• Host rules with Business Intent

    vROPS 7.0 launched with a feature called Business Intent which controls workload placement based on vSphere tags Announcement. This feature tackles several use cases one being controlling the host placement of workloads which have physical licencing requirements. Business Intent settings are configured at the data centre (or custom datacenter) level... more

  • VCAP7-CMA Objective 1.2

    Build Manageability Requirements into the Logical Design

    Manageability requirements cover monitoring and maintaining a solution from both complexity and capability perspective. Other requirements can impact how the manageability requirements are met as part of the design. To provide HA functionality, redundant components need to be deployed plus load balancing, this increases the complexity of management. A management... more

  • vRA Hardening Check

    VMware does a great job of releasing hardening guides for its products, helping us to improve the security level of our deployments. If you’re in a position where you need to implement the hardened settings, then it’s likely there’s an audit process to follow. I have been working on a... more

  • Build Day Live! Supermicro - Big Twin

    The Build Day Live! for Supermicro where they built and configured a vSAN cluster on a Supermicro BigTwin. This post is not a review of the build day video, instead focuses on products discussed throughout the build day video to provide thoughts and opinions on Supermicro’s offerings. Build Day Live!... more

  • Adding vRA Replica Stuck

    Recently when attempting to add additional vRA appliances to a 7.4 cluster, I came across an issue where the process became stuck. After clicking Join Cluster the on screen status became stuck at 48% with the message Finishing rabbitmq-server. The node was left alone for a couple of hours, but... more

  • Enter the Panda

    Ducky Miya Mini Pro Panda review

    I’d been looking for a new keyboard to replace the Apple Wireless keyboard for a couple of months. Due to my work, I needed something portable that I could fit in my backpack. My search was for something around the TKL size, with either a detachable cable or wireless. The... more

  • GitHub Acquisition, Cautiously Optimistic

    Thoughts on Microsoft acquiring GitHub

    Yesterday Microsoft and Github made big news, announcing that MS is acquiring GitHub for 7.5 Billion. Before the official announcement, Twitter polls were against the merger, but afterwards, the response felt more balanced. To those that have @GitHub accounts:If @Microsoft buys GitHub... would you continue to use it? Or would... more

  • The Move To Jekyll

    Experiences moving from WordPress to Jekyll

    Towards the end of 2017, I moved my blogging platform from WordPress to Jekyll. It was a time consuming, but an educational experience which I’m happy to have made. When starting out I made sure to properly understand the issues I was having with WordPress and revisit my vision for... more

  • Configuring NTP with UCSMSDK

    Configuring NTP settings with UCSMSDK

    Correct and consistent NTP configuration is vital for the health and monitoring of a datacenter. Many systems default to getting time from underlying components, such as BIOS. This makes ensuring correct configuration from the ground up important for the systems higher in the dependancy chain. UCS Manager time settings can... more

  • Interop ITX 2018 Day2

    Wrap up of day 2

    #vFit It’s InteropITX, which means it’s vFit time!!! For the last few years Eric Wright @discoposse has been organising a 5KM run under the #vFit banner. This year saw a new running route as the normal round trip to the Las Vegas sign due to change of event. Instead we... more

  • Interop ITX 2018 Day1

    Wrap up of day 1

    Whoooo it’s InteropITX time again!!!! The first conference day is done and dusted, now time to frock up and get social. As per standard Interop format Monday and Tuesday are dedicated to the longer workshop sessions. These workshops are aimed to provided in depth training on topics across the technology... more

  • VCAP7-CMA Objective 2.3

    Build Availability Requirements into the Logical Design

    Availability requirements are those which refer to service resiliency to service fault. This is seperate from server availability as services could be redundant across multiple servers. Different services handling failures differently. Some have automatic recovery while others might need manual intevention. To complete this objective, you will need to have... more

  • 6 Months of Enjoying Running

    Been running a bit, now writting about it

    A bit over 12 months ago, I signed up for the Melbourne Run for the Kids charity run. The original goal to was use the looming 15KM race as motivation to improve my aerobic fitness. While I did the race, I disliked pretty much everything about running. It was long... more

  • Intro to UCSMSDK

    First look at the Python SDK for USC Manager

    Cisco UCSMSDK Intro UCSMSDK is a Python SDK from Cisco for the configuration of UCS managers. The modules are supports in both Python 2 and 3, my testing has been with Python 3.6 and everything has been going well. GitHub Repo Why Use UCSMSDK Cisco has a number of CLI... more

  • VCAP7-CMA Objective 2.2

    Map Service Dependencies

    Mapping service dependencies highlights internal and external communication requirements as well as improves the ability to troubleshoot effectively. In some cases, dependant services are explicitly stated. If this is not the case pre-deployment steps can provide this information. Upstream and Downstream Dependencies Applications are composed of a number of services.... more