After a short summer hiatus, hosts Matt “If you’re from Chicago, fight me!” Yette and Matt “Free Chimenea” Cozzolino return to the virtual Data Center Therapy studios to record another fun and casual podcast about all things Smart Home.  Commenting on Cozzolino’s continued updates to his new-to-him log cabin, our intrepid hosts cover a wide amount of topics such as: Core technologies that power automation, such as Node Red, IFTTT (If This Then That), MQTT and Message Brokers, and Home Assistant. Z-wave sensors and clever programs to integrate changes in motion, temperature, humidity and luminosity. Corded and cordless electric chainsaws - their surprising utility, as well as speculation on motor and battery innovations over the years. Ubiquiti products such as UDM Pro, USG and the possible decline in the quality of their solutions. And musings on proper pizza (including opinions on both pineapple-on-pizza, as well as deep dish, by Mr. Matt Yette). You, our valued listeners, also learn the true name of Yoshi from the Mario Series (Therapoda Yoshisaurus Munchakoopas, surely a future discount code for IVOXY classes!) and find out just how flammable old Christmas trees can be.  Blow some steam off, crack open your favorite beverage, give it a listen and have some fun learning about everything BUT datacenter technology on this episode.   If you like this podcast, please be sure to like, subscribe and share wherever quality podcasts are found.  Thanks for tuning in and as always, stay safe, stay informed, and catch you on our next podcast drop, DCT friends!

Data Center Therapy

#062 - Smart Homes, Backyards, and Surviving Heat Waves

For this episode, our intrepid hosts Matt “Southern Upstate New York Accent” Yette and Matt “Running NFSv3 before eligible for Driver’s Ed” Cozzolino welcome vSphere Guru and Senior IVOXY Consultant Shane Bradley back into the virtual studios.  Shane shares where he’s at, what he’s working on, and gives us, the loyal Data Center Therapy listeners, a little preview of what’s coming down the pipe for Shane’s newest class, vSphere 7 Advanced. Along the way, the Matts and Shane talk about: NFSv4, pNFS, and how the changes from NFSv3 can potentially impact their customers and you. Best practices and use cases for folks considering large numbers of vSphere Standard Switches (or for the folks with the right license levels, large numbers of vSphere Distributed Switches!). How VMware’s Skyline, vSAN, and (now retired) vCloud Air products have changed in the past few years, sometimes for the worse, but mostly for the better. Yette also gives a quick overview of one of the shows he’s enjoyed in the past, Orphan Black.  Give this episode a listen, it’s short and sweet and will give you a peek into a new class which you, our listeners, can even submit requests in to add material so you can get the most out of the experience when you register for it! As always, be sure to like, subscribe and rate our podcasts wherever you grab them from.  Be safe, enjoy the summer, we hope things open back up for you, your family and friends and we’ll be here, keeping the lights on, educating everyone, and sharing our empathy and tech tips with all.  Catch you on the next episode!

#061 - Advanced vSphere Topics with Shane Bradley

What is Bitcoin?  What’s Dogecoin (pronounced dohj-coin)?  For that matter, what the heck is cryptocurrency?  What’s it useful for?  Why is the price of it so volatile? To answer these questions and more, Matt “Mine This!” Yette and Matt “Transactions and…all the things!”  Cozzolino welcome IVOXY Network Consultant Keith Emmanuel to the virtual Data Center Therapy studios this week to break it all down for us.  Keith sheds some light on how he got interested in cryptocurrency, the history and genesis of Bitcoin, and how it works (or the “Layer 1” as Yette likes to describe it!). To bootstrap our loyal DCT listener’s knowledge, in this overview, Keith talks about: Mining and how Bitcoin is created. What Block chains and blocks are. The economic realities of the finite number of Bitcoins possible, and how macroeconomic Bitcoin trends impact the (fixed) costs of real-world things.  What Bitcoins effectively accomplish with respect to certain countries’ (failing) monetary policies. For those who love to learn more and dive deep, this episode is certainly a great start to your own understanding of cryptocurrencies - so tune on in if you’re ready to get your head twisted and enjoy a technical and intellectual challenge (and something other than the usual datacenter infrastructure chats!). It is probably worth saying that we are not financial advisers or cryptocurrency experts - so please no cryptocurrency or life altering financial decisions based off today's Data Center Therapy session!  Stay tuned from the IVOXY crew for more educational opportunities - there will soon be a vSphere 7 Advanced Class, another Horizon class and much, much more.  Stay safe, stay informed, like, share and subscribe as always and we’ll catch up with you soon on the next episode of Data Center Therapy!

