It’s a Multi-Cloud World We Live In!

I currently work for VMware in which anyone that works in the IT field is familiar with and has potentially worked with one or more of our solutions during their career. I am going on six years with the company and have worked as a field pre-sales engineer for the last two plus years. Just in these last two years of talking to my customers, I have seen the growth in companies moving some of their workloads to the cloud. Not only that, they aren’t using a single cloud provider, but multiple clouds.

The realistic aspect of moving applications to the cloud is that not all applications are equal. I have found that some applications can be moved to the cloud, but others are better off staying in your private cloud for cost and other reasons. Some customers have the hopes of “getting out of the datacenter business and going 100% to the cloud“. This is not a reality for 99% of companies. I have heard this several times, but in reality, it is typically too costly and in many cases not technically feasible do to the numerous legacy goliath applications that won’t run in the cloud.

More and more I see where most companies have a multi-cloud approach to moving their workloads. If they currently don’t have this strategy, they are definitely looking at it! This is the trend I see every day and all the news articles, blogs, and posts reflect this as well. This is a very smart business move for the fact that each cloud provider offers different features, capabilities and cost benefits. One workload may run better and cheaper in a specific cloud that it would in another. So the approach to putting certain workloads in certain clouds is actually a very smart and beneficial move. However, this can be a little cumbersome for your IT folks since each provider has their own administrative interfaces you have to learn to use. It can create increased cost for training and workload for the learning curve for your IT personnel.

Because of this multi-cloud trend, VMware is investing continuously by acquiring companies that further our multi-cloud solution strategy and portfolio. This is evident in our most recent intent to acquire AVI Networks who is a leader in multi-cloud application delivery services. This is an important step forward in VMware’s networking and cloud strategies as we extend the application services we offer that help customers operate in a multi-cloud world. Another recent acquisition in May of 2019 is Bitnami, which offers a suite of products and projects that accelerate the delivery of applications to multiple clouds including Kubernetes environments. Today, Bitnami delivers and maintains a catalog of 130+ ready-to-run server applications and development environments in partnership with the world’s leading cloud providers. There have been other acquisitions to expand and advance VMware’s multi-cloud strategy, these were just the ones from recent months. Others include the acquisitions of CloudHealth, Wavefront, VeloCloud, etc. Let’s not forget they also continue to partner with the major providers in endeavors such as our Enterprise PKS solution which is a partnership with Google Cloud to provide an enterprise class Kubernetes solution.

For a detailed list of VMware’s acquisitions, refer to here.

As you can see, multi-cloud is not just a passing phase of IT, it is real! So much so that VMware is acquiring multi-cloud focused companies to advance our multi-cloud strategy. We can see this is well with all of our continued partnerships with the major cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and Google Cloud Platform. We started out by announcing our partnership with AWS with our VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC on AWS) solution. This solution is wonderful because it gives you a true Hybrid Cloud environment. VMC on AWS is running our VMware stack of vSphere, (vSAN) Virtual SAN, and NSX on AWS hardware servers. The three solutions combined are also another offering called VMware Cloud Foundation. It is the three solutions, but also adds the SDDC Manager which manages the bring-up of the Cloud Foundation system, creates and manages workload domains, and performs lifecycle management to ensure the software components remain up-to-to date. SDDC Manager also monitors the logical and physical resources of Cloud Foundation.

This means you are running the same vSphere stack in AWS as you are in your on-premise private cloud. So your virtual administrators using the exact same management tools that they are currently using in their private cloud as they do to manage VMC onAWS resources. The vCenter server in the VMC on AWS instance shows up in your on-premise vCenter Server Web Client as just another vCenter server in enhanced linked mode. There is a huge advantage to this of no new tools, skills, or training that have to be used or learned for administrators saving the company time and money! And best of all, since it is all a vSphere infrastructure, this allows you to do live migrations of (VM) virtual machines to and from your private cloud to the VMC on AWS instance. Now that is impressive, think of the implications of being able to do that for (DR) Disaster Recovery, etc. Because of VMC on AWS running completely on the vSphere stack, it allows us to have a true Hybrid Cloud ability and experience.

