Data Center Therapy

Confused by the alphabet soup of SD-WAN? Wondering whether it's about connecting multiple sites or just improving your local internet performance? Join your Data Center Therapy guides, Matt "Connectivity Curmudgeon" Yette and Matt "Bandwidth Barista" Cozzolino, along with special guest Jeremy "The Network Navigator" Goosen, as they untangle the complexities and demystify SD-WAN in this insightful episode.

What’s Inside:

• SD-WAN Defined: We clarify the confusion around SD-WAN by breaking down the two primary uses—site-to-site LAN connectivity (think Meraki or Palo Alto), and local internet optimization solutions (Bigleaf, Cato Networks).
• Internet Optimization Unpacked: Dive into how solutions like Bigleaf and Cato seamlessly handle multiple internet links, ensuring your traffic uses the most efficient route while maintaining the same public IP—even during failovers.
• Real-World Stories: Jeremy shares compelling experiences from the trenches, highlighting creative uses of SD-WAN technologies to solve complex connectivity challenges, including cellular and Starlink integrations for reliable remote access.
• Simplifying Complexity: Learn why companies might prefer plug-and-play SD-WAN solutions over traditional manual setups involving BGP and owned IP addresses, significantly easing deployment and management.

Reminders:

• The VCF Operations Workshop is April 10th; register for it here.
• The VCF Operations Class is May 20-23; register for it here.

Enjoying Data Center Therapy? Like, subscribe, and share this episode with your network! Until next time—stay connected, stay informed!

Are the dense jungles of Windows Server leaving you lost? Are Active Directory tangles, Entra ID integrations, or legacy issues keeping your IT nights sleepless? Well, grab your machete (or PowerShell) and join us on an expedition into the depths of Microsoft ecosystems in this week’s episode of Data Center Therapy!In this thrilling adventure, your trusted guides, Matt “Server Sherpa” Yette and Matt “Patch Paladin” Cozzolino, are joined once again by IVOXY’s own Microsoft guru, Dade “Forest Ranger” Wilson. Together, they brave the wilds of Windows Server and Active Directory to uncover the secrets, pitfalls, and solutions waiting within.What treasures (and traps) await you in this episode?

• Windows Server Assessment: Dade spills the beans on what his assessment covers, from identifying lurking performance issues to spotting security vulnerabilities in forgotten corners of your environment.
• Active Directory & Entra ID: How do these two pillars of Microsoft infrastructure intersect, and why do they often make us break a sweat?
• Best Practices & Pro Tips: Schema upgrades, time-sync nightmares, and why DNS is always the culprit—Dade and the Matts share their survival tips.
• Upcoming Workshop Alert: Don’t miss out on IVOXY's upcoming Active Directory/Entra ID workshop and hands-on training class, led by Dade, designed to demystify these crucial Microsoft tools and set your team up for success.

As always, if you enjoy the show, please be sure to like, share with three colleagues and subscribe wherever you get your quality podcasts.From the DCT crew – Stay cool, stay protected, be informed and see you at the next event and episode, compadres

Hot enough for you, Data Center Therapy listeners?

Go ahead, grab a plate of ribs, corn, and green beans, and belly up to the listening picnic table, as your ears get to feast on the freshness that is Episode 94.  In this one, our sun-drenched hosts, Mr. Matt “8 Panel Chamois” Yette and Mr. Matt “Deep Cycle Marine” Cozzolino share their summer exploits along with a healthy heaping of topical news items from the world of I.T.

In this episode, you, our loyal DCT fans, will get to hear about:

• The durability issues plaguing Intel’s 13th and 14th generation CPUs, along with their announced layoffs
• Software testing, and some relevant details surrounding the CrowdStrike incident that affected millions of Windows systems worldwide
• The complications that affect storage management and backups surrounding Docker containers

While the boys also muse about the vagaries of automated testing suites and forced updates of software (both on desktop and mobile platforms) the Matts also discuss their latest home lab upgrades, StarLink on boats, and much more.  Give it a listen and get your healthy dose of I.T. empathy from DCT.