#060 - Cryptocurrency with Keith Emmanuel

Question: When does a 40-minute podcast episode feel like a fun 15-minute chat beside the old water cooler? (Remember when that was still a thing?)   Answer: When it’s Matt “Lemme tell you something about Android” Yette and Matt “Got YubiKey?” Cozzolino talking about multi-factor authentication! Our intrepid hosts of Data Center Therapy have a lively and always topical talk about MFA and more in this latest chapter.  You, our welcome listeners, get to hear about: How TouchID, FaceID, and biometrics are an important part of the multi-factor authentication story (and if they’re generally proven to be secure). How Duo, Okta, Microsoft and Google Authenticator apps as well as password management software tie into enabling better security. When a “backup plan” involving printouts, USB keys, or a big heavy safe might be a good idea for a CYA factor. You’ll also get to hear cringey tales of sticky notes under keyboards, badly designed applications (for banks!) that improperly used two-factor auth, and how back in the day PayPal sent Yette a nifty gadget, now long gone.  Tune in to have some fun, learn a little, and come away from the conversation with a fresh perspective on how to lock things down. As mentioned in the episode, if you’re interested in attending Matt Cozzolino’s “Introduction to Microsegmentation with NSX-T” class, please be sure to reach out to your IVOXY Account Manager to register for the class before it fills completely up.  If you enjoyed the episode, please be sure to like, subscribe and share wherever finer podcasts are found.   Be safe, be healthy, subscribe to the “something you have, something you know, and something you are” model of security, and we’ll keep the lights on for you, our loyal DCT friends!  See you next time.

#059 - You Shall Not Pass(word): Multi-Factor Authentication

Join Matt “Always carry a Mobile Hotspot” Yette and Matt “Palo Alto ARE my middle Names!” Cozzolino as they welcome Senior Network Consultant and Engineering Manager Mack Nethkin to the virtual Data Center Therapy Studio, to talk about all things Software-Defined Wide Area Network, or SD-WAN it’s come to be known. Mack and the Matts chat about: What the basic recipe of SD-WAN is, and where you’d want to use it in your corporate and datacenter networks. How SD-WAN can act as a unified management platform for wide area connectivity, how it can efficiently enable cloud applications. Who the players are in the SD-WAN space, such as CloudGenix, Silver Peak, Velocloud and Viptela, and how various acquisitions of the OEMs by other companies affects them. Mack also shares an “I’ve never seen that before!” about his experience working with SD-WANs in the field.  Note that there’s some audio difficulties with Mack’s studio set up on this episode, but loyal listeners will be rewarded with a great introduction to this new world of high-bandwidth, managed-performance, cloud-enabled 2021-ready networking technologies. As Yette mentions, drop the promo code PODCASTPODS when you register for Cozzolino’s Introduction to Microsegmentation with NSX-T class and you’ll receive $1,000 off and a pair of AirPods Pros, so register now before the class fills up completely!  And as always, be sure to like, subscribe and share your love for DCT wherever finer podcasts and social media are found. Stay safe, stay healthy, and securely network (with SD-WAN technology!) DCT friends, and we’ll see you (listening on) our next exciting episode!