VMware has also joined in partnership with the other major cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, IBM Softlayer, Google Cloud, and have nearly 4,000 VSPP cloud providers. The (VSPP) VMware Solution Provider Program is comprised of VMware software-as-a-service offerings and our global ecosystem of VMware Service Provider Partners. It is the ideal solution for all companies that offer hosted services to third parties, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers, cloud service providers (CSPs), application service providers (ASPs), Internet service providers (ISPs) and platform as a service (PaaS) providers.

So as you see, VMware has made huge bets by acquiring numerous cloud focused companies to advance our cloud strategy. In my humble opinion, the multi-cloud strategy is hear to stay and will only get more interesting as the years go by!

vSAN 6.7 – vSAN Management Today and in the Future

vSAN 6.7 – vSAN Management Today and in the Future

vSAN 6.7 – vSAN Management Today and in the Future

The momentum of technical innovation continues with the latest release of vSAN, the industry leading HCI solution. This session will provide a technical overview of what’s new in vSAN 6.7. Join Duncan Epping, Chief Technologist VMware EMEA to learn about the new features and functionality of vSAN 6, how this release delivers a more intuitive operating experience, a more consistent application experience, whilst offering a more holistic support experience for our customers.


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Intel Optane the new benchmark SSD to beat

Intel Optane the new benchmark SSD to beat [michaelryom.dk]

Intel Optane the new benchmark SSD to beat

For a very long time Intel 3700 series of SSDs has held the crown as the best all round SSD for the enterprise market. Intel did something special with this line of SSDs. They stop talking IOPS and latency at least as the main focus and started focusing on where it really would hurt mainstream storage vendors. What was new was QoS or consistency and power loss protection. These features are enterprise graded. Many vendors will claim that they have power loss protection, but non-like Intel did and even today, you have to understand the vendor’s power loss protection in order to validate if it is any good for your needs. This of course was not what hit most medias covering the SSD market. What Intel really changed here was the QoS you…Read More


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vSAN Got a 2.5x Performance Increase: Thank You…

vSAN Got a 2.5x Performance Increase: Thank You Intel Optane! [blogs.vmware.com/virtualblocks]

vSAN Got a 2.5x Performance Increase: Thank You…

Today, March 19th Intel announced the Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4800X—the first flash device built on the much-anticipated 3D XPoint technology. This is exciting news for vSAN customers, since—as a result of Intel and VMware’s active collaboration—we are pleased to offer day 1 support of vSAN 6.5 and ESXi 6.5 with the Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4800X. This is the first Intel Optane NVMe drive (375GB) to be made available with more coming soon (750GB and 1.5TB).


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Designing vSAN Networks – Why Should I Use the Distributed Switch?

Designing vSAN Networks – Why Should I Use the Distributed Switch? – via Virtual Blocks

Designing vSAN Networks – Why Should I Use the…

The vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) is a powerful, but often misunderstood technology that is included with VMware vSAN. This post will review some of my favorite settings on the VDS, and how you can use them to get better control, performance, and visibility into your virtual SAN cluster. While it is most known for the ability to create port groups that exist on all hosts with a simple click, it also has a lot of lesser known but incredibly powerful functions that will aid the vSAN administrator.


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Top 5 Q&A: Getting More out of vSAN – Session 1

Top 5 Q&A: Getting More out of vSAN – Session 1 – via Virtual Blocks

Top 5 Q&A: Getting More out of vSAN – Session 1

In 2017, we kicked off Getting More Out of vSAN, an ongoing technical webcast series led by vSAN experts and designed to support you, our customers, with deployment and operation of vSAN. This webcast series is unique because of the interactive, live Q&A session at the end, where you can voice your concerns, provide feedback, and get your questions answered live by the vSAN product team!