Reminders: 

• The Aria Operations Workshop is August 8th; register for it here.
• The Aria Operations Class is September 24th; register for it here.
• The in-person IVOXY VMware Explore Redux Event in Portland, Olympia and Seattle are September 10th, 11th, and 12th, register for those events here:
  • 9/10/24 - Portland, OR
  • 9/11/24 - Olympia, WA
  • 9/12/24 - Seattle, WA

As always, if you enjoy the show, please be sure to like, share with three colleagues and subscribe wherever you get your quality podcasts.  

From the DCT crew - Stay cool, stay protected, be informed and see you at the next event and episode, compadres! 

What things Microsoft lurk in the shadows, basements, and dark closets of your I.T. organization?  Which parts of Active Directory, Exchange, or M365 keep you up at night, racked with anxiety and fear?  Is there no relief from scary upgrades and failures to be had? 

Fear not, loyal compatriots! 

Bust out your flashlights, proton packs, and ectoplasm-resistant onesies because this week on Data Center Therapy, your hosts, Matt ‘Venkman’ Yette and Matt ‘Ray’ Cozzolino welcome IVOXY’s newest Consultant and Microsoft Specialist, Mr. Dade ‘Egon’ Wilson to the virtual studios to explore all things ‘365.’   

In this episode you, our captivated listeners, will:

• Hear about Dade’s background, his hobbies, love of Seattle, and what he does in his spare time.
• Find out if schema upgrades should be feared, whether Microsoft had constraints of what the backing storage of Exchange had to be, and why functional version upgrades are often neglected.
• Learn of the new integrations like Intune and Entra ID which necessitate newer software infrastructure parts and pieces.
• and be amazed by the myriad of ways in which Microsoft systems can break, whether it’s DNS, Kerberos, Certificates, or the time (but we all know, it’s DNS!).

Come listen to this episode to meet the newest member of the IVOXY team and jump into the deep end of the Active Directory pool with us; it’ll be intimidating, but also a bit of a fun.  Register for Matt Cozzolino’s upcoming June 20th “Ask me Anything” for his Networking for Server Administrators class (coming July 30th) at https://ivoxy.com/n4sa.  Register for the Aria Operations workshop, coming up August 8th, at https://ivoxy.com/ariaworkshop.  As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to like, share, and subscribe and tell three friends about how you get a hearty dose of I.T. empathy and free counseling just by listening to the show.  :)  Thanks for listening and we’ll see you on the next spooky episode, DCT faithful!

Welcome back for another new episode, Data Center Therapy aficionados!  This week, our adventurous and hard-working hosts, Matt “Master Link” Yette and Matt “Chromed Crankset” Cozzolino open up the virtual studios to IVOXY’s own Ryan “Security Gusset” Grelck, who joins the fellas to talk all things endpoint-related for the first part of the podcast.

In addition to discussions of all things client-related, the crew also discuss:

• The differences between endpoint protection (EPP) and endpoint detection and response (EDR).
• SentinelOne’s purple.ai feature and automated root cause analysis (RCA).
• Microsoft’s Recall feature for Copilot+ PCs, and its security implications.
• The browser wars, Firefox, and how Chromium code maintenance impacts modern browser platforms.

With all those topics and more, including the upcoming Q3 and Q4 classes from IVOXY, the Matts and Ryan also briefly cover the newer software suites now included in VMware vSphere Foundation and VMware Cloud Foundation.  We hope you have as much fun listening to the show as much as we had making it, and if you do, be sure to tell three friends, like and subscribe wherever you find your quality podcasts.  

Thanks for joining us once again and we’ll see you in an IVOXY class, on a free webinar or on the next episode of DCT.  Ciao for now! 

Welcome back, long-awaiting listeners, as your favorite IT podcast with a healthy dose of empathy, Data Center Therapy, returns after a seven-month hiatus.  It’s been too long, we know, but we’re back and we’re recharged so we can bring you the first of many new episodes with exciting, topical and relevant content.  Thanks for joining us!

On this episode, your intrepid hosts, Mr. Matt “been through the desert on a horse with no name” Cozzolino and Mr. Matt “Call me Heisenberg” Yette share Cozzo’s adventures hiking from Supai to Havasupai Falls in the great state of Arizona, and talk all things Broadcom, given the big news of the acquisition of VMware completed since the last episode aired.

