAN Volume Controller (SVC), NetApp's V-Series and Hitachi's VSP. Virtual Networking 101: Understanding VMware Networking. Revision notes from VMware Network Virtualization Fundamentals Course - @Saintdle. VMware released a free course around Network Virtualization Fundamentals, which maps to the first steps on the ladder for all things NSX.

Revision notes from VMware Network Virtualization Fundamentals Course - @Saintdle

It is also recommended by VMware to take the course before taking on the VCA-NV. I urge anyone looking into NSX to take this course, you can’t argue with the price after all!!! Secondly, although there are many NSX posts online name, Brad Hedlund has some of the best posts in my opinion. Check the NSX-Link-O-Rama aswell. And finally, the NSX Compendium over at Network Inferno Below are my notes I took whilst going through the course. The Basics. Product Walkthroughs. Understanding VMware common networking terminology. First, let's go over some of the basic terminology that you will need to become familiar with in order to be successful with this blog.

Understanding VMware common networking terminology

Within VMware Workstation you have the ability to configure the following virtual networks: Bridged networkingHost onlyNetwork address translationCustomVirtual switchBridgeHost virtual adapterDHCP serverVirtual network adapter Bridged networking When you use bridged networking, your virtual machine is connected to the LAN as if it were a physical PC connected to your network. It can be assigned a DHCP address or a static IP address. Host only When you use a host-only network, your virtual machines can communicate with the host PC only. Network address translation Any virtual machine that you create will share the IP and MAC address of the host. Custom. Virtual switch explained. VMware has designed the vSphere suite to mimic the functions of a physical network, so a lot of the network hardware you’ll find in the real world, you will also find virtualized in vSphere.

Virtual switch explained

Virtual switches work very much like their physical counterparts, Ethernet switches, but lack some of their advanced functionality. They are used to establish a connection between the virtual and the physical network. Virtual networking concepts. VMware KB: Overview of vNetwork Distributed Switch concepts. Understanding the Different Network Types in VMware and VirtualBox - Intense School. One of the areas less understood by people learning to use virtualization software such as VMware, VirtualBox, etc., is that of virtualized networking.

Understanding the Different Network Types in VMware and VirtualBox - Intense School

For example, how can you connect your guest OS to the Internet connection available on the host OS? In this article, we will discuss the various network types available for virtual machines and see how each type can be used. VMware Training – Resources (Intense) Note: The host OS is the physical machine on which you will install VMware, VirtualBox, etc. A guest OS is a virtual machine running in the virtualization software.

VMware vSphere Features: Virtual Networking & Management. VMware Workstation Networking Basics. VMware Workstation provides several ways you can configure a virtual machine for virtual networking. Bridged networking configures your virtual machine as a unique identity on the network, separate and unrelated to its host.Network address translation (NAT) configures your virtual machine to share the IP and MAC addresses of the host. The virtual machine and the host share a single network identity that is not visible outside the network. NAT can be useful when you are allowed a single IP address or MAC address by your network administrator.

What is Network Virtualization? Data centers exist for the sole purpose to deploy applications. Applications that automate business processes, serve customers better, enter new markets – you get the idea. It’s all about the Apps. Applications are composed with both Compute and Network resources. It doesn’t make sense to have one without the other; a symbiotic relationship.

And for the last decade, one half of that relationship (Compute) has been light years ahead of the other (Network). For example, it’s possible to deploy (virtual servers) the Compute of an application within seconds, through powerful automation enabled by software on general purpose hardware – Server Virtualization. Server virtualization also enabled Compute with awesomeness like mobility, snapshots, and push button disaster recovery – to name a few. Network Virtualization is a solution with products that bring symmetry to the symbiotic relationship of Compute & Network. Assignment2.