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VMware Reports 4Q & Full-Year Earnings & vSAN Hits 7K Customers

VMware Reports 4Q & Full-Year Earnings & vSAN Hits 7K Customers – StorageReview.com

VMware Reports 4Q & Full-Year Earnings & vSAN…

Not only is VMware reporting some terrific earnings numbers, they are also announcing 7,000 customers for the Hyper-Converged, software powered infrastructure solution vSAN.


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vSAN Availability Part 11 – Stretched Cluster Stretched Cluster Failure Scenarios

vSAN Availability Part 11 – Stretched Cluster Failure Scenarios – via JeffHunter.info

vSAN Availability Part 11 – Stretched Cluster…

Previous articles have covered how vSAN responds to and recovers from various environmental failures in a standard (non-stretched) cluster. This article provides concise coverage of similar environmental failures in a stretched cluster environment.


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Designing vSAN Networks – Using Multiple…

Designing vSAN Networks – Using Multiple Interfaces? – via Virtual Blocks

Designing vSAN Networks – Using Multiple…

vSAN can leverage a number of core ESXi networking features to increase performance and availability. vSAN VMkernel ports should always be configured to use more than one interface to preserve availability in the event of a link failure. There are a number of ways to configure this fail over.


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New vSAN Management Pack for vRealize Operations

New vSAN Management Pack for vRealize Operations – via CormacHogan.com

New vSAN Management Pack for vRealize Operations

Last month we announced the release of a new vROps Management Pack specifically for vSAN. Previously the vSAN Management Pack was bundled with the MPSD – Management Pack for Storage Devices. I wrote about this when it entered beta, way back in 2015. Well, for those customers who are only interested in monitoring vSAN, and didn’t want all the other parts of the MPSD, the new vSAN Management Pack is now a stand-alone offering, so no MPSD required.


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vSAN Stretched Cluster – Partition behavior changes – via CormacHogan.com

vSAN Stretched Cluster – Partition behavior changes – via CormacHogan.com

vSAN Stretched Cluster – Partition behavior…

My good pal Paudie and I are back in full customer[0] mode these past few weeks, testing out lots of new and upcoming features in future release of vSAN. Our testing led us to building a new vSAN stretched cluster, with 5 nodes on the preferred site, 5 nodes on the secondary site, and of course the obligatory witness node.


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Can you run all-flash with vSAN 6.2 Standard…

Can you run all-flash with vSAN 6.2 Standard license? – via Yellow Bricks

Can you run all-flash with vSAN 6.2 Standard…

As I get the following question a lot I figured I would share the answer here as well: Can you run all-flash with vSAN 6.2 Standard license? Many of you have seen the change in licensing when 6.5 was introduced. No longer is vSAN licenses based on storage hardware used, spindles or all-flash, you can use the lowest license SKU.


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New Report Names vSAN #1 in HCI Purchases or Evaluations – via VMware Radius

New Report Names vSAN #1 in HCI Purchases or Evaluations – via VMware Radius

New Report Names vSAN #1 in HCI Purchases or…

A recent report from technology research and advisory firm Evaluator Group notes that HCI solutions continue to gain traction in the market.


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Configure vSAN with iSCSI based disks – vMBaggum

Configure vSAN with iSCSI based disks – via vMBaggum

Configure vSAN with iSCSI based disks – vMBaggum

This post describes how to configure vSAN with iSCSI based disks and allow vSAN to claim iSCSI disks and contribute to the vSAN Disk Group.


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vSAN 6.5: A Real-World Review — Virtualization Review

vSAN 6.5: A Real-World Review — Virtualization Review

vSAN 6.5: A Real-World Review — Virtualization…

VMware’s updated software-defined storage product mostly finds its mark.


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[Webcast Series] Getting More Out of vSAN: Deploy & Operate

[Webcast Series] Getting More Out of vSAN: Deploy & Operate

[Webcast Series] Getting More Out of vSAN:…

Grow your expertise in vSAN fundamentals in our webcast series, including what’s new in vSAN 6.5 and the best server and network hardware design options. Sign up now!


