Journey to the Land of Fahrenheit and Miles

Hi,

Since my journey ended up with VMware early this year, I was thinking and planning to move to US from Canada. So many friends and family members have an idea about my current location as Toronto, Canada. But today, as promised to many of you on Twitter and other social media, I will be demystifying the mystery and share my experience about the change I have experienced within last 6-8 months which is HUGE. Currently I am in North Carolina and enjoying the Weather after the cold winters of Canada. So technically its a halfway of the journey.

My journey from North to south brought the following items in our life including my family members'. As they say Change is Good so been through the following in one shot. :-)

City - New
State - New
Country - New
Community - New
People - New
Work place - New
Residential place - New
Neighbors - New
Friends and Relatives - New
Work culture - New
Colleagues - New
Policies - New
Rules - New
Government - New
Currency - New
Boss - New
Grocery Store/s - New
Measurements - New
Weather - New
Environment - New
Culture - New
Food Habits - New

Only some of my friends from school and this community are old :-) and I wish they should be there as they are. Loving them and this community with the deepest gratitude from my heart.

In April I joined a Customer of VMware as VMware Cloud Engineer and exposed to many products to work with which mainly includes vRA, vRO, vROPS, vCM, Hyperic and helped standing up their private cloud with UCS and Xtreme IO as their backend Infrastructure. it was very heavy on DevOps side so touched and learned little bit of Docker, Core OS, Github, Chef and other unknown :-) technologies such as UC4, Jenkins etc. Most of you must have seen an update about that. When it comes to a solution for Network Virtualization, the decision was made to use some other solution than VMware NSX. Now before departing VMware, NSX was the main/crucial component I was heavily involved in, so a thought of moving away from the product kept me thinking about my future and career path I chosen.

At the right moment this opportunity came in and I could not resist it in any way. It is a Global Solution Architect (Network Virtualization and Security) Role with one of the Top organization in IT security and a Security Partner of VMware in the area of DC Security - TrendMicro. Now with the goal of SDDC of VMware, and use of NSX in the whole Data Center, TM solutions are working in the following area and providing Optimized Security for VMware, Data Center Security, VDI Security, Cloud Computing, Securing the Software-Defined Data Center and Security and Operations Visibility.

In this capacity I need to architect and provide solutions to the customers which has a mix of Trend's "D" level of Security product solutions and VMware NSX as Network Virtualization in their Infrastructure. This is like a heavenly made pair when it comes to a pure security for SDDC and using the Micro-Segmentation based security. This combo protects the DC with all other possibilities such as Malware, DDoS, IPS/IDS which can be done only using enterprise level security solutions of TrendMicro. The role is based in Texas (where I will eventually move) so my journey will be complete from North to South :-).

So many people I have to thank for their support and I am really grateful to this community for their continued "unconditional" help whenever its needed.Truly amazing experience I am having every day when I spend time among this community where people are ready to help each other, however they can. This is not something you see every where and I am sure all of you will agree on this.

Hope to continue with my regular blogging but now with more on TrendMicro/VMware NSX solutions.

Cheers !!

VCIX - NV Resources, Tips and Exam Experience

Hi,

Recently I had some days off at the end of the year and thought to use them properly so I booked the VCIX-NV and VCP-NV (yes in that order only :-)).

First of all, I will list out the resources which I used to prepare for VCIX-NV.

The Exam is based on NSX for vSphere version 6.0.2.

1) Blueprint for the VCIX-NV (Yes this is the Primary)

2) HOL Labs 1403,1424,1425 (Enrol few times and make sure you understand all the Tasks you are performing)

3) Official NSX for vSphere Documentation (The Documentation is based on NSX-V 6.1 version)

Read the Installation Guide and Admin Guide very carefully. Understand the overall objective for using particular NSX Feature/s.

4) VCIX Study Guide Series posts by Martijin Smit

5) There is a VMware blogs which you can find here.

6) Hands on. (which I didn't except the HOL as dont have the HomeLab). This is a key as you can test all kinds of scenarios possible as per the blueprint. I understand not everyone has ability and can afford the HomeLab [ like me :-( ] has to rely on alternate resources like HOL. Second problem could be the NSX bits which is again not possible to get for everyone who is trying to achieve this certification.

Now lets come at the 2nd part of the post which is about the Exam Experience at Pearson Vue.

