Cisco Modeling Labs (CML) has turned out to be a great tool for deploying virtual network resources, but the "only Cisco VNFs" limitation is a bit much. Let's use this opportunity to really take advantage of the capabilities that NSX-T has for virtual network labs! Overview For the purpose of lab …

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Ever wonder what it would be like to have a platform dedicated to Continuous Improvement / Testing / Labbing? Cisco's put a lot of thought into good ways to do that, and Cisco Modeling Labs(CML) is the latest iteration of their solutions to provide this as a service to enterprises and casual users alike. CML is the …

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VMware's NSX Datacenter product is designed for a bit more than single enterprise virtual networking and security. When reviewing platform maximums (NSX-T 3.2 ConfigMax), the listed maximum number of Tier-1 routers is 4,000 logical routers. Achieving that number takes a degree of intentional design, however. When …

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What is the point of all this software-defined infrastructure if you don't use it? In prior examples, it's a fairly straightforward path to SDN when deploying NSX Data Center, allowing a VI admin or network engineer to deploy virtual network resources via a GUI. This isn't the end of an effort, but the start of a …

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GitOps GitOps, a term coined in 2017, describes the practice of performing infrastructure operations from a Git repository. In this practice, we easily develop the ability to re-deploy any broken infrastructure (like application managers), but that doesn't really help infrastructure engineers. From the perspective of …

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Idempotence and Declarative Methods - not just buzzwords Idempotence Coined by Benjamin Peirce, this term indicates that a mathematical operation will produce a consistent result, even with repetition. Idempotence is much more complicated subject in mathematics and computer science. IT and DevOps use a simplified …

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Why should an infrastructure engineer leverage REST APIs? I'm sure most IT workers have at least heard of REST APIs, or heard a sales pitch where a vendor insists that while a requested functionality doesn't exist, you could build it yourself by "using the API". Or, participate in discussions where people …

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VMworld 2021 is online this year I'll really miss some of the sessions and exploration we've had in past years in person, but I think VMware made the right call this year. We can expect to see a fundamental shift with online conventions - and this will need some unique strategy compared to previous years. The Basics I …

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DNS is a vital component of all computer networks. Also known as the "Internet Yellow Pages," this service is consumed by every household. DNS services are typically deployed in several patterns to support users and systems: DNS Forwarder: This deployment method is the most common. Everybody needs name …

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TL;DR If you see either of these errors, check grep 'ERROR' /opt/avi/log/cc_agent_go_{{ cloud }} for the potential cause. In my case, the / character was not correctly processed by Avi's Golang client (facing vCenter). The Problem When trying to configure NSX ALB + NSX-T on my home lab, I am presented nothing but the …

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