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VMware NSX: Going Big with Micro-Segmentation

VMware NSX is a powerful multifaceted solution with a lot of dimensions. So much so that it’s actually a little hard to get a single understanding of it. That’s not to say that it is a bloated or convoluted offering, merely ambitious in scope. If you’re going to make a platform for network virtualization and security, it’s kind of go big or go home.

But when talking about NSX, it’s easier to do it in pieces. Once you do, you realize that many of the aspects of the platform are based around some basic guiding principals. In this piece, I’m going to focus particularly on the security aspects. VMware designed NSX security around micro-segmentation. Aside from being a useful buzzword, it’s also a very smart way to keep your VMs and applications secure.

DNA Storage is Weird

I’ve heard for a while that DNA storage could be a potential replacement for magnetic tape, at least for archiving. It’s dense and has a long shelf life, which lends itself to the application. But I didn’t have a way to visualize that density. So, against my better judgement, I started doing some math.

NetApp and Open Source

Open source is not entirely new to NetApp, they’ve had an OpenStack team in the company since 2011, mainly contributing to the Cinder project. This provided on-demand block storage in OpenStack. In the past 18 months, this has been consciously expanded into an open ecosystem team, organized around thePub.

“Big Data” Isn’t a Thing

Confused by all the conflated claims around the abilities of “Big Data”? Karen Lopez is here with a little explainer about what it means to use data in the age of cloud computing. More importantly, Karen doesn’t mince words. Click here to find out why “Big Data” isn’t a thing.

Managed Storage with ClearSky Data

Late last year, I wrote an overview about ClearSky Data. The company has a unique product. They offer an alternative to the usual state of cloud storage, with lots of latency and multiple data copies that you’re paying for individually. What continues to strike me about their offering is its completeness. Make no mistake, this is a fully managed storage solution.

The company has recently announced some exciting developments coming down the pipeline.

Datrium And Open Convergence

When a category becomes settled, a bit of tedium begins to set in. Room for innovation rapidly shrinks, and becomes more about efficiency and refinement than redefinition. That’s kind of how I felt the hyperconverged infrastructure market was settling into. There are still marked differences in price, features, and capability between the players. But the literal configuration of hardware seemed to be homogenized.

Datrium is trying to change the expectations of hyperconvergence. Instead, they are billing their concept as Open Convergence. This is their response to the traditional issue with HCI. Their basic format is to separate bulk storage from compute, flash, and networking.