Virtual networking is a fun arena to be in, as it is a hybrid discipline between the hypervisor and networking. I’ve had the pleasure to watch this space evolve from very basic, layer 2 transparent switching, such as with the standard virtual switch, into a more robust offering with full featured switches, such as the Cisco Nexus 1000v. Part of this change has empowered architects and engineers to make more fluid design decisions around how they wish to craft a virtualized environment push around Ethernet frames.

I’d like to extend a welcome to all who read the Wahl Network blog to pop on over to BrightTALK and register for my upcoming presentation entitled “VMware Virtual Networking Design: A Disruptive Shift” – it kicks off at 3PM CST on Thursday, January 17th.

Notice the clever tagline of “a disruptive shift”? I figured it would add some coolness factor to the title. 😉

Haven’t heard of BrightTALK before? It’s an ecosystem of online webinars hosted by industry professionals and their communities to share ideas to professionals across the globe.

Presentation

The presentation is live and can be watched below.

The agenda includes:

VMware Networking History – I often find that it’s best to understand how we arrived at current state to best begin planning for the future. Otherwise, it is common to
mistake a symptom for a root cause.
Details on Virtual Switch Offerings – Good design starts with a solid foundation into what is available, and so I cover the various virtual switches that you can leverage today and the positives and negatives of each.
Network Design Considerations – The compute platform has a large impact on how the network will be designed, with an example being rack mount servers as opposed to converged infrastructure.
Cloud Networking – As a final piece, I’ll discuss some emerging technologies that are creeping their way into the data center to enable software defined networking and stretched layer 2.