VMware NSX, the best unobtainable SDDC component?

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I’ve been aware of NSX for a while and its ability but never delved too much into the in’s and outs of it. However since a move this year to a new employer I’m suddenly finding I’m being involved in much larger projects (currently on a project with 70,000 expected users) which means that NSX has moved round onto my radar properly.

So I did a little reading on the subject and noted that Pluralsight also has some good content too and went to register for an Evaluation version. The benefit for me being a vExpert is also that I get a year long key for NSX so didn’t anticipate any particular issues…..

How wrong I was! NSX appears to be completely out of reach for most people including me as a vExpert and working for a partner.

All I wanted to do was download the ISO’s etc and play with it in my lab to put it through the typical scenario’s that I might face however on registering for the evaluation instead of being able to download it you get a 60 day hosted lab access (much the same as Hands on Lab content).

So whats the problem you might ask, call me cynical but I don’t like labs of this nature very much. Sure they are a good way to follow some instructions and learn where typical buttons and settings are but you cannot really test the software in that way can you. It’s not until you lab it correctly that you find out its little troubles and how it actually works. Besides being an EUC guy I need to know how its going to work with VMware View and shock horror Citrix stuff too.

So I’ve done a little digging around I’ve even logged calls with the Partner Network and the Licensing guys and it seems the only way you can get hold of the media is either by going on the Install Configure Manage course or by purchasing it….

This makes no sense to me what so ever because as a partner and VCP in other area’s I do not need to go on the ICM course to take the exam and I’m never going to get a customer to purchase it without fully testing its capabilities which you simply cannot do within a lab.

This puts me in rather an awkward situation where I want to test the software and start recommending it where appropriate but I cannot get my hands on it at all. I’m not clear why I can sign up for Evals on all VMware’s other products and get immediate access to the software but NSX even after well over 2 years of being a VMware product is still out of reach.

This may very well explain why the take up of NSX is appearing to be slow as if I’m a partner and a vExpert and can’t get my hands on it then what chance do the poor clients have.

Author: Dale Scriven

1 thought on “VMware NSX, the best unobtainable SDDC component?

  1. The number one reason that I’ve heard multiple times from folks at VMware is one of safety for a customer’s environment. While things like vSphere, vRealize Suite, and Horizon are perfectly fine to be spun up, tested, broken, and fixed again in a lab, people who don’t understand networking concepts–especially virtualized networking–have a very real possibility of not just having a bad user experience, but actually blowing up their networks. Not offering this as my argument, because I have said multiple times this needs to be openly available to the masses if they want broader adoption (read: market share), but it’s what I keep getting told by folks in the NSX upper echelons.

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