Why using .local as your domain name extension is a BAD idea!
The special-purpose .local top-level domain (TLD) is not designed for use in the global Domain Name System (DNS). Rather, multicast DNS (mDNS) uses it to resolve hostnames to IP addresses within small networks, eliminating the need for a dedicated DNS server. Specifically, mDNS operates on…
VMware NSX & OTRS – Automating Security with Help Desk Systems
Over the last couple of months, Sander, Anne Jan and I have been working on a security whitepaper that lays out a practical implementation of zero trust while interfacing with a helpdesk system. In this case, OTRS. It’s all about how engineers can get access…
NSX for vSphere 6.4 is here (and it’s massive!)
Just as the title says, NSX-v 6.4 has just dropped. I my opinion, they should’ve called it NSX-v 7.0 though, considering the amount of new and cool stuff that is in there. I’ll go through the most prolific new and shiny features below. Distributed Firewall…
How to define two NetFlow targets in vSphere VDS
Sorry, you actually can’t configure two Netflow targets in vSphere. ;-) HOWEVER! There’s a way around this limitation. Currently, the VDS only supports one Netflow target IP address to send NetFlow to. This limitation can cause some issues when you want to employ multiple Netflow…
New VMware Fling – Autopology (Drag and Drop NSX Network Topologies? Yes Please!)
The VMware Fling labs is one of my favourite things, as it brings some awesome new tech straight from VMware R&D. Some of these flings flow to the product cycles (remember the HTML5 client, now default in vCenter?). And they did it again! Ever since…
Using VMware NSX to get IPv6 connectivity at home
IPv6 is here and IPv4 is definitely running out of time. Here in the Netherlands, the consumer internet providers have been “working on it” for years. I’ve been lobbying for IPv6 connectivity for years, without much luck. After a time of experimenting with IPv6-over-IPv4 tunnels…
Ravello Systems: VMware NSX 6.2 Management Service Stuck in ‘Starting’
Ravello Systems offers ‘Smart Labs’ where you can run a multitude of applications in Amazon or Google Cloud, including nested ESXi Hypervisors. This opens up the possibility of replacing a home lab system, where you have noisy power guzzling servers set up at your home…
vSphere 6 experiencing high packet loss
Since I have updated my lab environment to vSphere 6, I regularly get ‘Virtual machine is experiencing high number of received packets dropped‘ messages in vRealize Operations for all virtual machines in my environment. I canceled these alerts multiple times but the high packet loss errors always return….
The Future of Virtual Networking from VMworld – Part 2
Following up on my post The Future of Virtual Networking from VMworld – Part 1 (read that before starting this one), I’m going to continue rambling on about some of the awesome future networking ideas floating around during VMworld. Disclaimer: this post is also based…
The Future of Virtual Networking from VMworld – Part 1
VMworld Europe took place in Barcelona last week and my experience was mostly centered around NSX. A few technical sessions and a lot of meetings later, I have been given an insight into the future of virtual networking and it’s awesome! In a mini series…
VMware NSX 6.2: Support for Multiple vCenters
VMware NSX 6.2 dropped yesterday with some pretty awesome features. I’ll be going through most features in separate posts and this one is for the Cross-vCenter feature. Before 6.2, the NSX Manager and vCenter had a one to one relationship, making certain dual datacenter designs…
Manually preparing ESXi hosts for VMware NSX
Usually when installing VMware NSX, the Update Manager takes care of ESXi host preparation. It takes a few VIB packages from the NSX Manager and pushes those to the ESXi hosts to prepare them for VXLAN, the distributed firewall and the distributed router. It can…