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Oracle on VMware vSAN – Dispelling the Licensing Myths

Oracle on VMware vSAN – Dispelling the Licensing myths

Oracle on VMware vSAN – Dispelling the…

Introduction to VMware vSphere & vSAN Some key things to keep in mind when we talk about VMware vSphere Platform , ESXi hypervisor and vSAN: VMware vSphere is a platform of virtualized hardware that creates a total abstraction layer between the O/S and the Hardware ESXi, is a non-Para virtualized, Type1 hypervisor and therefore makes […] The post Oracle on VMware vSAN – Dispelling the Licensing myths appeared first on Virtualize Business Critical Applications .


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VMware Cloud Foundation: A closer look

[Video] VMware Cloud Foundation: A closer look

VMware Cloud Foundation: A closer look

At the VMworld conference, Network World’s Brandon Butler chats with VMware VP and GM John Gilmartin about its newly announced Cloud Foundation offering. The integrated system can help build private clouds made up of the company’s virtualized compute, network and storage products packaged together with new management software. Click here to subscribe to IDG.tv: https://www.youtube.com/user/IDGTV/subscribe Check out our website for our full video collection: http://www.idg.tv Like IDG.tv on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/idgtv.us Follow IDG.tv on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IDGtv_US Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/IDGtv


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Architecting a vSAN Cluster (Part 1)

Architecting a vSAN Cluster (part 1) – FrancisDalyIT

Architecting a vSAN Cluster (part 1) -…

In this post I will talk about best practices when designing a vSAN cluster. I will start off by discussing why this is important, then look at disk groups and caching within these disk groups. You can also see videos where I explain these concepts in more depth on VMware Learning Zone, To see these…


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Sales 101 – VMware’s Cloud Foundation Overview: Enablement Video

Sales 101 – VMware’s Cloud Foundation Overview:

Enablement Video

 

cloud-foundation

 

VMware Cloud Foundation is the unified SDDC platform that brings together VMware’s vSphere, vSAN and NSX into a natively integrated stack to deliver enterprise-ready cloud infrastructure for the private and public cloud.

What Cloud Foundation Delivers

Next Generation Hyper-Convergence:

Take hyper-converged infrastructure to the next level beyond compute and storage to include networking with VMware NSX for enhanced network security and even greater scalability.

Radically Simple Operations:

Use built-in automated lifecycle management of all day 0 and day 2 tasks with the VMware SDDC Manager.

Enterprise Class Capabilities:

Leverage VMware’s market leading SDDC solutions to deliver high scalability, improved performance and advanced storage and network management.

Public Cloud Extension:

Access VMware Cloud Foundation managed by public cloud providers for a unified and consistent operational experience across the private and public cloud.

Check out my Sales 101 enablement on VMware’s Cloud Foundation that covers what it is, the core components of it, add-on solutions, and the simplicity of existing customers to get to the core Cloud Foundation.

 

Sales 101 – VMware’s Cloud Foundation Overview: Click Here to Watch It!

 

CRN Names VMware vSAN 6.2 the Best Software-Defined Technology of 2016

CRN Names VMware vSAN 6.2 the Best Software-Defined Technology of 2016

CRN names VMware vSAN 6.2 the best…

For this year’s Products of the Year, CRN editors selected five finalists among 17 technology categories and then asked solution providers to rate the products to determine a winner. After a survey that netted more than 5,000 responses, here are the hot products that stood out from the rest in 2016.


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[Webcast] Hyper-Converged Infrastructure for Dummies on 12/6

[Webcast] Hyper-Converged Infrastructure for Dummies on 12/6

[Webcast] Hyper-Converged Infrastructure for…

Join us on 12/6 to see how HCI can help you keep up with next-gen data center demands.


