What Actually Changes About vDefend Licensing in 9.1
The 25-character license key you've been using since NSX won't work on 9.1. Here's what you need in place before you upgrade.
read the essay →issue · biweekly · est. 2026
Defending what moves inside the perimeter.
Field notes on lateral security, micro-segmentation, east-west detection, and application delivery — covering the products shaping how we defend and connect internal networks. Written for the security and network engineers actually configuring the distributed firewalls and load balancers.
new writing on the 1st & 15th of every month
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also in the archive
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Before the Patch Window Opens: Segmenting Your Backup Infrastructure
Any domain account can RCE your Veeam backup server right now. The Distributed Firewall is how you limit the blast radius while you wait for the patch.
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Avi Load Balancer 32.1.1: VCF 9.1, MCP Traffic, and the Licensing Shift
Avi 32.1.1 lands native VCF 9.1 integration, MCP load balancing for AI agent workloads, and the same licensing model change shipping in SSP 5.1.2. Here's what it means in practice.
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SSP 5.1.2 and the License Hub: What the Licensing Shift Actually Means
SSP 5.1.2 ships License Hub — a centralized licensing layer for vDefend and Avi that replaces 25-character keys with subscription files. Here's what's changing and what it requires if you're planning an SSP 5.1.2 upgrade.
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When the Patch Window Is Thirty Days and the Change Board Meets Fridays
A messaging broker RCE hit CISA's actively-exploited list in April with a 30-day patch window. Here's what happens when you won't make it — and where vDefend virtual patching fills the gap.