Now as most of the people know in the community and this has be brought out earlier too by various people in the form of various blog posts which is related to the Latency issue while doing the live lab at Pearson Vue Testing center and I had similar issue few times. I called up the proctor three times where either I had the issue when the task was not finishing up after clicking OK button in the vSphere Web Client and waiting till its finished which took long time but cant do anything else until that task is over. One time I cant even click OK on the menu and then Proctor called up the Tech Support and as I watching and listening the whole conversation, no troubleshooting steps actually been performed and automatically everything came to normal. The proctor did freeze the session each time but I got only 15 mins for all the time loss which to me is not enough as I think I wasted almost 25-30 mins just in waiting. I have already addressed this internally and hopefully it will be fixed in near future.

Few Tips for the future candidates.

a) Try to setup the putty sessions to all the possible components which you need for either verifying configuration or part of troubleshooting

b) Use vSphere C# client to make changes in the configuration which I find is faster than Web Client.

c) Read the task carefully and make sure you finish all of them and using both vSphere c# and Web client together will minimize the overall time.

d) Write down the passwords and other information about the login credentials on the sheet Pearson is providing as you may need them

e) Not sure how to keep track but do mark the questions answered fully or partially on the sheet so that you can go back and check if anything needs to be finished later on.

f) Dont spend too much time on one task and now this is the advice everyone is giving whomsoever took the VCAP exams but it DOES makes difference here in VCIX as there are only 18 tasks to finish within the same amount of Time as other VCAP Exams.


Clarification on VCP-NV inheritance on passing VCIX-NV:

So many people in the community are under the impression that once anyone clears the VCIX-NV exam will automatically inherit VCP-NV which is not true as per the response I have received and it is clear in the course datasheet and other details available right now.

VCIX is not similar in that sense as VCAP. If someone passes any VCAP level exam then it is possible to inherit the VCP certification upon passing VCAP but with VCIX, it is not the case.

Logically thinking, why the person has to appear if he is capable of passing VCIX? Which to me is a valid question but still awaiting a reply on that Internally. I will update this post once I receive a response from VMware Education Services.

So I did have to admit that I postpone my success till next attempt of VCIX-NV :-)

As VCP-NV was out of the way on the very next day of VCIX attempt, hopefully I should be able to knock it down next time as not blaming anything I will have to just focus on the missed areas and also deep dive again in NSX !!

Wish me luck !

Share and care please !

Setting up Syslog on NSX Controller

Hi

Recently I received a request on how to configure syslog on the NSX controller during the NSX training so I looked at the API documentation and found out that this is the only supported Way to configure the syslog for NSX controllers. Official documentation will get modified reflecting the same state but in the mean time please read this post and refer the KB mentioned below.

Enabling or querying or disabling Syslog On NSX controller using NSX API

Add controller syslog exporter
Configures a syslog exporter on the specified controller node.

Request
POST https:///api/2.0/vdn/controller/{controller-id}/syslog
Request Body:

10.135.14.236
514
UDP
INFO

Query controller syslog exporter
Retrieves details about the configured syslog exporter on the specified controller node.

Request
GET https:///api/2.0/vdn/controller/{controller-id}/syslog
Response Body:

10.135.14.236
514
UDP
INFO

Delete controller syslog exporter
Deletes syslog exporter on the specified controller node.

Request
DELETE https:///api/2.0/vdn/controller/{controller-id}/syslog

Now only thing you need to make sure that you need to use the encoding method as application/xml NOT application/json.

Here is the screen shot from the NSX API Guide about using xml format.

Hope you find this useful and based on the above information I have created a KB article also which you can refer to setup syslog for NSX Manager too.

Enjoy !! 

Share and care !

NSX Certification - All Tracks Available Now

Hi,

With recent announcement today by VMware Education about the VCIX-NX track for VMware NSX all the tracks are now available to become VCDX-NV for VMware VMware NSX/Network Virtualization.

You can request the authorization for the VCIX-NX on the certification page.

All other details are there as well.

VCP-NV related details are here.

VCDX-NX related details you can find here.

Blueprint for VCIX-NV

VCIX-NV recommend courses 

VMware NSX for Internetworking Experts Fast Track [V6.0]

VMware NSX Install, Configure, Manage

VMware VCIX Course Datasheet

There is an advantage for having valid CCIE Data Center or CCIE Routing & Switching certification and you can verify that here.

So now go get them. Good Luck !

Share and Care please !

VCP-NV - Objective 1.1 Describe the Benefits of a VMware NSX Implementation

Hi,

I will be now diving in to each objectives covering the Blue Print one at a time.

