Weekly Virtualization Link Round Up: 10/04/2013
So, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. A Dell employee took issue with a Cisco manifesto, VSAN went belly up for a few people, and Microsoft got some love from the Feds in the form of a security seal of approval. In addition, our friend Rick Vanover decided to help virtualization newbies get on their feet and an American story of a chemistry professor turned bad guy left the airwaves for good.
A Dell Employee Takes Issue with Cisco’s SDN Prognostication
Although the exchange took place a few weeks ago, it’s a really interesting one. Here’s what went down. Cisco’s Padmasree Warrior wrote a blog post entitled Limitations of a Software-Only Approach to Data Center Networking. In this post, Warrior, somewhat expectedly given Cisco’s, you know, entire business model, all but comes out and days that software defined networking a la VMware’s NSX is dead on arrival. Says Warrior, “It doesn’t scale, and it fails to provide full real-time visibility of both physical and virtual infrastructure. In addition this approach does not provide key capabilities such as multi-hypervisor support, integrated security, systems point-of-view or end-to-end telemetry for application placement and troubleshooting.”
That’s a pretty damning indictment of what has been a seemingly open discussion in the market regarding SDN. Of course, Warrior goes on to describe Cisco’s different strategy, which revolves around Application Center Infrastructure.
When VMware bought Nicira, it was a shot across the bow of networking companies everywhere, especially Cisco. With the launch of NSX, the gloves are off and, while the two companies remain partners, it’s exceedingly clear that a battle is brewing.
Apparently, the rest of the industry is watching carefully. In response to Warrior’s blog post, Art Fewell, SDN Technical Marketing And Solutions Architecture for Dell wrote what can only be described as an eloquent point-by-point takedown of Warrior’s claims and turns the issue back to being one caused by and exacerbated by Cisco and its refusal the play nice with the rest of the industry.
Rick Vanover Helps Get Back to Basics
Not everyone is a virtualization expert right out of the gate. We all have to start somewhere and, at times, it can be daunting when jumping into something. Fortunately, there are experts that are adept at helping people learn the basics so that they are able to get comfortable. This week, Rick Vanover published at TechRepublic an article entitled 50 terms and acronyms for VMware that you should know. For the pros, this all recap knowledge, but for those getting into the game, such resources are invaluable.
VSAN Beta Testers Learn a Lesson
Remember, folks, VSAN is beta software and storage is a critical service. This week, The Register reported that users of the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) SATA controller could experience data loss issues with VSAN as well as the whole of VSAN becoming unavailable. That’s bad news. But, again, the software is in beta. It’s fully expected that issues will arise, which is why these kinds of tools shouldn’t be run in production environments.
Windows Azure Gets Federal Stamp of Security Approval
In the days before the U.S. got to witness the shutdown of its government, there was time for the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB), which is comprised of representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), to give its blessing to Windows Azure under what is called a Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO). In this case, while individual agencies would still need to vet a service, it can be done a bit more easily since the service has already been reviewed by the board.
This is very good news for Windows Azure as it can open the gateway of federal dollars to this nascent cloud computing platform. To learn more about this decision, take a look at Microsoft’s announcement.
Breaking Bad Came to an End
I have to admit that I’m terribly sad to see Breaking Bad gone. But, it went out on the highest of high notes and was probably the best television show I’ve ever seen. It’s much better to be sad that a great shown is gone than it is to be sad that a once-great show has jumped the shark. And now, I believe we should all take a moment of silence in remembrance of Walter White.
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