In a previous post, I discussed why there currently is a big focus on edge computing in the IT industry. In this post, I'm looking at types of computing, and which qualifies as edge computing. What exactly edge computing is, seems to be vague and varies depending on who you…
Edge computing has been a hot topic for many IT companies the last year. Technology vendors and cloud providers are releasing products relating to edge computing, and you hear about it in keynotes of major conferences and the press. The purpose of this post is to describe what it is…
VMware recommends using vSAN ReadyNodes when running vSAN in production. Doing so simplifies the life of the administrator, who doesn't have to ensure all components in the server are certified, have the right firmware, etc. VMware provides the following link where users can find the different vSAN ready node options…
When performing vSphere maintenances while using vSAN, VMware recommends to almost always use the 'Ensure Accessibility' option. This option ensures that all vSAN objects are consistent, minimizes the migrated data, and the time it takes the host to enter maintenance mode. The drawback is that vSAN objects with FTT=1…
The fundamentally different architecture of vSAN compared to traditional SAN storage brings some operational challenges. One of these is what happens when capacity is running low, and what value to set the alert threshold to ensure workloads don’t experience problems. One problem is that there are significant differences between…
I’m very happy to announce that I recently managed to defend and pass a VCDX, and am now number 259! It was a pretty big and time-consuming project, I would therefore like to share some of my experiences and hopefully provide some insight for future candidates. I will focus…
If a local disk on a server fails (or is about to fail) the storage controller will notice this and will inform the vCenter via CIM. The failed disk should then be indicated both in the vCenter and on the disk LED. The disk identification will in these circumstances be…
I recently sat and passed the VCAP6 Design exam (the GA version). This is a summary of my experience and the resources I used to prepare. Experience I have previously done the VCAP5-DCD exam and I found this one similar when it comes to the type of questions asked and…
Using vSAN as vSphere storage has many advantages, it's cheap, performs well and it's easy to configure. What hasn't been widely discussed are the operational impacts of running vSAN (or any HCI for that matter). This is especially relevant for large organisations, with separate storage, virtualization and datacenter server teams.…
A feature of the ESXi 6 host is the ability for the VMware admin to turn on the LED of a physical disk from the web client (or command line), which enables them to indicate disks to datacenter staff. Running a vSAN cluster with HP Proliant DL380 G9s using a…