Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts

Thursday, March 2, 2017

A "Thank You" post - passed the VCP-NV 2V0-642! A look back

Wow, what a ride it has been.

This blog, from the beginning, has been dedicated to helping a current VMware admin who works in DataCenter Virtualization, to get accustomed with network virtualization, and a big thing for me has been pointing out free resources and opportunities to get the equivalent certs and training that this VMware administrator had to take. So I made posts like:



I was able to talk from this point of view, since that was exactly me! The more I learned about NSX, and the more I looked for information, the more resources I found from amazing people who give a lot back for free. 

I'm also very proud to have been selected vExpertNSX in 2016. This was because I shared my enthusiasm for NSX with my VMUGparticipated in SocialLabsvBrownBag and the large latin community. There are many, many, many others that are ahead, technically, over me - this has always been the case in many things - but I decided that I would do my part in letting people know this is the next big thing. If anything, what I want people to feel is a sense of excitement of what's possible, that wasn't possible before!

I decided my first big milestone would be getting the VCP6-NV certification. You may remember from this post that the VCP6.2 NV beta dates coincided with Elver Sena's book release during VMworld (where I actually met him, and got my signed copy!). Meeting Elver was super cool (we got an interview in Spanish done), and having his book, plus the accessible cost of the exam, made me take the plunge, and I got the happy news today that I passed! I wholeheartedly recommend getting the premium edition from Pearson, as those 4 practice exams have lots of questions that I feel helped me a lot!




I think there is a lot more to come for NSX, much more than what we have already seen. I highlighted it is a unique product that offers capabilities no other product can match, especially in security. Likewise, it requires some skills, and busting silos inside companies. I even have some ideas for what will come in the future, when NSX will simply be able to handle all IT assets in the company, starting with IPAM. I know now its next step is that it will be able to handle all IT assets, being the one glue for real visibility and automation, on premises and in the cloud.

My next milestone> I'm looking forward to more experience with NSX (vExperts have both NSX and vRealize Network Insight licenses for homelab use, while vExpertNSX's have had it for a little more time than that) and taking on the VCAP6-NV exam. I already have some great vCommunity resources lined up from Gabriel Maciel and Clinton Prentice and Iwan Hoogendoorn. I just wish I had some real networking switches to play with, but I hear Tim Davis, the official Face of #vExpertNSX, may find some cheap for my homelab - and with a little work, we can make some cool blog posts!

If anything in this blog post, I want you to Get excited about NSX, and do something about it. Go for that first cert, push for a POC or some licenses in your company, and play with it. Dive deep. I guarantee you that it is time well spent, and may I hear about your success soon!

PD, if anyone is still thinking you can't download NSX, I would like to remind you that you can; because it's the only supported upgrade of VCNS, almost all paying customers can access the bits, and this has been the case since NSX 6.2.3. The documentation is public, you can play all day in the HOLs, and everything you need to "hop on" is available. 

Monday, September 12, 2016

vExpert NSX!

Last August 17 the vExpert NSX program was announced to the world. 


"vExpert NSX" is a sub-program within VMware's vExpert program - only current vExperts were allowed to apply. As a believer in the trans-formative power of NSX and network virtualization in general, and thanks to the VMUG/vBrownBag contributions and posts in this blog, my application was accepted and I am very proud to have been awarded this designation.

I believe I have a particular background which helps me in helping others for this topic:

  • I have a networking education background (took up to CCNP3 in my college years) of which I never had the opportunity to actually work in a dedicated fashion (ie, I was never a network engineer, the closest was a Network Control Center engineer which did give me access to routers and firewalls, but it was not my responsibility to design and do changes)
  • I enjoy networking in general. Currently I am a fan of the OpenvSwitch work that is entwined with cloud computing and OpenStack and is also related to NSX, and I've always had an admiration for the OpenBSD project, their pf firewall and their network implementations
  • My day to day role is a dedicated VMware engineer serving a large enterprise environment - and I'm busy! So my posts won't be fluff :)
  • I speak both English and Spanish fluently and enjoy making connections in the vCommunity
Taking these things into consideration - things I'd already covered somewhat in the mission for this blog - I gladly accept the vExpert NSX award and further commit to help others in learning and adopting NSX and related technologies. I will blog in both English and Spanish as the content becomes available, with a focus on not repeating what is widely available but highlighting relevant news that should not be missed, covering certification exams, and taking you along on my journey.


As always feel free to reach out on twitter and let me know if I can help!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Mission

I always like stating a mission for my blogs. It helps keep the content focused.

I currently work as a VMware server administrator. My focus for the last 3 or 4 years has been learning and using VMware vSphere, focused on virtualizing server workloads.

I attended VMworld 2014 when NSX had been officially released and adopted by customers. I was curious about what virtualizing the network could mean (even just the concept!). Later that year, thanks to vBrownBag and following people on twitter, I started learning a bit more.

NSX has become a product in the VMware portfolio that is widely offered. My company was offered to do a proof of concept and I was enrolled in a "NSX exploration class", where I was able to learn more about the product.

It is now VMworld 2015 and I was recently named a vExpert. In the vExpert reception Chris McCain challenged bloggers to create a blog that educates about NSX. This blog was inspired by that challenge, but it also serves a personal purpose.

By the time I graduated college I had taken CCNA 1-4 and CCNP1-3. I honestly thought that my professional career would be in networking. One of the things I regret about that time is I never took the time to take the CCNA exam when I had everything fresh!

I have a networking background, but no network engineering experience. My actual work life has been a journey through the network operations center, end user support administration and lately systems engineering. The networking background has, of course, helped a lot, but experiencing more areas of IT has definitely improved my understanding of IT as a whole and also of what a good network engineer looks like.

Network virtualization for me offers a whole new way of thinking. I've learned a little of the flexibility and capabilities that virtualizing the network provides, and have found it revolutionary - I want to start learning it and hopefully begin using this new technology as I continue my career.

With all of this information, let's state this blog's mission:

     This blog takes you on my journey of exploration and discovery (ha... did you see what I did there?) of what virtualizing the network means; how do you learn about it, how do you practice what you learn, and how it is applied in the real world. 

Posts can vary widely: most will be technical or educational, with a focus on how can the normal internet user embrace this new technology, but others will explore the business or implementation challenges and how they can be overcome. 

I know this will be a fun journey, and I thank you for looking at my posts and following along. Please don't hesitate to contact me on twitter if you have any suggestions :)

Ariel Sanchez, @arielsanchezmor