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Creating ISCSI Targets Using Virtual SAN (vSAN) 6.5

Creating ISCSI Target using vSAN 6.5 – virtualizationblog.com

Creating ISCSI Target using vSAN 6.5 -…

vSAN 6.5 also extended workload support to physical servers using ISCSI Target Service providing vSAN functionality such as deduplication, compression, mirroring, and erasure coding, RAID-1, RAID-5, RAID-6.


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Using vSphere Storage Policy-Based Management…

Using vSphere Storage Policy-Based Management in Mixed Storage Environments – Punching Clouds

Using vSphere Storage Policy-Based Management…

Categories: Virtual SAN , Virtual Volumes Tags: SPBM , vRA , VSAN , VVols A couple of weeks ago I delivered a brief webcast presentation on Storage Policy-Based Management and its use across mixed vSphere storage environments.


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vSAN Compatibility: vSAN Architectural Best…

vSAN Compatibility: vSAN Architectural Best Practices

vSAN Compatibility: vSAN Architectural Best…

In this video, Francis Daly goes beyond just looking at storage with vSAN, and focuses on best practices, including a whiteboard discussion on architecture, and key hardware and software affecting vSAN performance.


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Subscribe for vSAN Announcements and Updates

Subscribe for vSAN Announcements and Updates – Virtual Blocks

Subscribe for vSAN announcements and updates -…

From time to time, the vSAN team would like to send updates on important vSAN patch releases or spread awareness on issues that we feel may be relevant to customers and partners.


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vSphere 6.5 & Virtual SAN (vSAN) 6.5 Now Generally Available (GA)!

vSphere 6.5 & Virtual SAN (vSAN) 6.5

Now Generally Available (GA)!

images

 

vSphere 6.5:

There are 3 themes for vSphere 6.5:

  • Simplified Experience – 
    • simplified architecture (integrated vCenter Server Appliance, Update Manager included all-in-one), no Windows/SQL licensing
    • Native High Availability (HA) of vCenter for the appliance is built-in – Automatic failover (Web Client may require re-login)
    • Native Backup and Restore of vCenter appliance – Simplified backup and restore with a new native file-based solution. Restore the vCenter Server configuration to a fresh appliance and stream backups to external storage using HTTP, FTP, or SCP protocols.
    • New HTML5-based vSphere Client that is both responsive and easy to use (Based on our new Clarity UI)
  • Built-In Security – 
    • Encryption at rest and in motion – new VM-level encryption capability designed to protect against unauthorized data access. When used with vSphere vMotion, this capability safeguards both data at rest and data in motion
    • secure boot model to make sure images have not been tampered with and to prevent the loading of unauthorized vSphere component
    • secure access, vSphere 6.5 provides multi-factor authentication. You can now configure vCenter Server permissions to require 2-Factor authentication using both a password and a smartcard or RSA key. Plus, vSphere 6.5 offers enhanced audit-quality logging capabilities that provide more information about user actions. IT can now access auditable trails if an investigation into anomalies or security threats require it.
  • Universal App Platform – universal app platform that supports both traditional and next-generation apps (including 3D graphics, big data, machine learning environments, SAP Hana, and SaaS)… vSphere 6.5 expands its workload coverage model by focusing on both scale-up and scale-out next-gen apps that are increasingly built using evolving technology building blocks, such as containers.
    • VIC is extends vSphere capabilities to run container workloads and sits on top of vCenter, and integrates with the rest of the VMware stack like NSX and vSAN…
      • vSphere Integrated Containers where we are enabling the best of both worlds for contained based cloud native apps…
      • vSphere Integrated Containers is the easiest way for vSphere users to bring containers into an existing environment.
      • Integrated containers deliver an enterprise container infrastructure that provides the best of both worlds for the developer and vSphere operations team.
      • Containers are now just as easy to enable and manage as virtual machines.
      • For cloud native apps, there are two audiences we are trying to serve, one is the developers, they want to leverage native docker interface, using the tools that they are familiar with.
      • For IT, operations guys, they want to have control and visibility of these category of applications, they like to leverage tools and processes they have honed in over the years.
    • newly released VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware Cloud Foundation Service are built on vSphere 6.5.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE:  Please be sure to check the vSphere 6.5 compatibility blog (see KB 2147548) before upgrading to vSphere 6.5 if you are currently using other VMware solutions.

