IVOXY Consulting blog

Trust Nothing and No One: Micro-Segmentation with Matt Cozzolino – Podcast #057

This week we're going short and sweet with a little introduction to traditional firewalling, Micro-Segmentation, and Zero Trust concepts in the IT world.

Return of the VDI Jedi – Podcast #056

End-user computing and virtual desktop administrators: You may rejoice as IVOXY VDI Senior Consultant Ryan Grelck returns to the virtual studio of Data Center Therapy.

Home Automation with the Three Muskebeards – Podcast #055

Set the gadget geek dial to 100% for this Data Center Therapy episode. We're talking about everybody’s favorite post-lockdown hobby tech - Home Automation.

Networking with Joe – Podcast #054

Proud family that we are, IVOXY formally invites you to tune into this special episode of Data Center Therapy, where our hosts Matt “LAN party” Yette and Matt “Beard Ambassador” Cozzolino welcome Network Consultant Joe Lentz to the virtual DCT studio.

Scaling with Terraform (On-Demand Lab Part VI) – Podcast #053

This week we here at Data Center Therapy we’re bringing you the ultimate conclusion of the IVOXY On-Demand Lab podcast series, where the subject is all things HashiCorp Terraform.

Cisco Intersight with Dave Nentarz – Podcast #052

If the acronym “API” excites you, the phrase “software-defined infrastructure” tickles your fancy, or if skating to where the puck is going is your MO, come hear Dave share what’s coming down the pike from Cisco across networking, hyper-converged and computing solutions.

Holiday Sundries – Podcast #051

Need a quick break from work? On this episode of Data Center Therapy we've just got fun water cooler topics like TV shows, home improvements and delicious beef dinners.

Network Automation with Keith Emmanuel (On-Demand Lab Part V) – Podcast #050

This week Keith astounds and delights the systems folks as well as the network infrastructure die-hards on this episode as he gives details on the parts and pieces needed to command, control and deploy a network from scratch.

VDI with Ryan Grelck (On-Demand Lab Part IV) – Podcast #049

Our intrepid hosts welcome back to the virtual studios IVOXY’s very own Ryan "Magnum VDI" Grelck to talk about a smorgasbord full of Horizon topics, including how it has changed and how it’s been implemented in our On-Demand Lab.

Network Virtualization (On-Demand Lab Part III) – Podcast #048

Our series reaches new depths as the guys discuss nesting NSX-T instances, GNS3 integration into the lab, and why on-prem solutions like vSphere & NSX-T are convergently evolving towards the DevOps space.

Sizing with Shane Bradley (On-Demand Lab Part II) – Podcast #047

We welcome back Shane to share how our On-Demand Lab was conceived, sized and configured. Topics include the evolution from VMware Workstation virtual machine to full-on co-located infrastructure, NSX-T, Nested ESXi, Terraform, TrueNAS, ESXi on Arm and more.

Origins (On-Demand Lab Part I) – Podcast #046

This episode is the first of our new series. Matt & Matt discuss how the new IVOXY lab was designed, how it was implemented, the things it can do, where it’ll go in the future and what it all means to you!

VMworld 2020 REDUX FAQ

VMworld 2020 REDUX is fast approaching! We hosted the first event on October 20th and wanted to prep you for the second on November 5th with some FAQs and answers. If your question isn’t answered here, there’s a form at the bottom for you to ask us directly. We’re always available and happy to help!

VMworld 2020 REDUX Epilogue – Podcast #045

We welcome back Alec Taylor who joined Matt & Matt live at REDUX, sharing his camaraderie and technical perspective on topics like ESXi-on-ARM, DR testing, Carbon Black and active-active data centers.

VMworld 2020 Predux with Alec Taylor – Podcast #044

Alec's got his crystal ball and he's giving you a peek! With VMworld squarely in the rear-view mirror, we're looking forward at what all the big announcements will actually mean to you and your organization.

Project Management Conundrums with Jenn Bahneman & Dan Stoecker – Podcast #043

It’s the people and the processes that make that classic IVOXY data center refresh and network optimization magic happen. We invited Jenn & Dan from our Project Management Office to discuss how we approach projects with our customers.

Matt “The Toolman” Yette – Podcast #042

Remember Tim & Wilson catching up across the fence on Home Improvement? This episode feels a lot like that! It's a holiday week, so the Matt & Matt slowed things down a bit to catch up on a potpourri of personal and semi-technical topics.

Curb your Catastrophes with Neil Kassal – Podcast #041

We welcomed in Neil (our multi-talented Systems and Storage Consultant) to share some thoughts on how to approach DR planning, what kinds of tools there are to automate testing & failover of recovery plans, and how the disaster recovery landscape has changed over the years.

Exploring The New Horizon with David Crow – Podcast #040

This week the guys welcome our End-User Compute Specialist, David, back into the studio to give you the 30,000 foot view (and relative firehose) of the just announced VMware Horizon 8 announcements.

