I can’t express how much I love some of the new features in Network Insight (Operations for Networks .. bleh). The new heatmap feature in ArON (vRNI) 6.8 is the simplest way to get a quick status on your vCenter and NSX solution health. It is much faster than looking at the list of Issues and filtering by solution.
I recommend reviewing the Product Tour (under Help in top-right) for additional features: the Troubleshooting feature that was demonstrated at VMware Explore looks extremely promising.

With the rebranding from vRealize to Aria, vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) has become Aria Operations for Networks. I met some of the Product Team at VMware Explore 2022, and they are trying out the ArON acronym; I always preferred “Network Insight” as the most descriptive.

There is also a new release (though all the docs still use the old naming): https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vRealize-Network-Insight/6.8/rn/vmware-vrealize-network-insight-68-release-notes/index.html
The most obvious change is the new Home page you start on upon login. One neat feature is the heat map view of issues, you can click on the tiles to jump to the objects.

It will take a bit to get used to the navigation changes, but overall I expect Network Insight to remain an important tool in our troubleshooting and microsegmentation toolkit.

Without much fanfare NSX 4.0.0.1 released earlier this month. Among other features, there is IPv6 support. However, a big requirement is you must complete your N-VDS to VDS 7.x migration before upgrading to NSX 4.0 Oh yes, the NSX-T name is now retired (along with NSX-v), so NSX-T is now .. plain NSX.

Here's the release notes: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX/4.0/rn/vmware-nsx-4001-release-notes/index.html

The release notes include a link to this extremely detailed doc on N-VDS migration: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/79872

There was a quick 3.2.0.1 patch in January for critical bugs (related to log4shell still I believe), but almost 6 months after 3.2, we finally have 3.2.1. With 4.x already being discussed for “Cloud First” environments (such as VMC on AWS), and pushes towards managing your NSX-T via vRealize LifeCycleManager, better get those 3.1 versions upgraded now before automation takes it out of your hands! :lol:

Here's the latest on 3.2.1: https://blogs.vmware.com/networkvirtualization/2022/05/nsx-t-3-2-1-rolling-upgrade-for-nsx-management-plane.html/

Don't forget to follow the Upgrade Checklist: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/upgrade/GUID-E35506A7-8050-482A-BABA-F356D2AC3B65.html

It's been a while, but NSX-T 3.2 finally released, just in time for the Log4Shell vulnerability last month. While I wouldn't go installing the first (or 2nd) version, it includes a whole lot of fixes and some new features.

Here's the announcement: https://blogs.vmware.com/networkvirtualization/2021/12/nsx-t-3-2-innovations.html/

On top of all the other announcements the last month (vSphere 7, NSX-T 3), a new version of vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) has been announced (available later this month most likely).

Here's the announcement: https://blogs.vmware.com/management/2020/04/announcing-vmware-vrealize-network-insight-5-2.html

Red Hat sent out the link for their Virtualized Summit Session Catalog yesterday, check it out: https://summit.redhat.com/conference/sessions

Some interesting sessions:

• Demystifying systemd
• RHEL 8 performance and tuning
• Conquering the edge
• Defend yourself using built-in RHEL security technologies
• When to use to a rules engine
• Using cloud-native technology to modernize applications

NSX-T 3.0 is out, with many improvements to 2.5.1 and tighter integration with the recently released vSphere 7. Look for a write-up later this month!

See the blog post announcing it: https://blogs.vmware.com/networkvirtualization/2020/04/nsx-t-3-0.html/

I expect an update to the NSX-T Design Guide in the next month or 2, you can find it here: https://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-37591

Follow-up to the vSphere 7 is Coming, GA is Here!

See the blog post announcing it: https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2020/04/vsphere-7-new-generation-vsphere.html

Many new features are covered in the What’s New posts: https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/tag/vsphere-7

Some insight into the Development time from virten.net: https://www.virten.net/2020/04/vmware-vsphere-7-0-ga-download-links-available/

With NSX-T 3.0 around the corner, there will be plenty to do while we have stay-home orders in the USA for the next month or 2.

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) fears and large-scale orders to ban gatherings of 100 -> 50 -> 20 -> 10 -> 6 -> 3 people, not to mention many transportation options being severly limited, Red Hat announced earlier this month that they have moved the annual Red Hat Summit (scheduled for West Coast this year) to a Virtual event.

See the blog post announcing it: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/moving-red-hat-summit-2020-virtual-experience

I did attend Red Hat Summit 2019 in Boston, and got to witness the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 announcement. It’s been an interesting year, with the IBM acquisition closing: I’ve already seen a lot of activity with new Open Source webcasts coming from IBM. I just hope that this doesn’t turn out the way the Sun acquisition by Oracle did: a lot of technical capabilities that were developed during the Sun era were not properly marketed, and while much of it seeded later development (containers, virtual desktops, grid computing), there was undoubtedly lots of technology and talent that were left by the wayside.