#058 - Software-Defined Wide Area Networks with Mack Nethkin

In this short but sweet DCT Episode, Matt “Yette never refers to himself in the third person!” Yette and Matt “Every User is an Attack Surface” Cozzolino give a great little introduction to traditional firewalling, microsegmentation, and Zero Trust concepts in the IT world. Listening to this episode, you’ll get to hear about: The history of the security “bastion” mindset, leading to how most enterprises built their network infrastructure. What Layer 2 stretch is, what Zero Trust represents, and what microsegmentation comprises and why it’s desirable. Why Windows Firewalls (and even Linux firewalls) can “fall down” after a compromise and how microsegmentation at the hypervisor layer can be a better solution. How to inspect flows between components of an application with software tools, and how to implement microsegmentation after understanding and analyzing those flows. As Matt Yette mentions in this podcast, if you register for Matt Cozzolino’s Microsegmentation with NSX-T Virtual Workshop using the promo code PODCASTPODS, you’ll save $1,000 off the class and receive a pair of Apple AirPod Pros as well, so be sure to get in and register before the class fills up! Go to ivoxy.com/micro-segmentation-using-nsxt to learn more and enroll.  Be sure to like, subscribe and share wherever finer podcasts are found, and be safe, trust nothing, micro-segment like a boss, and tune into the next empathy-filled episode of Data Center Therapy, friends!

#057 - Trust Nothing and No One: Micro-Segmentation with Matt Cozzolino

End-user computing and virtual desktop administrators: You may rejoice as IVOXY VDI Senior Consultant Ryan Grelck returns to the virtual studio of Data Center Therapy to share the latest and greatest on Horizon 8 and beyond! When you tune into this timely and relevant VDI-centered podcast, you’ll hear Matt “PiHole Schmihole” Yette and Matt “Layer 2 Stretch is cooler than MicroSeg” Cozzolino ask Ryan questions such as: How the IVOXY lab is configured to serve our students in the Horizon for Virtual Administrators class, and which virtual machines and applications you can find in the class environment. How to decode the version numbers of Horizon releases, and why they’re not exactly what you’d expect given the dates they appear on the market. When to expect more VDI classes, and what topics will appear in Ryan’s Advanced VDI courses. The Matts and Ryan also talk about hot wings, getting pepper-sprayed, Linux desktops, password managers, and ad-blockers like AdGuard and PiHole.  Give it a listen and be sure to like, share, and subscribe wherever quality podcasts are found.  Ryan’s second class, in July, has seats available, so if you’re interested, be sure to talk to your IVOXY Account Manager to reserve a spot soon!  Cozzolino’s Microsegmentation class is also in the works so stay tuned for more news on it in our future DCT episodes! Thanks for listening, and be sure to stay safe, stay informed, block those malware and ad-infested domains with your DNS, and listen on, loyal Data Center Therapy fans!  Until next time!

#056 - Return of the VDI Jedi with Ryan Grelck

Set the gadget geek dial to 100% for this Data Center Therapy episode, where Matt “No way do I use Just for Men” Yette and Matt “Slope Astronaut” Cozzolino welcome back to the virtual DCT studio our own Kris “Single-Pole Switch? No Problem!” Lamet to talk about everybody’s favorite post-lockdown hobby tech - Home Automation. Kris and the Matts cover in this episode: Which platforms, protocols and technologies the Matts and Kris have in their homes including Z-Wave, HomeKit, NodeRed, Ecobee thermostats, Apple Hub, Amazon Echo devices and Home Assistant. How to train your loved ones to do easier electrical wiring work (and how to get frustrated working on the more complicated switches and rooms yourself!). Whether or not to advertise that your home is a “Smart Home” when putting it on the market - and how Kris’ experience turned out, even after the home was sold. You, our faithful DCT listeners, are guaranteed an episode completely devoid of anything Data Center related, but you’re also guaranteed to have some fun!  The crew riffs on novel uses for key fobs, If-This-Then-That, and shares opinions on how to make sure an Internet outage doesn’t render a Smart Home into a dumb one.  Give it a listen and enjoy the show.   Get ready for our upcoming vSphere 7 Fundamentals and Microsegmentation class and as always please be sure to like, share and subscribe to Data Center Therapy wherever quality podcasts are found.  We’re in the home stretch - so please be safe, be informed, and see you soon in one of our signature IVOXY hands-on classes this spring and summer, DCT friends!