Objective 1.1 – Describe the Benefits of a VMware NSX Implementation

With network virtualization, the functional equivalent of a “network hypervisor” reproduces the complete set of Layer 2 to Layer 7 networking services (e.g., switching, routing, access control, firewalling, QoS, and load balancing) in software. As a result, they too can be programmatically assembled in any arbitrary combination, this time to produce a unique virtual network in a matter of seconds.
Not surprisingly, similar benefits are also derived. For example, just as VMs are independent of the underlying x86 platform and allow IT to treat physical hosts as a pool of compute capacity, virtual networks are independent of the underlying IP network hardware and allow IT to treat the physical network as a pool of transport capacity that can be consumed and repurposed on demand.

More importantly, network virtualization provides a strong foundation for resolving the networking challenges keeping today’s organizations from realizing the full potential of the software defined data center.

With NSX, virtual networks are programmatically created, provisioned and managed, utilizing the underlying physical network as a simple packet forwarding backplane. Network and security services in software are distributed to hypervisors and “attached” to individual VMs in accordance with networking and security policies defined for each connected application. When a VM is moved to another host, its networking and security services move with it. And when new VMs are created to scale an application, the necessary policies are dynamically applied to those VMs as well.

NSX is completely non-disruptive solution:

• Deploys on hypervisors connected to any existing physical network infrastructure and supports nextgeneration fabrics and topologies from any vendor;
• Requires no changes to existing applications and workloads
• Allows IT departments to incrementally implement virtual networks at whatever pace they choose (without any impact to existing applications and network configurations)
• Extends visibility to existing networking monitoring and management tools to deliver increased visibility into virtualized networks

NSX is a multi-hypervisor solution that leverages the vSwitches already present in server hypervisors across the data center. NSX coordinates these vSwitches and the network services pushed to them for connected VMs to effectively deliver a platform – or “network hypervisor” – for the creation of virtual networks.

NSX works with

• Any application. Workloads/applications need not be modified in anyway as the virtual network appears no different to them than the physical network.
• Any hypervisor. Out-of-the box support is available for many hypervisors (e.g., Xen, KVM, and VMware ESXi), while coverage can be extended to others (e.g., Microsoft Hyper-V) by re-configuring them to incorporate standard vSwitch capabilities.
• Any network infrastructure. Hardware independence is achieved based on the fact that NSX virtual networks require nothing more than connectivity and packet-forwarding from the underlying IP infrastructure.
• Any cloud management platform. Out-of-the-box support is available for many cloud management platforms (including CloudStack, OpenStack, VMware vCloud Automation Center,), and integration with other management platforms is provided through the NSX API.

NSX simplifies networking by abstracting virtual networks from the underlying physical network and enables increased automation. Operators dont need to interact with VALNs, ACL, STP.

Physical Netwok only requires to to deliver reliable high-speed Packet forwarding so any physical hardware combination may work as long as they are compatible on that layer.

As its virtual network runs in its own address space, NSX proivdes isolation, security and network segmentation very granularly.

Some other benefits can be listed as follows:

• Streamlines ongoing administration, monitoring, and troubleshooting by enhancing network visibility and eliminating the need to navigate and maintain VLANs, ACLs, and complex firewall rule sets
• Obviates the need to invest in separate, standalone solutions for many of the networking and security functions that are fundamental to data center networking, including distributed routing, firewalling and load balancing
• Requires fewer switch ports and less switching capacity overall – as a result of reducing the need for standalone networking and security appliances and eliminating the need for traffic hair-pinning, respectively
• Allows selection of least-cost networking equipment – as all that’s needed when building/extending physical networks are basic forwarding and resiliency capabilities
• Enables “data center de-fragmentation” – as server utilization can be optimized across application/networking pods and even greater degrees of data center consolidation can be achieved
• Eliminates the need to purchase new networking equipment and/or conduct forklift upgrades in order to take advantage of new innovations in networking technology
• Supports development, testing, and production “environments” all on the same physical infrastructure

The result is the ability for both enterprises and service providers to save lot of dollars in periodic and recurring costs associated with their networks.

I will put the 1.2 shortly so please give some time ;-) and visit the Blog again.

Share and care !

VMware NSX based VCP-NV - Lets hits it !!

Hi,

Recently VMware has released the Certifications based on VMware Network Virtualization

1) VCP-NV

2) VCDX-NV

Now any one can download the Blueprint for VCP-NV from the site and it covers mainly the following topics.


