ExploreVM Podcast - Episode 6: Storage in a Cloud World with Howard Marks

Time keeps marching forward, technologies change, and vendors work to keep up.
Public cloud has made its presence known quite heavily over the past couple of years.
Join us today as we explore legacy storage in a cloud world.


Listen to "Storage in a Cloud World with Howard Marks" on Spreaker.

To Contact Howard

https://twitter.com/DeepStorageNet
http://www.deepstorage.net/


If you'd like to join the conversation about the show's topic, have any show ideas, or would like to be a guest, reach out to me on Twitter (@ExploreVM), Email, or on Facebook.

Join ExploreVM at the WIVMUG UserCon 2017

Join me this week at the WIVMUG UserCon in Milwaukee, Wi. on Thursday, May 25th at the Wisconsin Center. This year I will be doing not one, but two sessions!

Lunch Keynote

I am honored to be part of the lunchtime panel that features VCDXs Sean Massey and Rebecca Fitzhugh, as well as Sarah Johnson, Technical Account Manager from FujiFilm Medical Systems. We will be discussing the many twists and turns of our careers and how you can continue to grow!

Sean on Twitter
Rebecca on Twitter
Sarah on Twitter

Community Session: Troubleshooting & Assessing the Health of VMware Environments with Free Tools 

In this session, I will review some of the tools I've used in both my home lab and professional life to assess the health of VMware environments. I will also provide demonstrations and real world examples on how these tools have helped me solve problems. And the best part, these tools are free!

2017.05.25 WIVMUG UserCon - Assess & Repair VMware Envionments with Free Tools from Paul Woodward Jr

To view the full agenda or register, click HERE!

If you'd like to join the conversation about any of my sessions, have any show ideas, or would like to be a guest on my podcast, reach out to me on Twitter, Email, or on Facebook.

Links to tools featured in the presentation:

vCheck
RVTools
Veeam One Free Edition
VMware PowerCLI MP for Linux & Mac OS
vRealize Ops Manager
vRealize Log Insight

 

Nutanix & IBM Announce Strategic Parternship

Nutanix and IBM Announce Strategic Partnership

Nutanix moves to be first hyperconverged offering on RISC architecture

On May 16th, 2017 Nutanix and IBM announced a multi-year partnership to bring Nutanix software to IBM Power 8 series hardware. The solution using Nutanix AHV, will be available on Linux on Power Systems. Applications such as WebSphere, open source databases like MongoDB and Casandra, and emerging technologies/cognitive computing are the initial use cases being called out by Nutanix. The goal is for IBM users to be able to experience Nutanix's cloud-like ease of use and flexibility, positioning Power systems for greater use in the evolving data center world. This move helps Nutanix extend their reach into the Forbes Global 2000 with IBM's foothold among the companies on the list.

As this is a partnership announcement, more technical details will become available once the products are announced. Nutanix anticipates the products will be announced at the end of June at their .Next Conference. What is known now is that Prism Pro will be functional across x86 and non-x86 clusters. However, individual clusters cannot contain both x86 & RISC architectures. The same cluster licensing available for other Nutanix solutions will be offered with the IBM products. Pending the results of testing, Nutanix expects both all flash, and non-flash nodes to be supported.

The Nutanix.Next Conference runs June 28-30th 2017 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Not only will I be in attendance, but I will also be presenting. Keep an eye on ExploreVM.com & Twitter for updates and announcements from the conference. 

If you'd like to join the conversation about Nutanix's new offerings, have any show ideas, or would like to be a guest on my podcast, reach out to me on Twitter, Email, or on Facebook.


Official Nutanix Press Release 

ExploreVM Podcast - Episode 5: VMware on AWS with Chris Porter

The cloud is just someone else's computer. And as such, why can't we extend our virtualized datacenter to the cloud? Have no fear, VMware is here with just the solution. This episode we discuss VMware on AWS and Amazon Web Services with vExpert Chris Porter.

Listen to "ExploreVM Podcast" on Spreaker.

To contact Chris

https://twitter.com/uprightvinyl

Links:
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2017/05/06/virtually-speaking-podcast-vmw-cloud-aws/
http://www.vmware.com/cloud-services/vmware-cloud-aws.html
http://www.vmware.com/cloud-services/vmware-cloud-aws-overview.html
https://aws.amazon.com/vmware/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rqv5Gg1VSk


If you'd like to join the conversation about the show's topic, have any show ideas, or would like to be a guest, reach out to me on Twitter (@ExploreVM), Email, or on Facebook.

Nutanix Sofware on HPE ProLiant & New Pricing Models: Nutanix Go!

Nutanix Software on ProLiant Hardware & Nutanix Go Pricing Model

Nutanix Software on select HPE ProLiant Hardware

Today Nutanix announced that they will support Nutanix Software running on select models of HPE ProLiant hardware. Nutanix claims that this is part of their mission to "Set customers free from their silos of IT so that they can focus on the apps and services that power the business.". This announcement is similarly in line with last August's announcement of Nutanix on Cisco UCS. This will not be an OEM offering, rather what Nutanix is calling a "Meet-In-The-Channel" solution. Interested customers will purchase the Nutanix software from a channel partner, and the hardware from an authorized re-seller or HPE directly. Either the re-seller or the channel partner will integrate the two for the end customer.

The first two models to be supported are the DL360-G9 and the DL380-G9

Currently under final testing, Nutanix anticipates that the solution will be production ready by the start of the 4th quarter, 2017. They also said should testing go well, it may be available sooner. Bundling will be done in the same manner as the Nutanix/Cisco UCS release, with support and software subscription included. The pricing will be on a per node basis for a fixed term of 1, 3, or 5 years. This, they feel, will provide a complete solution. Acropolis Pro and Ultimate Editions are the first Nutanix Hypervisors to be certified on the HPE platform, as Nutanix wanted to offer the most feature rich editions to HPE's global customer reach.

Support for this solution will be handled the same as the UCS Nutanix deployments. If there is a hardware issue, the customer contacts HPE. If there's a software issue, call Nutanix, and when in doubt, call Nutanix. Both Nutanix and HPE are members of the Technical Support Alliance Network (TSANet), so support hand-off between vendors should be seamless. At this time, Nutanix will not support mixed clusters of Cisco UCS & HPE ProLiant.

Nutanix Go: Pay As You Go Pricing

Being touted as a pay as you go offering for the on premises cloud, Nutanix also announced their Go pricing model.This model, which is immediately available in the United States, allows customers to rent Nutanix branded NX hardware for terms as short as 6 months, and as long as 5 years, with varying renewal offerings in between.

 

Customers will have the capability to scale up their solution during the term length, and return the hardware at the end in Nutanix supplied shipping materials. Similar to cloud, this allows customers to scale their physical infrastructure up and down as demand dictates. Nutanix claims that this pricing model helps to reduce some of the risk of projects, especially if the full scale of the project is not known at the start, or if the project viability is in question. They anticipate a quicker return on investment for a smaller sum of money for a shorter period of time versus a large, up front purchase. 

Customers can reach out to their preferred Nutanix channel partner for further information, or to get set up on the Go pricing model. All billing after the fact is handled by Nutanix directly. Much like many other solutions, longer term agreements will yield better pricing versus short term contracts. The Go model is priced with a single SKU which includes hardware, software, support, and entitlements. The model is priced per block per term.

If you'd like to join the conversation about Nutanix's new offerings, have any show ideas, or would like to be a guest on my podcast, reach out to me on Twitter (@ExploreVM), Email, or on Facebook.

Official Press Release Here