Some Tech listens!

by Corey Evans

Hope you've all had a good break and a ready to get back into the swing of things. Before we go too far I'd like to clarify two things: 1) no, I don't listen to podcasts on a cassette tape, and 2) no, I don't use samsung device for that matter! So, to the podcasts....I may have possibly mentioned previously I'm a fan of listening to them while running and thought it time for a couple of new recommendations.

Unexplored Territory podcast - Frank Denneman, Duncan Epping and Johan van Amersfoort.

Frank and Duncan are both well know technical figureheads at VMware while Johan is a EUC guru with ITQ. All three have VMare VCDX certification so are certified heavy weights.... This podcast is a relatively new with only 7 episodes released to date, but covers some fantastic tech. Topics covered are quite relevant to our Softsource vBridge IaaS platform including things like:

  • Security, the zero trust model . I hope by now most people in IT are taking security seriously given the ongoing disruption we see almost daily. The consequences of not doing so just mind blowing at this stage (familar with any of these? The Lazarus Heist series, Sandworm (thanks Hamish Roy) and more locally last years Waikato DHB ransomware attack)
  • Virtual Volumes with Pure Storage. Being massive fans of both Pure Storage and of course VMware, vvols are something we've been working towards implementing for some time. There are numerous benefits of using vvols over traditional NTFS based LUNs not least of which is being able to better utililse Storage Based Policy Management or SPBM along with removing the overheads of managing large numbers of LUNs over multiple arrays at multiple sites.
  • GPU's and DPU's with Nvidia. While these are both futures for Softsource vBridge (hopefully more on this soon) the ability to offload workload from busy CPU's and generate better performance is obviously appealing. Being able to cater to the demands of AI/ML workloads and perhaps even professional workstation like graphics in the Datacentre would open opportunities thanks to Datacentre GPUs. Smartnics and DPU's are just another step down the path of building better hosts but sound extremely promising.
  • Event driven automation - VEBA. VMware's VEBA is not something we're currently working with but automation definately is. Removing repetative manual tasks and introducing automation where it fits certainly is a worthy goal. Essentially your improving response times and creating better consistency with outcomes which are definately wins.

Tech Breakfast podcast - Aaron Buley, Tyler Gates & Russ Cantwell.

In contrast, The Tech Breakfast podcast is well established and produces quite a volume of content in a less structured/formal format.  It comes over as more of a daily talk show chat type where they discuss whatevers in the tech news. Definately a wide range of topics covered including AWS, Google, Apple, Facebook/Meta, Nvidia, SpaceX, Crypto, etc etc - lately there's been quoite a bit covering electric vehicles (EV's) along with battery technologies.

Some recent episodes I enjoyed:

  • 227: Log4j with Steve Wilson and Sarbjeet Johal. If you're involved in tech then theres a good chance you spent some time late last year dealing with the fallout of this issue - certainly something I worked on before hitting the Christmas Holidays and will no doubt need further attention when I get back on deck!
  • 225: AWS outage - Tim Cook & China - Life360 - Augmented Reality. The impact of an outage when a Hyperscaler like AWS has an issue. Deals businesses do with countries (like Apple and China) and the future of Augmented Reality. Interesting stuff.
  • 220: MacBook Pro with Darin Zook. Having recently moved to a new 14" M1 based MacBook Pro for my work laptop I found this interesting. Probably the best laptop I've had by far with an amazing screen!

There's really a heap of tech content covered in a casual format. This is one I've only recently come across but certainly one I'll keep on rotation. Doesn't necessarily go too deep on things but a great listen. I probably won't catch every episode but definately worth jumping in to catchup on the latest tech news. Enjoy!