While sharing their thoughts on the whole VMware ecosystem and the changes, the DCT crew muse about:

• The new tiers of subscription licensing that replace many of the old VMware SKUs,
• The changes in licensing from sockets to cores,
• The aborted licensing change back in the VMware days regarding vRAM,
• The “second day” about face on ROBO licensing
• Viable alternatives to vSphere
• The spinning off of the Horizon technology to the new firm named Omnissa,
• and much, much more.

As a reminder, IVOXY are hosting a vSphere 8 Advanced Class in just two weeks, and we’re developing classes and workshops for Disaster Recovery and Aria Operations (formerly VMware vRealize Operations.)  If you’re interested in Matt Cozzolino’s Networking for Server admins Ask Me Anything on June 20th at 11AM Pacific, register at: https://ivoxy.com/ama-networkingforserveradmins.   If you’re looking for the DirtFish 2024 event registration, it may be found at: https://ivoxy.com/dirtfish2024.  As always, if you enjoy Data Center Therapy, please tell three friends and be sure to like, share and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  Thanks for your patience, your attention, and we eagerly look forward to sharing more in 2024 with you all on the next episode of Data Center Therapy!

Welcome back, loyal Data Center Therapy listeners!  As summer gives way to fall, we’re dropping another fresh and topical episode onto the hot podcast grill for your informational delight (with a dash of fun thrown in for good measure.)  Your host, Mr. Matt “My Stack Overflowed” Cozzolino joins IVOXY End User Compute specialists Ryan "Universal Broker" Grelck and Aaron "Auto-Scaling" Hagman for a deep dive into the new and cloud-enabled world that is Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, and Windows 365.   In just thirty-two minutes, you, our listeners will get to learn about:

• What Azure Virtual Desktop is, why it exists, and what the implications are for mobility and security.
• What kinds of capabilities AVD has for integration with VNETs, storage, profiles, domains and Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory.)
• Why some organizations use multi-session desktops.
• How Windows 365 differs from AVD, and how it’s two flavors (Business and Enterprise) differ from each other.
• What MSIX App Attach is, how it’s similar to Horizon’s AppVolumes, and how Horizon on Azure is now a thing.
• What the future of Windows Software Update Services is, how Intune and Group Policy interact, and what ADMX/ADML templates are.
• And many of the reasons businesses ultimately choose to implement AVD, including a focus on budget, CAPEX/OPEX, security or performance considerations.

Along the way the crew also discusses Azure Arc, VPN tunnels and Express Routes, GPU-enabled cloud desktop instances, Windows Update for Business, thin clients and much more.

If you like what you hear, please be sure to like, subscribe and share wherever you find quality podcasts like Data Center Therapy.  If you’re interested in learning more about AVD or Windows 365, please reach out to your IVOXY Account Manager and we’d be happy to help guide you on your journey.  Thanks for listening!  Be safe, be informed, manage your virtual desktop environment like a boss, and catch you on the next fresh episode!

Welcome back to another exciting episode of Data Center Therapy, where the digital device management seas are stormy but the DCT deck crew are always ready for a challenge!  While Matt ‘Hard to Starboard’ Cozzolino is out on PTO this week, your reliable and experienced Captain, Mr. Matt ‘Engines Steady at Quarter Impulse’ Yette welcomes IVOXY End User Computing Consultants Mr. Ryan ‘Magnum VDI’ Grelck and Mr. Aaron ‘Active Directory Animal’ Hagman to the virtual DCT studios, for a chat about all things Microsoft Intune.  

  In this episode, you, our adventurous listeners, will get to hear about:

• What Microsoft 365 traditionally encompasses and how offerings beyond M365 integrate into the usual core technologies (Exchange, Sharepoint, OneDrive and Teams).
• How Microsoft Intune can be helpful for hybrid work and remote/travelling sales teams, and how SCCM relates.
• Mobile Device Management, including some old stories of MobileIron, and what Intune is capable of doing for the new corporate end user’s experience and data management (including conditional access).
• How Azure Active Directory (now Entra) can integrate with on-premises infrastructure and clients and what happens when the Internet goes out.