#055 - Home Automation with the Three Muskebeards

Proud family that we are, IVOXY formally invites you to tune into this special episode of Data Center Therapy, where our hosts Matt “LAN party” Yette and Matt “Beard Ambassador” Cozzolino welcome Network Consultant Joe Lentz to the virtual DCT studio. Joe shares stories with the hosts about his networking background (dating back to high school!), his service in the Air Force, and his experiences working between security policy implementation and datacenter networking deployments.    Learn more: https://www.ivoxy.com/networking-with-joe In other news, registration is open for our upcoming Introduction to Virtualization with vSphere 7.0 class. 

#054 – Networking with Joe

Here we go – the final episode of this series [insert Return of the Jedi reference here]. This week we here at Data Center Therapy we’re bringing you the ultimate conclusion of the IVOXY On-Demand Lab podcast series, where the subject is all things Terraform. Keep an eye out for our Terraform Demo Day coming in March, and consider saving your seat for our Hands-on VMware Horizon for Administrators class later this month. Learn more: ivoxy.com/scaling-with-terraform

#053 – Scaling with Terraform (On-Demand Lab Part VI)

If the acronym “API” excites you, the phrase “software-defined infrastructure” tickles your fancy, or if skating ahead of where the technology puck is going is your MO, be sure to tune in to this one to hear Dave share about what’s coming down the pike from Cisco across networking, hyper-converged and computing solutions. Learn more at ivoxy.com/cisco-intersight By the way, we just announced our upcoming Hands-on VMware Horizon for Administrators – learn more and save your seat now: ivoxy.com/vmware-horizon-for-administrators

#052 – Cisco Intersight with Dave Nentarz

Need a quick break from work? On this episode of Data Center Therapy we've just got fun water cooler topics like TV shows, home improvements and delicious beef dinners. Learn more at ivoxy.com/holiday-sundries

#051 – Holiday Sundries

This week Keith astounds and delights the systems folks as well as the network infrastructure die-hards on this episode as he gives details on the parts and pieces needed to command, control and deploy a network from scratch. Learn more at ivoxy.com/network-automation-with-keith-emmanuel PS: There is still time to save your seat for our Hands-on Network Automation with Ansible hosted by Keith: ivoxy.com/ansible.  

#050 – Network Automation with Keith Emmanuel (On-Demand Lab Part V)

Our intrepid hosts welcome back to the virtual studios IVOXY’s very own Ryan "Magnum VDI" Grelck to talk about a smorgasbord full of Horizon topics, including how it has changed and how it’s been implemented in our On-Demand Lab. You will also find out why Matt Cozzolino doesn’t need a stud finder in his new house (and no, it is not the obvious joke you’re thinking of!!)  Learn more at ivoxy.com/vdi-with-ryan-grelck PS: There is still time to save your seat for our Hands-on Network Automation with Ansible hosted by Keith Emmanuel (with Cozz helping along as Teacher’s Assistant and lab proctor): ivoxy.com/ansible.

#049 – VDI with Ryan Grelck (On-Demand Lab Part IV)

Our series reaches new depths as the guys discuss nesting NSX-T instances, GNS3 integration into the lab, and why on-prem solutions like vSphere & NSX-T are convergently evolving towards the DevOps space. Learn more at ivoxy.com/network-virtualization PS: Don't forget about our December 15 Gene Kim event – the first 50 to RSVP & attend get a complimentary copy of his latest book: ivoxy.com/gene-therapy PPS: Save your seat for our Hands-on Network Automation with Ansible coming this January right here: ivoxy.com/ansible.

#048 – Network Virtualization (On-Demand Lab Part III)

IT talk with a healthy dose of empathy: Hosts Matt Yette & Matt Cozzolino draw on their combined 40+ years of infrastructure experience as they discuss the ever-changing technology landscape – from virtualization to storage, security to networking, and everything in between.

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Data Center Therapy

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