Introduction I got a question from a customer a while back about backing up and replicating encrypted VMs – it’s a fair question, “if they’re encrypted, how can I backup and restore”? This was particularly pertinent as the customer in question was a service provider – so it wasn’t as clean cut and straightforward as Read more...
As the end of general support for vSphere 5.5 approaches and customers plan their migrations, the amount of customer VVol conversations I’m having has significantly increased. As a fair portion of these conversations involves data protection, I thought it would be appropriate to update my previous post on Backing up VVols. Does migrating to VVols affect Read more...
I received a question recently that revolved around the distinction between the different types of VM Storage Policies available, namely Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) for vSAN and VVols, and tag-based placement (for all datastores). SPBM is the storage management framework inherent within vSAN and VVols that allows for granular control over your VM Read more...
As VMworld season approaches, and the VMworld catalog is live, you may have some questions. You may ask yourself “Where do I start with so much material”? And you may ask yourself “Who’s session should I attend?” And you may wonder “How do I get into that party?” And you may ask yourself “Where Read more...
One of the announcements in the vSphere 6.7 launch that caught my attention was VVol support for WSFC (Windows Server Failover Clustering) using SCSI-3 Persistent Reservations. This is great news for customers still working with RDMs. WSFC clustering solutions use SCSI-3 Persistent Reservations which enables access for multiple nodes to a device (VVol disk) and simultaneously blocks Read more...
The vSphere 6.7 release offers several new features and enhancements to further the advancement of storage functionality. This week we welcome VMware Core Storage expert Jason Massae to walk us through various features and enhancements. Sitting in for John this week is VMware Chief Technologist in the Office of the CTO and good friend of the Virtually Read more...
Announced today, vSphere 6.7, and several new features and enhancements to further the advancement of storage functionality are included. Centralized, shared storage remains the most common storage architecture used with VMware installations despite the incredible adoption rate of HCI and vSAN. As such, VMware remains committed to the continued development of core storage and Read more...
Virtual Volumes (VVols) was designed to solve a lot of the pain points VMware and/or storage admins face today. VMware partners with various storage partners to provide the management component of VVols, the VASA Provider. Recently Pure Storage introduced VVols support for their FlashArray All-Flash-Array with its Purity 5.0.0 operating environment. This highly anticipated addition to the Read more...
Pure Storage recently introduced VVols support for their FlashArray All-Flash-Array with its Purity 5.0.0 operating environment. This highly anticipated addition to the Virtual Volumes partner program includes the latest VASA certification providing support for array-based replication. A few important things to note: The FlashArray supports VASA 3.0–this means array-based replication support with Virtual Volumes. The Read more...
It wasn’t that long ago that SQL Server was considered too resource-intensive to successfully virtualize. A new generation of hardware and advances in vSphere have made it much more common however it’s still easy to make mistakes that can result in poorly performing SQL Server VMs. This week we discuss SQL Server with Argenis Fernandez Read more...
