Explore VMware Tanzu Service Mesh at VMworld 2020

It’s that time of year again — VMworld! And while this year, due to COVID-19, we’re pivoting to a virtual format, we’ll, we still be delivering a top-notch event with great sessions on cutting edge innovations. And the best part is, it’s FREE!

One of the hottest topics these days is service mesh, which is an abstraction that takes care of service to service communication, security, and observability. At VMware, we’re the “abstraction company” — but we’re not just working on the immediate use cases that the rest of the pack are working on, we’re ahead of the game, extracting a lot more value from our unique position vis a vis abstraction.

Service Mesh Sessions You Won’t Want to Miss:

I’ve compiled a list of our service mesh sessions below so you can easily register for them:

1. Introduction to Tanzu Service Mesh [MAP1231] – This session, delivered by yours truly and Oren Penso, will take you step by step from understanding what service mesh is at the most basic level to understanding the unique value of VMware’s Tanzu Service Mesh. As we usually do, this session will have plenty of good demos.
2. Connect and Secure Your Applications Through Continue reading

How Istio, NSX Service Mesh and NSX Data Center Fit Together

This is the year of the service mesh. Service mesh solutions like Istio are popping up everywhere faster than you can say Kubernetes. Yet, with the exponential growth in interest also comes confusion. These are a few of the questions I hear out there:

1. Where is the overlap between NSX service mesh (NSX-SM) with NSX-Datacenter (NSX-DC)?
2. Is there synergy between the NSX-DC and Istio?
3. Can service mesh be considered networking at all?

These are all excellent and valid questions. I will try to answer them at the end of the post, but to get there let’s first understand what each solution is trying to achieve and place both on the OSI layer to bring more clarity to this topic.

*Note – I focused this post on NSX-DC and Istio, to prevent confusion, Istio is an open source service mesh project, while NSX-SM is a VMware service delivering enterprise-grade service mesh, while it is built on top of Istio, it brings extensive capabilities beyond those that are offered by the Istio Open Source project.

Before we start, in a nutshell, what is Istio?

Istio (https://istio.io/) Is an Open Source service mesh project led by Google that addresses Continue reading

The value-add of NSX Data Center Compared To Open Source Solutions For Cloud Native Apps

Authored by:

Roie Ben-haim (Twitter: @roie9876)

Niran Even-chen (Twitter: @niranec)

In our job as System engineers in the networking and security for Cloud native applications (CNA) space we get to work with many customers on their implementation of CNA platforms. The fun part of that is that we get to hear the “DevOps” drivers and needs of many enterprise customers. Developers using CNA platforms such as Kubernetes (k8s) and Pivotal Application Service (Formerly known as PCF) don’t always have security and networking first in mind; they are focused on speed and innovation. A developer doesn’t want to wait for the networking team to provision service (e.g. load balancing, switching, etc.), or for the security team to whitelist a new app capability. This is especially true in enterprises where “Change management” is manual and long process. On the other hand, when it comes to those same enterprises, there are regulations and security requirements that can slow down the innovation process. To strike a balance, networking and security platforms for CNA need to operate in as seamless a manner as possible to maximize speed and efficiency for both IT and developers. NSX Data Center is a platform built just for Continue reading

Real world use cases for NSX and Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF) is the leading PaaS solution for enterprise customers today, providing a fast way to convert their ideas from conception to production. This is achieved by providing a platform to run their code in any cloud and any language taking care of all the infrastructure “stuff” for them.

From building the container image, compiling it with the required runtime , deploying it in a highly available mode and connecting it to the required services, PCF allows dev shops to concentrate on developing their code.

While the platform is providing developers with the most simplified experience conceivable, under the hood there are many moving parts that make that happen and plumbing all these parts can be complex. That’s where customers are really enjoying the power of VMware’s SDDC, and the glue between the PaaS and SDDC layers is NSX, it is the enabler that makes it all work.

In this blog post I detail some of the main uses cases customers have already deployed NSX for PCF on top of vSphere and how PCF and NSX are much better together in the real world.

The use cases customers are deploying with NSX for PCF are varied and ill Continue reading