 

     vSphere 6.5 Announcement:  https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2016/10/introducing-vsphere-6-5.html

     vSphere 6.5 Release Notes: http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsphere/65/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-release-notes.html

     Download:  https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/6_5

vsan1

 

Virtual SAN (VSAN) 6.5:

  • Additional TCO Savings by…
    • Offering New Workload types such as Cloud-Native Apps and the ability for Physical workloads to point to the VSAN datastore via iSCSI
      • vSphere
        • Works off-the-shelf with Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, …
        • Persistent Docker Volume Driver
      • vSphere Integrated Containers
        • Docker API Compatibility
        • Persistent Volume Driver
        • VM-like container isolation
      • Photon Platform
        • New VSAN for Photon Platform release available
      • Non-virtualized workloads can utilize VSAN for storage (using iSCSI initiators)
    • Support of All-Flash hardware in Virtual SAN (VSAN) STANDARD
    • While eliminating the cost of networking hardware for (2)-Node ROBO deployments.
      • Eliminate router/switch costs by connecting two nodes directly using crossover cables
      • Supports two cross over cables between the
        2-Nodes for higher availability of network
      • Separates VSAN data traffic from witness VM traffic
    • Then we can Accelerate Responsiveness of the business by…
      • Providing a Full-Featured PowerCLI tool to fully automate operational tasks.
      • And then separating witness and Virtual SAN (VSAN) traffic for Stretched Clusters.
    • We have accelerated the adoption of HCI with the support of Next-Gen Hardware
      • By increasing the Cache Sizing
      • As well as now support large capacity drives through the 512e drives.

 

     Virtual SAN (vSAN) Announcement:  https://blogs.vmware.com/virtualblocks/2016/10/18/vmware-virtual-san-6-5-whats-new/

     vSAN 6.5 Release Notes:  http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsan/65/vmware-virtual-san-65-release-notes.html

     Download:  https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsan/6_5

 

vSphere 6.5 & Virtual SAN (vSAN) 6.5 Now Generally Available (GA)!

vSphere 6.5 & Virtual SAN (vSAN) 6.5

Now Generally Available (GA)!

images

 

vSphere 6.5:

There are 3 themes for vSphere 6.5:

  • Simplified Experience – 
    • simplified architecture (integrated vCenter Server Appliance, Update Manager included all-in-one), no Windows/SQL licensing
    • Native High Availability (HA) of vCenter for the appliance is built-in – Automatic failover (Web Client may require re-login)
    • Native Backup and Restore of vCenter appliance – Simplified backup and restore with a new native file-based solution. Restore the vCenter Server configuration to a fresh appliance and stream backups to external storage using HTTP, FTP, or SCP protocols.
    • New HTML5-based vSphere Client that is both responsive and easy to use (Based on our new Clarity UI)
  • Built-In Security – 
    • Encryption at rest and in motion – new VM-level encryption capability designed to protect against unauthorized data access. When used with vSphere vMotion, this capability safeguards both data at rest and data in motion
    • secure boot model to make sure images have not been tampered with and to prevent the loading of unauthorized vSphere component
    • secure access, vSphere 6.5 provides multi-factor authentication. You can now configure vCenter Server permissions to require 2-Factor authentication using both a password and a smartcard or RSA key. Plus, vSphere 6.5 offers enhanced audit-quality logging capabilities that provide more information about user actions. IT can now access auditable trails if an investigation into anomalies or security threats require it.
  • Universal App Platform – universal app platform that supports both traditional and next-generation apps (including 3D graphics, big data, machine learning environments, SAP Hana, and SaaS)… vSphere 6.5 expands its workload coverage model by focusing on both scale-up and scale-out next-gen apps that are increasingly built using evolving technology building blocks, such as containers.
    • VIC is extends vSphere capabilities to run container workloads and sits on top of vCenter, and integrates with the rest of the VMware stack like NSX and vSAN…
      • vSphere Integrated Containers where we are enabling the best of both worlds for contained based cloud native apps…
      • vSphere Integrated Containers is the easiest way for vSphere users to bring containers into an existing environment.
      • Integrated containers deliver an enterprise container infrastructure that provides the best of both worlds for the developer and vSphere operations team.
      • Containers are now just as easy to enable and manage as virtual machines.
      • For cloud native apps, there are two audiences we are trying to serve, one is the developers, they want to leverage native docker interface, using the tools that they are familiar with.
      • For IT, operations guys, they want to have control and visibility of these category of applications, they like to leverage tools and processes they have honed in over the years.
    • newly released VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware Cloud Foundation Service are built on vSphere 6.5.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE:  Please be sure to check the vSphere 6.5 compatibility blog (see KB 2147548) before upgrading to vSphere 6.5 if you are currently using other VMware solutions.