  After listening, if you’re excited to join the September 19th through 21st Intune class (with Office Hours on September 22nd) then please be sure to reach out to your IVOXY Account Manager or [email protected] so you can register yourself.  If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to like, share and subscribe wherever quality podcasts like DCT are found.

  Thanks as always for listening, and stay safe, get your (Windows) Autopilot on, stay (mobile) managed and catch you on the next fun and informative episode of Data Center Therapy!  

Welcome back to another installment of your favorite IT podcast with a healthy dose of empathy, Data Center Therapy.  On this episode Matt ‘Mouse Master’ Yette and Matt ‘4K before 4K was cool’ Cozzolino invite VDI expert and all-around VMware guru Mr. Ryan Grelck back to the virtual studios.  Ryan shares the latest and greatest developments of end-user-computing and virtualization technologies, the changes that were made in the IVOXY training labs as of late, and even ends up getting mired in debates over the best input systems for end-user devices.

In this episode, you, the lifeblood of our show - our listeners, will get to learn about:

• Which software offerings make sense to deliver over application virtualization technologies.
• New evolutions of App Volumes including the intriguing and flexible Apps On Demand feature.
• Why imaging suites in medical systems tend not to be delivered over thin clients.

Ryan’s latest Summer 2023 Horizon class is coming up July 10th through the 14th, so if you’re interested in attending, please reach out to your IVOXY Account Manager or hit up the IVOXY website at your earliest convenience.  If you enjoyed what you heard, please be sure to like, share and subscribe to this podcast wherever you found it.  

Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, be sure to stay cool, stay informed, stay trained up, and catch you on the next episode of Data Center Therapy.  Thanks for listening!

You’re a one-person wrecking crew.

You rock your compute infrastructure, your hypervisor and virtual machine management system, and your storage subsystems, but you’ll admit, you could use some help with the networking side every once in a while.  In fact, every now and again, something happens on the network and you never can quite get to the root of it; you rebooted a device and that ended up fixing it ninety nine times out of a hundred.  Let’s not talk about that one-hundredth time - that was a doozy and turned out to be an obscure setting, or a malfunctioning printer or client system.  Either way, it sure would be nice to know, for certain, if you could make things better, permanently.

Or…

Maybe you’re at a large organization; perhaps even in the networking and security arm of an I.T. group, but somebody new starts and as you look over the documentation, you realize it’s terribly out of date.  It would be a great exercise to map everything out and update the records and create diagrams in addition to mentoring the new person, but there’s just not enough hours in the day to do both.  Or…is there a way you could?

Welcome back to another episode of your favorite I.T. podcast with a healthy dose of empathy, Data Center Therapy.  Your hosts, as always, include the gregarious and well-travelled Mr. Matt “Traffic Shaping the T1 with Napster” Yette as well as the multi-talented and tenured Mr. Matt “Hospitals don’t have change control windows!” Cozzolino.  In this edition, the Matts welcome IVOXY Director of Consulting and O.G. of the Networking Practice, Mr. Mack “Channel Surfing” Nethkin as well as the newest IVOXY Senior Network Consultant, Mr. Robert “Pain is just Weakness leaving the Network” Clack.

If terms like STP, HSRP, VRRP, BGP, OSPF, and Dynamic Routing get your motor running, great.  If it’s all Greek to you, that’s A-OK - in fact, you’ll likely pick up a few new network terms while giving this one a listen.

When listening to this latest episode, you, our grateful listeners will hear tales of:

• Mack’s experiences at Alaska Airlines and how those experiences shaped the practices he advocates for (including good switch names) and things he looks for when delivering network assessments for customers.
• The various sections of a typical network assessment, and what are included in those sections (including infrastructure, availability, management, performance and security elements, all to paint a more complete picture!)
• How network assessments are performed (and yes, there are diagrams!), the red/yellow/green light methodologies, but also more importantly, the why of the assessment - and why those reasons matter to businesses.

Please be sure to like, share and subscribe wherever you found this podcast and stay tuned to our show to learn about our upcoming training courses, including a second round of Matt Cozzolino’s Advanced vSphere 8 class.  Catch you on the next jam-packed episode of Data Center Therapy - and stay safe, assess your stacks or get some help assessing them, and as always, stay informed, DCT friends!