Monthly Archives: May 2012

Vmware Datastore via NFS

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One of the objectives of our recently concluded massive storage upgrade project, was to replace our vmware datastore from iSCSI to NFS. I have been hearing the advantages of using NFS versus block-level storage (ie, iSCSI or Fiber Channel), and true enough NFS did not disappoint.

We have been using iSCSI on NetApp as datastore on vmware for a long time, and it has been running pretty well. But when we perform maintenance on the NetApp storage, the virtual machines were often times affected. In addition, restore procedures can be a pain.

While Fiber Channel (FC) is still the standard storage for most vmware implementation because of its proven technology, in my experience here are the advantages of using NFS over iSCSI or FC:

1. Robust, as long as you follow the best practices guidelines. For instance, separate the NFS network from the general use network. Vmware and NetApp released white papers discussing the NFS datastore best practices. In our environment, we did several failover on the NetApp storage to upgrade the Data ONTAP version, and the virtual machines were never affected.

2. Easier to configure both on the vmware side and the NetApp side.

3. Easier to backup, via NDMP on the NetApp side.

4. Easier to restore vmdk files using the snapshots on the NetApp side, since there is no need to mount LUNs.

5. Vmware and NetApp built great tools for seamless maintenance and operations.

Thoughts on Information Security

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I cannot stress enough the importance of information security. Almost everyday we hear stories about security breaches – hacker groups defacing websites for political purposes, countries stealing proprietary information from other countries and companies, organized crime stealing credit card information and selling those in the black market.

Cloud computing and mobile devices have exacerbated the problem.

The thing with security is that it is at odds with convenience. We want to get things done quickly, but security slows us down. For instance, we are required to enter hard to guess passwords to access our bank account online or access our company’s applications. Why not just let us in right away? Remembering passwords (and lots of them) and being required to change them every three months take some time and effort.

But if we want ourselves and our companies we work for to be secure, we should give up a little convenience. There is no other way.

A lot of technical solutions and innovations have been devised to improve information security. But no amount of technical innovation can solve the weakest link in security – social engineering. Remember the “I Love You” virus several years ago? It was a virus that was spread when you open an email with the subject line “I Love You.” Who wouldn’t want to open an email with that subject line?

User awareness is the key. Companies and individuals should at least invest in training on security and privacy.

The sad thing is that many companies and individuals do not take security very seriously, until they become victims. True, we should not spend significant amount of time and money for security. The resources we spend on security should be proportional to the assets we are protecting. You should not buy a 1 million dollar vault to protect your 100K painting.

When I obtained my CISSP certification several years ago, I didn’t plan on specializing on information security. I have, however, incorporated good security practices in system and network design and implementation, virtualization, storage, and almost all aspect of IT. But with the tremendous need for IT security professionals these days, I might consider specializing in information security.