 

     vSphere 6.5 Announcement:  https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2016/10/introducing-vsphere-6-5.html

     vSphere 6.5 Release Notes: http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsphere/65/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-release-notes.html

     Download:  https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/6_5

vsan1

 

Virtual SAN (VSAN) 6.5:

  • Additional TCO Savings by…
    • Offering New Workload types such as Cloud-Native Apps and the ability for Physical workloads to point to the VSAN datastore via iSCSI
      • vSphere
        • Works off-the-shelf with Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, …
        • Persistent Docker Volume Driver
      • vSphere Integrated Containers
        • Docker API Compatibility
        • Persistent Volume Driver
        • VM-like container isolation
      • Photon Platform
        • New VSAN for Photon Platform release available
      • Non-virtualized workloads can utilize VSAN for storage (using iSCSI initiators)
    • Support of All-Flash hardware in Virtual SAN (VSAN) STANDARD
    • While eliminating the cost of networking hardware for (2)-Node ROBO deployments.
      • Eliminate router/switch costs by connecting two nodes directly using crossover cables
      • Supports two cross over cables between the
        2-Nodes for higher availability of network
      • Separates VSAN data traffic from witness VM traffic
    • Then we can Accelerate Responsiveness of the business by…
      • Providing a Full-Featured PowerCLI tool to fully automate operational tasks.
      • And then separating witness and Virtual SAN (VSAN) traffic for Stretched Clusters.
    • We have accelerated the adoption of HCI with the support of Next-Gen Hardware
      • By increasing the Cache Sizing
      • As well as now support large capacity drives through the 512e drives.

 

     Virtual SAN (vSAN) Announcement:  https://blogs.vmware.com/virtualblocks/2016/10/18/vmware-virtual-san-6-5-whats-new/

     vSAN 6.5 Release Notes:  http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsan/65/vmware-virtual-san-65-release-notes.html

     Download:  https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsan/6_5

 

VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing PDF

VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing PDF – vladan.fr

VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing PDF

There has been new VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing paper released. As the offer evolved and the 6.5 of vSAN (now with small “v” have you noticed ?) product release is imminent, VMware is taking care of pushing the necessary information out.


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Get More out of HCI with Simple, Scalable vSAN – (3) Part Webinar Series

Get More out of HCI with Simple, Scalable vSAN – (3) Part Webinar Series

 

2016-11-10_10-30-22

In this 3-part webinar series, we will show you how VMware vSAN accommodates non-virtualized workloads with iSCSI support, eliminates the need for routers and switches in 2-node ROBO deployments, and how to save on storage costs through server side economics and greater space efficiency. We’ll also describe how a single SPBM framework delivers consistent performance and protection in mixed vSAN and VVOL environments.