What to Expect when You’re Expecting (an F5 Exploit) – Podcast #039

Yette and Cozz dive into a root cause analysis of the recent F5 vulnerability while also educating listeners on things like two-factor authentication missteps, social engineering goofs, and the dangers of running multiple application & web servers from different codebases on your servers.

(Network) Automation with Alec Taylor – Podcast #038

Whether you are already an expert in YAML, Python, Terraform, or Ansible; or you're just trying to wrap your head around when network automation even makes sense, Alec & the guys have something for you in this episode.

Storage Protocols and Boss Battles – Podcast #037

Decades in you’d think the storage protocol landscape would tilt in a particular direction – but respected data center pros like Matt & Matt still duke it out on the storage battlefield and on this episode they build their respective cases for their preferred protocols & practices.

The BGP Route Heist with Keith Emmanuel – Podcast #036

Our automation and network guru, Keith, stopped by to share about routing and the Border Gateway Protocol, including an incident with the country of Pakistan and YouTube that illuminates how BGP can be compromised.

Adventures in Data Classification with Jason Burrell – Podcast #035

You might remember Jason from his time at IVOXY – he's back to share what he's been working on in the Emerging Technologies division at Rubrik (a startup-within-a-startup!) Spoiler alert: topics include compliance, ransomware, & COVID-19 implications on our industry.

Storage Futures with Chris Crow – Podcast #034

For our inaugural #Live episode we brought back former Data Center Therapy co-host Chris Crow who cooked up a big ‘ole plate of storage appetizer topics to help educate listeners about new flash technologies like vVols, wear-leveling, host PCI-Express busses, NVMe, etc.

vSphere 7 (It’s About Time!) with Shane Bradley – Podcast #033

Our resident VMware trailblazer, Shane, stopped by dive into some of the new features, gotchas, & surprises in the big new release including container orchestration, new UI display options, licencing changes, plus enhancements to vMotion and Distributed Resource Scheduler.

Home Automation: Rebooted – Podcast #032

This episode is all about greenfielding something fresh with no real consequences to your IT job: home automation. The Matts riff on HomeKit making way for Home Assistant, Raspberry Pi Zero W devices, The Z-Wave protocol, Node Red …and a slew of other home automation topics.

Combo Meal with Touch-Free Delivery – Podcast #031

Whether you’d like to learn a bit about NSX-T 3.0, how upgrades on certain critical command-and-control mechanisms in your virtual environment impacts hosts & VMs, or why load balancers can be worth their weight in digital gold, there’s something for everyone in this episode!

A New Dawn for Remote Work (& VDI) with David Crow – Podcast #030

We invited our VDI Specialist, David, into the studio to share his perspective on remote work strategies in this new normal.. and by studio, we mean 100% remote conferencing because here at IVOXY Consulting we were practicing social distancing long before it was hip.

A Healthy Dose of Empathy – Podcast #029

What a few weeks it’s been. You’re probably more than ready to vent and share your pain (both physical and mental) with the Data Center Therapy crew. So crank up the volume and take comfort in knowing that Matt Yette and Matt Cozzolino are in it with you on this week’s WFH edition of DCT.

Networking on vSphere – Podcast #028

We're doubling down on networking to address all those questions hanging out there: What are good practices for setting up ESXi and vSphere networking? Should I put management vmkernel ports on Standard or Distributed virtual switches? Nexus or Catalyst switching? ...and much more – have a listen to find out!

Networking & Security Safari with Jeremy Goosen – Podcast #027

Jeremy and the guys spend some time talking through networking best practices for small to medium-sized organizations, including some products & features that can really help secure servers & systems from diabolical attackers and feckless users alike.

The Great Lab Rebuild – Podcast #026

2020 is off to a roaring start! Learn how our intrepid hosts balance the demands of delivering services, refreshing our internal IVOXY lab infrastructure and helping the team get ready for our upcoming Kubernetes classes.

The IVOXY Origin Story with Alec Taylor – Podcast #025

For this milestone episode, we thought we would catch up with our co-founder, Alec, to share a bit about our virtualization-driven genesis, 14 years of evolution, and where we believe IT is headed next.

Infrastructure as Code – Podcast #024

IaC borrows a methodology from developers and applies it to infrastructure. This week Matt & Matt make a New Year's resolution to work smarter, not harder by harnessing the efficiencies of Infrastructure as Code.

How to Home Automate Like a Boss – Podcast #023

It’s well known that the Home Automation space is very fragmented with all the competing ecosystems and technologies out there, so this week our intrepid technology sherpas thought it'd be fun to break down the possible options & integrations for our listeners.

Tools of the (Information Technology) Trade – Podcast #022

Matt & Matt open up their toolboxes to share their favorite widgets, dongles, and gear that help them get their dirty data center jobs done right.