Section 1 – Define VMware NSX Technology and Architecture

Objective 1.1 – Describe the Benefits of a VMware NSX Implementation
Objective 1.2 – Describe VMware NSX Architecture
Objective 1.3 – Differentiate VMware Network and Security Technologies
Objective 1.4 – Contrast Physical and Virtual Network Technologies
Objective 1.5 –Explain VMware NSX Integration with Third-Party Products and Services


Section 2 – Plan and Configure vSphere Networking

Objective 2.1 – Define Benefits of Running VMware NSX on Physical Network Fabrics
Objective 2.2 – Describe Physical Infrastructure Requirements for a VMware NSX Implementation


Section 3 – Configure and Manage vSphere Networking

Objective 3.1 – Configure and Manage vSphere Standard Switches (vSS)
Objective 3.2 – Configure and Manage vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS)
Objective 3.3 – Configure and Manage vSS and vDS Policies


Section 4 – Install and Upgrade VMware NSX

Objective 4.1 – Configure Environment for Network Virtualization
Objective 4.2 – Deploy VMware NSX Components
Objective 4.3 – Upgrade Existing vCNS/NSX Implementation
Objective 4.4 – Expand Transport Zone to Include New Cluster(s)


Section 5 – Configure VMware NSX Virtual Networks

Objective 5.1 – Create and Administer Logical Switches
Objective 5.2 – Configure VXLAN
Objective 5.3 – Configure and
Objective 5.4 – Configure and Manage Logical Routers Manage Layer 2 Bridging


Section 6 – Configure and Manage NSX Network Services

Objective 6.1 – Configure and Manage Logical Load Balancing
Objective 6.2 – Configure and Manage Logical Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
Objective 6.3 – Configure and Manage DHCP/DNS/NAT
Objective 6.4 – Configure and Manage Edge Services High Availability


Section 7 – Configure and Administer Network Security

Objective 7.1 – Configure and Administer Logical Firewall Services
Objective 7.2 – Configure Distributed Firewall Services
Objective 7.3 – Configure and Manage Service Composer


Section 8 – Perform Operations Tasks in a VMware NSX Environment

Objective 8.1 – Configure Roles, Permissions, and Scopes
Objective 8.2 – Describe NSX Automation
Objective 8.3 – Monitor a VMware NSX Implementation
Objective 8.4 – Perform Auditing and Compliance
Objective 8.5 – Administer Logging
Objective 8.6 – Backup and Recover Configurations


Section 9 – Troubleshoot a VMware Network Virtualization Implementation

Objective 9.1 – Identify Tools Available for Troubleshooting
Objective 9.2 – Troubleshoot Common NSX Installation/Configuration Issues
Objective 9.3 – Troubleshoot Common NSX Component Issues
Objective 9.4 – Troubleshoot Common Connectivity Issues
Objective 9.5 – Troubleshoot Common vSphere Networking Issues


For those who wants to know how the exam looks like than have a look at the practice exam released by VMware Education and also by @pmcsharry which you can find here.

I will try to cover each objective separately and if possible I can also present it on vBrownBag (if time and resource permits as don't have Lab for NSX) but till then lets just get started here with the study.

Mainly the documents referred for covering the objectives are all released by VMware and the information can be formed under the Whitepapers mentioned in the Blueprint.

I have updated my NSX Resource post today as well so take a look at it here to study more about NSX. All the documents/Whitepapers can be found here.

If you feel if I missed anything while covering the objectives then please leave a comment to get in touch with me an I can update the post at the earliest with your feedback.

Enjoy reading and wish you good luck towards your journey of VCDX-NV :-) !!

Share and care !!

VMware Network Virtualization Fundamentals Course

Hi,

After acquiring Nicira, VMware has developed a solution for Network Virtualization with a product called "NSX".

Based on the announcement done at the VMworld 2013 there will be a VCA-NV certification based on  Network Virtualization concepts and recently I saw a Tweet from VMware Education Service about a Self Paced (3 hours) course on Network Virtualization Fundamental.

You can register for it here. You can enroll for it and do it on your own pace.

Once the announcement made about the per-requisites and other requirements for VCA-NV one can attempt for it but till then I believe this is the only source to know more about what "Network Virtualization" is and go through the content.

I have already blogged about the NSX Resources before which I will update once VCA-NV becomes GA.

I will be posting few more items on NSX so keep watching this !!

Share and care.

Enjoy NSXing.