VMware’s introduced the “vStorage APIs for Array Integration†(VAAI) in vSphere 4.1, and block-heads like me went nuts. We’ve been trying to integrate storage and servers for decades, and VMware’s APIs finally allowed this to work in truly seamless fashion. But the world of VAAI is a thicket of bizarre naming and puzzling functionality. Some VAAI primitives are ignored or even hidden! Let’s take a look at the complete list.
VMworld
Tech Field Day 8, Silicon Valley
We are finalizing our eighth Tech Field Day Event (and tenth event overall) which is coming up in the middle of September. Once again, we have a great batch of new and returning delegates. And once again, many of the presenters share intriguing characteristics. This time, it looks like we will have something of a storage focus!
FalconStor Brings VAAI Support To Every Storage Array
I do not necessarily endorse or recommend FalconStor NSS over competing products from more familiar names, but I commend them for adding VAAI support. There the first small vendor to do so, and their software virtualization platform spreads the availability of this important software capability.
VMworld 2011, Las Vegas
Next Sunday, I’m headed back to Las Vegas (for my fifth time this year!) for another enterprise IT event. But this is a special event: VMworld always includes an amazing group of attendees and companies! And for the first time, I’m participating in the event, presenting to vExperts on Sunday. I hope I see you there!
A VMware Hypervisor For Networkers?
As my friend Stu Miniman pointed out, a recent VMware video suggests the company is about to jump into networking in a big way. This new offering would be a generic hypervisor for virtual network devices, from load balancers to security appliances, and would presumably be integrated with the existing vNetwork Distributed Switch functionality. This appears to be more than just a generic version of what Cisco already uses for their Nexus 1000V!