  • Episode 1: What’s New in vSAN 6.5
  • Episode 2: Deploying SPBM for Mixed Storage
  • Episode 3: Storage Cost Savings with All Flash

[Webcast Series] VSAN Take 20 Series

[Webcast Series] VSAN Take 20 Series

[Webcast Series] VSAN Take 20 Series

[Webcast Series] Learn what’s new with #vSAN 6.5 in our 3-part webcast series 11/15-17 — just 20mins each day.


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Video – Virtual SAN 6.5 iSCSI support

Video – Virtual SAN 6.5 iSCSI support – ntpro.nl

Video – Virtual SAN 6.5 iSCSI support

Virtual SAN 6.5 adds support for native iSCSI support within VSAN. The main use cases are supporting physical servers and also Microsoft Clustering Technologies that require shared disks. One can create iSCSI Targets and LUNs on VSAN and use iSCSI initiator to access the storage.


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VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing Guide

VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing Guide

VMware vSAN 6.5 Licensing Guide

This guide explains the v SAN licensing editions, discusses some v SAN configuration options at a high level, and provides a number of examples to further illustrate potential licensing scenarios


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Can all VSAN Witness VMs for ROBO be in the…

Can all VSAN Witness VMs for ROBO be in the same VLAN? — Yellow Bricks

Can all VSAN Witness VMs for ROBO be in the…

Yesterday I received the question if all VSAN Witness VMs for ROBO can be in the same VLAN? The excellent VSAN 2 node and Stretched Cluster guide for VSAN describes an example of how things can be implemented with different VLANs for the VSAN Witness, which would look like this:


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The difference Between VM Encryption in vSphere 6.5 and vSAN Encryption (Yellow-Bricks)

The difference Between VM Encryption in vSphere 6.5

and vSAN 6.5 Encryption (Yellow-Bricks)

 

More and more people are starting to ask me what the difference is between VMCrypt aka VM Encryption and the beta feature we announced not to long ago called vSAN Encryption. (Note, we announced a beta, no promises were made around dates or actual releases or releasing of the feature.) Both sounds very much the same and essential both end up encrypting the VM but there is a big difference in terms of how it is implemented. There are advantages and disadvantages to both solutions. Lets look at VM Encryption first.

VM Encryption is implemented through VAIO (vSphere APIs for IO Filters). The VAIO framework allows a filter driver to do “things” to/with the IO that a VM sends down to a device. One of these things is encryption. Now before I continue, take a look at this picture of where the filter driver sits.

As you can see the filter driver is implemented in the User World and the action against the IO is taken at the top level. If this for instance is encryption then any data send across the wire is already encrypted. Great in terms of security of course. And all of this can be enabled through policy. Simply create the policy, select the VM or VMDK you want to encrypt and there you go. So if it is that awesome, why vSAN Encryption?

 

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What’s New with Virtual SAN 6.5? – New Features…

What’s New with Virtual SAN 6.5? – New Features Overview -vmwarearena.com

What’s New with Virtual SAN 6.5? – New Features…

With the release of vSphere 6.5, fith generation of VMware Virtual SAN which is Virtual SAN 6.5, Industry leading software powering hyper-converged infrastructure solution released. In March 2016, Virtual SAN 6.2 is released with vSphere 6 Update 2. Which includes the enhancements like Deduplication and Compression, RAID-5/RAID-6 – Erasure Coding, Software Checksum, IPV6 and Performance […] The post What’s New with Virtual SAN 6.5? – New Features Overview appeared first on VMware Arena.


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What’s New with VMware Virtual SAN 6.5

What’s New with VMware Virtual SAN 6.5 -Virtual Blocks

What’s New with VMware Virtual SAN 6.5

VMware Virtual SAN 6.5 is the latest release of the market-leading, enterprise-class storage solution for hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). Virtual SAN 6.5 builds on the existing features introduced in 6.2 by enhancing automation, further reducing total cost of ownership (TCO), and setting the stage for next-generation cloud native applications.


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