Hello all,
I hope that this finds everyone well, and hopefully enjoying the weekend too. It was a long week for me, as I had to finish the rebuild of my lab after the array died along with other actual work. I not only rebuilt it but I rebuilt it more realistic in terms of two sites. Also lots of time on the next version of my product - Veeam Availability Orchestrator (VAO). So that is fun. I have been chatting with some VAO customers and so I had the impression that it would be helpful to have an install overview of the VAO install so I did an article on that. If it helps, or maybe it needs more, let me know.
BTW, there was a Nexenta Fusion, and Nextenta Nexentastor upgrades outstanding that I did this week so I have updated my articles - Fusion upgrade, and array upgrade. Both upgrades went very smooth for me.
It was very good news that the expiry time of our VMware cert and the recert has been changed. So no more recert time mandated. You can learn more in this article.
But as always, I have a range of things to share, and less time than normal to get it all out to you. So lets get started.
Thanks for reading, but also thanks for the comments and communication,
Michael
New vRealize Automation, Cloud Assembly Integration with SPBM
Cormac talks about some new functionality in vRA and it sounds pretty good actually. The new functionality is via a plug-in from the Solution Exchange, but what is very nice is that it is a supported plug-in!
Use OnPrem vRealize Automation to provision on VMware on AWS (VMC)
This is an interesting article and I think it is pretty cool to use vRA onprem to do things in VMC.
What happens if vCenter is down
I saw this article thanks to Cody, and he mentioned that VVols don’t need vCenter to work or provision. Very nice!
Quick Boot Compatibility
I would love to have Quick Book working in my hosts in my lab. So every now and again I check this article to see if I see the Supermicro name there. But still not yet is it seen.
Deploying VMware PKS on VMware Cloud Foundation
This article has some great info on deploying PKS on Cloud Foundation. That info can help in other deployments and learning too.
Changed advanced setting VSAN.ClomRepairDelay and upgrading to 6.7 U1? Read this …
Duncan talks of a situation where one of your advanced settings will NOT be maintained when you upgrade to 6.7 U1. Good to know!
HA Admission Control Policy: Dedicated Failover Hosts
I have had people ask me about dedicating failover hosts and I have generally discouraged it. I thought it pretty handy when I saw this article on the subject by Duncan.
New vSAN learning videos, also free!
In this URL you can learn more about vSAN and there is free learning in there too!
Configuring vRealize Operations for Application Teams
This article covers off something quite useful and I recommend doing it for your application owners. I have done similar things and it is very handy for people.
VMware Announces Intent to Acquire Aetherpal to Expand Remote Support Capabilities
I saw this article recently and think it a most excellent idea. I suspect customers will love what VMware does with it.
vMotion across hybrid cloud: performance and best practices
This article talks about he how to do the vMotion, but also talks of performance too. It is so handy to be able to vMotion from onprem to the cloud. Very handy. But being able to do it fast is nice too and this article helps with that.
VMware Cloud on AWS: internet Access and Design Deep Dive
In this article you can learn a lot about Internet access and the related stuff for your VMs inside VMC. Quite powerful!
Understanding How AWS Security Groups works with VMware Cloud on AWS
Brian has an interesting article that I think many will find useful. Being able to connect with apps in AWS from within VMC is pretty attractive and powerful so it is good that Brian shows you how to do it right.
KBs and Beyond - Exploring the VMware Knowledge Base Site
Good info to help you be more familiar with an important resource.
Building your own Virtual Appliances using OVF properties Part 1
William has a nice article if you want to build your own virtual appliance but while I don’t I still found it interesting.
VMware IT Performance Annual Report 2018
If you want to learn more about how well VMware IT does thing check out this report.
Downgrade Attack on TLS 1.3 and Vulnerabilities in Major TLS Libraries
A very interesting article that was shared with me by Sjors Roebroek. I suspect not many people are at TLS 1.3 yet which is a good thing.
Out-Of-Office Messages are a Security Risk
This article by Bob is pretty good. I quite agree - a risk both professionally and at home too. Most of the OOO mechanisms allow for internal use only and that is an improvement.
More than meets the Eye … Veeam Backup Performance
Anthony has an excellent article on backup performance. Some very good points, especially the one about how when you use Network mode over 10 GB connections it just flies!
[Update 4] Top Issues tracker
You can see in this article the top issues that are impacting people due to the just released Update 4. Good info as it some cases it has workarounds or solutions.
Job reports warning “Failed to truncate transaction logs…”
I had the issue recently that is reported in this KB article but I ended up giving the local admin account the sysadmin rights in SQL that solved my issue, and that was the account I was using for Veeam application consistency. Not sure if a DBA would like that or not but it did work for me.
How to restore and convert your workloads directly to the cloud
David has an article that will show you how direct restore to the cloud works!
The Basics of Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4 Licensing
I shared out the Veeam License FAQ last week, but this week I have a Veeam users explanation of the new Veeam Licensing.
Veeam License Calculator
You can find a license calculator that will help you figure out what you need and the cost.
Unofficial object storage compatibility list for Capacity Tier
In this article you can learn about what works for the object storage used in Veeam. Good info! This is in a new sub-forum dedicated to object storage and Veeam.
HPE Storage Controller Management (ssacli)
In this article you can learn a bit more about HPE storage controllers and what can be done that is a little rare.
Stretched Clusters - Data Center Level Resiliency
Howard has a nice article with some good education in it. Which is what he does a lot of!
How to protect your phone or computer when crossing borders
This is one of the better articles on this subject. They even mention don’t lie which is important.
iPhone XS Smart Battery Case Review
I saw one of these recently, and the owner spoke very nicely about it, so I thought I would share this review on the new battery cases for the iPhone.
Best Docking Stations for MacBook Pro in 2019
Here is an article that talks a little about docking stations. I assume that they have played with each of them but not sure. I have the OWC and while maybe it is for MBP’s, I can say it works great with MacBook Air too!
Apple Fixes Group FaceTime bug; promises to improve Bug Reporting Process
We all heard about the FaceTime bug that let you hear what was being said at your calling destination without the connection being answered. In this article it talks about how it is fixed but also about how they want to improve the bug reporting.
Bluetooth will get even more accurate at finding your lost gadgets
This article talks about a change in the Bluetooth world that will really help companies find your lost stuff even easier. But it could even be used to know where we are - to the centimeter.
Certificate Wars: A Quick rundown of Apple’s Dustup with Facebook and Google
I was talking recently with a couple of IT guys who did not know about this subject so I thought maybe I should share something about it in case others also did not know. Here is a good article on the subject.
SMS phishing - a cautionary tale
A good story in this article that does I think teach about avoiding phishing which is something all of us can do better and is in fact getting worse!
Thanks for reading or skimming this far,
Michael
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