Welcome to the Flackbox blog, where my aim is to help you build your cloud and data center career. If you’re looking to widen your knowledge across server, networking and storage technologies then you’ve come to the right place. I regularly upload training video tutorials featuring vendors such as Cisco, NetApp and VMware.
VMware Workstation Player Installation & Configuration
Posted on January 14, 2019 By Flackbox
This NetApp training tutorial explains how to download, install, and configure VMware Workstation Player, the free version of VMware for Windows Desktops. The networks and IP addresses configured in the tutorial are for my NetApp lab, but you can easily adapt them to any project you’re working...
NetApp ONTAP 9 Hardware Architecture
Posted on January 10, 2019 By Flackbox
In this NetApp training tutorial, I will discuss the NetApp ONTAP clustered hardware architecture. In the last post, we covered the scalability limitations that existed in legacy 7-Mode, the main problems being that there is a maximum of two controllers in the same system and it does not support act...
NetApp 7-Mode Hardware Architecture Tutorial
Posted on January 3, 2018 By Flackbox
In this NetApp training tutorial, I will cover the 7-Mode Hardware Architecture. ONTAP 7-Mode was deprecated after version 8.2 of the operating system, but it’s much easier to understand the clustered hardware architecture of Clustered ONTAP and ONTAP 9 if you see the 7-Mode architecture first...
Cisco BGP for Enterprises
Posted on December 26, 2018 By Flackbox
In this Cisco CCNA training tutorial, you will learn why an enterprise (rather than an Internet Service Provider) would use BGP and how to configure BGP from the enterprise point of view. Scroll down for the video and also text tutorial. This is the 5th in a series of BGP tutorials. Part 1:...
How to Advertise BGP Routes on Cisco Routers
Posted on December 19, 2018 By Flackbox
In this Cisco CCNA training tutorial, you’ll learn how to advertise routes in BGP (including the differences in the way the “network” statement is used and the “null route” trick). Scroll down for the video and also text tutorial. This is the 4th in a series o...
Object Storage Overview Tutorial
Posted on December 14, 2018 By Flackbox
This SAN and NAS Storage tutorial explains Object Storage – how it works, its protocols, benefits and limitations, use cases, and how it compares to SAN and NAS. Scroll down for the video and also text tutorial. Want the complete course? Click here to get the Introduction to SAN and NAS Storag...
List of VSA Virtual Storage Appliance & SAN Storage Simulators
Posted on November 1, 2018 By Flackbox
Where to Download and How to Set Up Free Storage Simulators and VSA Virtual Storage Appliances For your lab you’re going to need compute (the servers), networking (routers and switches etc.) and storage. If you’re focused on studying or testing only an individual application, oper...
Interview with Matt Leib at NetApp Insight
Posted on October 25, 2018 By Flackbox
[youtube v = 9ZVEoiAaybw maxwidth = 100%] I sat down with industry veteran Matt Leib at NetApp Insight to discuss his career in IT and advice for people building their career in the industry. Scroll down to see the transcript. You can read Matt’s blog at https://virtuallytiedtomydesktop...