Paul Bryant

I'm presently the Global Virtualization Architect at Dell Technologies leading the hybrid cloud and digital transformation initiative. I have 14+ years of technology experience starting as a engineer with 3-2-1 architectures and becoming a SME in the SDDC.

How to Install NSX-T (Part 2) – Deploy Compute Manger

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As this journey continues the next step in deploying NSX-T 2.4 after deploying your first Manager is to add a new compute manager.  This article will be a quick one because it is a quick and easy process.  Woohoo! Other Articles in my serieshttps://digitalthoughtdisruption.com/2019/07/01/how-to-install-nsx-t-2-4-part-1-1st-nsx-manager/https://digitalthoughtdisruption.com/2019/07/03/how-to-install-nsx-t-2-4-part-2-deploy-compute-manger/https://digitalthoughtdisruption.com/2019/07/08/how-to-install-nsx-t-2-4-part-3-deploying-2nd-3rd-nsx-manager/https://digitalthoughtdisruption.com/2019/07/11/how-to-install-nsx-t-2-4-part-4-transport-zone-creation-uplink-profile-tep-ip-pool-configure-nsx-t-for-esxi/https://digitalthoughtdisruption.com/2019/07/15/how-to-install-nsx-t-2-4-part-5-the-war-that-was-setting-up-edge-vms-and-edge-cluster-on-n-vds/ Heads up:This is where having all the required ports open are … Read more

How to Perform VxRail 4.7 Cluster Install

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Recently, I have been getting a lot of requests for “advice” on how to re-deploy VxRail. Apparently, the 13G server line and older G-Series appliances still have a use when upgrading to 14G hardware. Lab environment for staging a like for like Production environment to test out code updates, POCs, and anything else you desire … Read more

VxRail – Add drives to Cluster

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Last week I was on a reference call in regards to VxRail. I was asked many questions but one surprising question was, “How difficult is it to add storage?” I thought I would write a quick article to show just how it is done.In a regular vSAN cluster you would need to add the drives, … Read more

VMware NSX-T – Create (TEP) IP Pool

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I know with NSX-T there are plenty of terminology tossed around. Here is another one for you in the tunnel endpoint (TEP) 🙂You may ask, “What is a TEP and why should I care?” Short and simple answer is a TEP enables ESXi hosts to participate in an NSX-T overlay network. Why should I care? … Read more

NSX-T – Deploy Segment (Logical Switch)

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A single logical switch is mapped to a unique Geneve segment that is distributed across the ESXi hosts in a transport zone. The logical switch supports line-rate switching in the ESXi host without the constraints of VLAN sprawl or spanning tree issues. A segment is a representation of layer-2 connectivity across transport nodes (ESXi Hosts), … Read more

NSX-T – Deploying Tier-1 (T1) Router

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A Tier-1 Gateway can span multiple ESXi and KVM hosts.  A Distributed Router can provide local routing between different segments on a host. A DR also provides distributed east-west routing functionality across hosts. Things to know about a T1: T1 uplinks to a T0 router T1 has down links to segments Owned and config by … Read more

NSX-T – Attach a Tier-1 Gateway to Tier-0 Gateway

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When it comes to a multi-tier router architecture you will be connecting Tier-1 router(s) to an existing Tier-0 router. East-West routing is performed by the DR (distributed Router) in the Tier-1 router.  The Tier-0 provides services and external connectivity.  Some things to be aware of: When the service and distributed routers are created, they are … Read more

NSX-T – Deploying Tier-0 (T0) Router

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One of the things I like about NSX-T is the ability to deploy Tier-1 and Tier-0 routers. The T0 is the gateway that bridges the virtual world to the physical world. Below you will find a screenshot of the logical architecture followed by a step by step process to deploy a T0 router in your … Read more

How to RASR Reset VxRail 4.7 Node

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There may be instances where you Need to factory reset a VxRail node. IE you are creating a new cluster, a fresh install is failing, or because you feel like it 🙂 Here is an easy step by step guide on how to RASR reset a VxRail host.*Please remember you are going to be taking … Read more

Deploying a Domain in NSX-T

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As I continue my blogging series on deploying NSX-T 2.4 in your environment, my next topic will be Domains. This will be a quick blog as there is not a lot about setting up Domains. Domains will pop up a lot when configuring NSX-T.  They are great for logically grouping a collection of workloads and … Read more

Deploying NAT Services on NSX-T

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There may be instances when you want to leverage NSX-T for NAT services and not an external NAT services. Thanks to the simplified management of NSX-T deploying these services is easy. Terms:Source NAT (SNAT): translates a source IP address of outbound packets so that packets appears as originating from a different network Destination NAT (DNAT): … Read more

Useful Ruby Shell vSAN Commands

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Lately, I have had people messaging asking to help them troubleshoot their environment. Everything from random performance impacts to my SQL DBA says I have a disk IO issue. I thought I would take the time to post a few helpful ruby shell commands I use to help me keep an eye on my own … Read more

Four Benefits of NSX-T Not Named Micro-Segmentation

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Over the past couple years I hear the term Micro-Segmentation over and over and over and over again as the benefit of NSX & software defined networking.  I thought I would take a moment to write about four benefits of NSX-T I’m witnessing in my environments that bring value add on top of Micro-Segmentation. 1. … Read more

NSX-T 2.4 Release & What’s New

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I wanted to take a moment and provide a link to the new feature release of NSX-T 2.4. This has been a major release with a re-architecture of the NSX-T components. Some feature highlightsCombining the NSX Manager and Controller nodes into a single applianceInfrastructure as CodeExpanding Security FeaturesHigher Levels of Scale, Resiliency, Performance https://blogs.vmware.com/networkvirtualization/2019/02/introducing-nsx-t-2-4-a-landmark-release-in-the-history-of-nsx.html/