VMware Host Isolation Response in a Nutanix Environment #NoSAN
I was recently discussing the Nutanix solution with a friend of mine and fellow VCDX, Michael Webster (@vcdxnz001) and he asked what the recommended Host Isolation Response is for Nutanix. At this...
View ArticleExample Architectural Decision – Host Isolation Response for a Nutanix...
Problem Statement What are the most suitable HA / host isolation response when using Nutanix? Assumptions 1. vSphere 5.0 or greater 2. Two x 10GB Network interfaces are shared for Nutanix Storage...
View ArticleThe future of NAS Storage (NFS) for Virtual Environments
I read the article (below) by Howard Marks after seeing it come up on Twitter today, and I found it to be very interesting and refreshing to read as it hits the nail on the head....
View ArticlevBrownbag – vForum Sydney 2013 – View Composer for Array Integration (VCAI)
Recently I presented a short vBrownbag on the topic of View Composer for Array Integration (VCAI) with a focus on how VCAI benefits Horizon View environments, Storage Protocol choice for Horizon View...
View ArticleUnlimited VMs per datastore? Its not a myth with Nutanix!
For many years, I have been asked on countless occasions questions relating to how many VMs can (or should) be placed in one datastore. In fact, just this morning I was asked this same question, and I...
View ArticleVirtualizing Exchange on vSphere with NFS backed storage?
For many years, customers have been realising the benefits of file based storage from one or more of the many storage vendors offering NFS. NFS makes a ton of sense for virtualization, and virtualizing...
View ArticleWhat does Exchange running in a VMDK on NFS datastore look like to the Guest OS?
In response to the recent community post “Support for Exchange Databases running within VMDKs on NFS datastores” , the co-authors and I have received lots of feedback, of which the vast majority has...
View ArticleIs VAAI beneficial with Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) based solutions ?
I saw a tweet recently (below) which inspired me to write this post as there is still a clear misunderstanding of the benefits VAAI provides (even with Virtual Storage Appliances). I have removed the...
View ArticleCan I use my existing SAN/NAS storage with Nutanix?
I question I get regularly is, “Can I use my existing SAN/NAS storage with Nutanix?”. The short answer is, as always “It depends”. iSCSI, NFS & SMB 3.0 can be presented to Nutanix nodes just like...
View ArticleMicrosoft Exchange on Nutanix Best Practice Guide
I am pleased to announce that the Best Practice guide for Microsoft Exchange on Nutanix is released and can be found here. For me deploying MS Exchange on Nutanix with vSphere combines best of breed...
View ArticleIntegrity of I/O for VMs on NFS Datastores – Part 1 – Emulation of the SCSI...
This is the first of a series of posts covering how the Integrity of I/O is ensured for Virtual Machines when writing to VMDK/s (Virtual SCSI Hard Drives) running on NFS datastores presented via...
View ArticleIntegrity of I/O for VMs on NFS Datastores – Part 2 – Forced Unit Access...
This is the second part of this series and the focus of this post is to cover a critical requirement for many applications including MS SQL and MS Exchange (which is designed to work with Block based...
View ArticleIntegrity of I/O for VMs on NFS Datastores – Part 4 – Torn Writes
This is the fourth part of a series of posts covering how the Integrity of Write I/O is ensured for Virtual Machines when writing to VMDK/s (Virtual SCSI Hard Drives) running on NFS datastores...
View ArticleIntegrity of I/O for VMs on NFS Datastores – Part 5 – Data Corruption
This is the fifth part of a series of posts covering how the Integrity of Write I/O is ensured for Virtual Machines when writing to VMDK/s (Virtual SCSI Hard Drives) running on NFS datastores presented...
View ArticleHow to configure Network I/O Control (NIOC) for Nutanix (or any IP Storage)
This video shows how to configure Network I/O Control (NIOC) as per Nutanix Best Practices, however this configuration is also applicable to any IP based Storage. For more information see the Nutanix...
View ArticleFight the FUD! – Not all VAAI-NAS storage solutions are created equal.
At a meeting recently, a potential customer who is comparing NAS/Hyper-converged solutions for an upcoming project advised me they only wanted to consider platforms with VAAI-NAS support. As the...
View ArticleHow to successfully Virtualize MS Exchange – Part 7 – Storage Options
When virtualizing Exchange, we not only have to consider the Compute (CPU/RAM) and Network, but also the storage to provide both the capacity and IOPS required. However before considering IOPS and...
View ArticleHow to successfully Virtualize MS Exchange – Part 10 – Presenting Storage...
Let’s start with listing three common storage types which can be presented direct to a Windows OS? 1. iSCSI LUNs 2. SMB 3.0 shares 3. NFS mounts Next let’s discuss these 3 options. iSCSI LUNs are a...
View ArticlevMotion issues when using NFS storage with vSphere 5.5 Update 2
When vMotioning a VM (specifically the .vswp file) residing on an NFS datastore you may see the following error. vMotion fails with the error: remote host IP_Address failed with status Busy This issue...
View ArticleSQL AlwaysOn Availability Group support in VMDKs on NFS Datastores
Recently I had a customer contact me about doing SQL Always-On Availability Groups on Nutanix and they were wondering if it was supported due to the fact Nutanix recommend and run by default NFS...
View Article