Can you Even Contain Yourself? – Podcast #020

Here comes a deep dive discussion that should prove informative and entertaining to all IT pros – container-savvy or not! Whether you’re interested in repeatability, scalability, or orchestration, there are some neat advantages containers have versus “we’ve always done it this way” deployment practices.

Ch-Ch-Changes in Primary Storage and Data Protection – Podcast #019

The guys just got back from the Pure//Accelerate conference in Austin + the Rubrik Tech Summit in Denver, and they have everything you need to know. Oh, plus they've got first-hand accounts of high-speed electric scootering and some TV show tips.

VMworld 2019 Redux Sneak Peek with Ryan Grelck & Kris Lamet – Podcast #018

Ryan & Kris join Yette to share their experiences and initial reactions from VMworld 2019. Carbon Black, Project Pacific, Tanzu, and Pivotal Container Services headline a conversation that is ultimately an appetizer for our biggest event of the year.

HCI Throwdown! with David Crow – Podcast #017

The gloves come off this week as the Matts invite David, a true EUC specialist, into our studios to debate the pros & cons of a hotly contested technology: Hyper-Converged Infrastructure.

VMworld 2019 Predux with Alec Taylor – Podcast #016

With VMworld right around the corner, Alec joins the guys to kick around predictions and share about some can't-miss parties as well as tease our VMworld Redux coming this fall!

NUMA NUMA Yay – VM Performance with Alec Taylor – Podcast #015

Yette welcomes our Founding Partner, Alec, to the podcast to talk all things virtual machines: Things like NUMA & vNUMA, why DIMMs might not be optimally placed, how VMware's evolution of multi-core & multi-socket CPU hardware impact your VMs, and much more!

Cisco Live Recap with Mack Nethkin – Podcast #014

It’s time to LVtMCEaaS (Live Vicariously through Mack’s Conference Experience as a Service) as we dive into the developments and products announced at last month's show.

Home Labs & Home Automation… Because we Can’t Turn it Off – Podcast #013

On this episode we discuss our home lab and automation setups, as well as the smart home software and hardware we use to help make life that much geekier.

NSX-V to -T – Podcast Bonus

Short & sweet this week! Cozz was recently joined by our very own Kris Lamet & Alec Taylor for an impromptu Q&A about the future of NSX.

vSphere [-R]evolution – 6.7 Update 2 – Podcast #012

We cover a lot this week including network virtualization & the software-defined datacenter, vRealize Log Insight, and all things 6.7 Update 2: Spectre / Meltdown, new config maximums for VMs, and more!

Learning by (API) Example with Rebecca Fitzhugh – Podcast #011

Our conversation with Rebecca (Rubrik, Inc.) centers on the evolution of APIs, and how newer technologies like Swagger, GraphQL, PowerShell, etc. are revolutionizing the way our software interacts with other components & infrastructure in the modern data center.

Malware and Your Possibly Ailing Security Posture with Mack Nethkin – Podcast #007

Join us for a self-declared FUD-free 32 minutes where you’ll get to know a little more about our Network Practice Leader Mack, the evolution of malware and ransomware, and how you can reduce and eliminate risk in your environment.

NSX – It Depends on the Day – Podcast #006

Pull up a barstool – this week we're in person with beers in hand! Chris and Matt got to sit down and discuss the many benefits and use cases for upgrading your infrastructure with VMware NSX.

Automate Now! Laying the Groundwork for Infrastructure as a Service – Podcast #005

Everybody's talking about automating, but where to start? For the past several years Chris has been helping server admins and broader IT teams bring that time way down by implementing IaaS. On today's episode he talks through many of the ins and outs.

Don’t be a Target: Palo Alto Networks with Matt Cozzolino – Podcast #004

We are joined this week by our resident security expert, Matt Cozzolino, to talk all things Palo Alto Networks. Listen now to learn more about the technology and how you can experience it for yourself with the Security Lifecycle Review.

Get to Know Horizon View 7.5 with Ryan Grelck – Podcast #003

This week, IVOXY Engineer Ryan Grelck visits the podcast to discuss VMware Horizon View 7.5 features like App Volumes, User Environment Manager (UEM), Just-in-Time Management Platform (JPM), Instant Clones, and more!

A Look at VMware vSphere 6.7 part II – Podcast #002

With so many new features on vSphere 6.7, Matt & Chris dig into a few more of the new top features like VMware Platform Services Controller, changes to the vSAN UNMAP priority caps, and the switch from C# & Flash clients to HTML5 for managing NSX, VUM, vSAN, etc.

A Look at VMware vSphere 6.7 – Podcast #001

In our inaugural episode of Data Center Therapy, Matt & Chris discuss the new features of vSphere 6.7 like instant clone APIs, Per-VM EVC and ESXi reload without entire host reboot. There is a lot to factor in when considering an upgrade, so be sure to listen!