I was very surprised to receive some amazing news last weekend...my application for vExpert 2018 was accepted! I started this blog last year a little bit before VMworld. I had consumed a ton of material from other vExperts to that point, mainly from researching errors I had run into in the field or best practices … Continue reading vExpert 2018
DR with Cloud Protection Manager
CPM provides a DR option that can be used to easily send backup data from one region to another should you need to restore your EC2 instances in another AWS region. This post details the process of sending US-East (N. Virginia) backup data to US-West (Oregon). Configure CPM Disaster Recovery Options Within CPM, click Policies. … Continue reading DR with Cloud Protection Manager
Improving AWS / Cisco ASA VPN Instability
If you are experiencing any instability in regards to a VPN connection between your corporate datacenter and AWS, consider the following (received from AWS Support) if you are using Cisco ASAs to establish the VPN connection to AWS. -> From looking at the logs, following are the suggested changes - 1. I am seeing Phase … Continue reading Improving AWS / Cisco ASA VPN Instability
Part 4 – AWS Backup with CPM – Restoring Files
At a high-level, posts 1-3 covered the process to deploy, initialize, and configure CPM to backup EC2 instances. To close out the series, I'll cover the process to restore files using CPM's backup monitor. Though I'll close the basic backup/restore series out with this post, there is still much more than can and will be … Continue reading Part 4 – AWS Backup with CPM – Restoring Files
Veeam Restore Windows Agent to VM
I recently had a deployment that required testing of a physical server running the Veeam Windows Agent to be restored as a virtual machine. The customer was using VMware, which presented a little bit of a challenge as Veeam does not currently have an "Instant Restore to VMware" option like is available for Hyper-V. While … Continue reading Veeam Restore Windows Agent to VM
Part 3 – AWS Backup with CPM – Creating a Backup Schedule and Policy
In this post, we're still looking at backing up AWS EC2 instances using N2WS Cloud Protection Manager (CPM). Posts #1 and 2 covered deploying and initializing the appliance. Here we dig into the CPM interface to configure backups for EC2 instances. Creating a Backup Schedule and Policy A backup schedule sets the start time and … Continue reading Part 3 – AWS Backup with CPM – Creating a Backup Schedule and Policy
Error installing ESXi on UCS Flex Flash
I just ran into an issue for the second time that originally came up for me before the end of last year. While deploying new UCS C220 servers for a customer using Flex Flash as the OS drive, I attempted to install ESXi using the Cisco Custom Image and during the install immediately got this … Continue reading Error installing ESXi on UCS Flex Flash
Part 2 – AWS Backup with CPM – Initializing the Appliance
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the process of deploying a Cloud Protection Manager (CPM) appliance from the AWS Marketplace for the purpose of backing up AWS-based resources. Though this series will focus on the backup of EC2 instances, CPM is not limited to backing up EC2 instances only. CPM can be … Continue reading Part 2 – AWS Backup with CPM – Initializing the Appliance
Part 1 – Backup AWS Resources N2WS Cloud Protection Manager (CPM)
Toward the end of 2017, I set out to explore methods of backing up AWS instances and resources. NWN is a Veeam VCSP and so initially I was drawn to Cloud Protection Manager from N2WS as it was slated to be included with the Veeam AWS Availability Suite in order to backup AWS EC2 instances. … Continue reading Part 1 – Backup AWS Resources N2WS Cloud Protection Manager (CPM)
My Poor Man’s AWS Power Management
This post focuses more on a personal problem I experienced some time ago....and some time ago, I did it. After privately swearing to myself that I'd never leave an EC2 instance powered on when not in use, I left one on and paid the price, literally, when my monthly AWS bill was 300% higher than … Continue reading My Poor Man’s AWS Power Management