Broadcom has significantly streamlined the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) portfolio in 2025. While both versions share the same unified VCF 9 software stack, they are distinguished by their scale, licensing floor, and deployment footprint. Key Comparison Feature VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9 VCF 9 Edge (VCFE) Ideal Use Case Core Data Center / Private Cloud […]
vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) Reference link: https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/new-vcenter9-linking vSphere Clustering Service (vCLS) VMs Reference link: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/312147 vSphere Host Profiles Reference link: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/6-7/vc-upgrade-from-6-7-to-7-0-7-0-to-8-0-host-profiles.html vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) Baselines Reference link: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/322186/managing-esxi-host-lifecycle-operations.html Update Manager Download Service (UMDS) / Download Tool Reference link: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vcf/vcf-9-0-and-later/9-0/release-notes/vmware-cloud-foundation-90-release-notes/platform-product-support-notes.html vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) Reference link: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=401070 vSAN OSA Hybrid Mode ESXi Host Cache […]
vSAN 9.0 has received two transformative upgrades that fundamentally change how we think about data efficiency and cyber-resilience: Global Deduplication and vSAN-to-vSAN Replication with Deep Snapshots. Feature Legacy vSAN vSAN 9.0 (ESA) Deduplication Scope Disk Group Global (Cluster-Wide) Block Size 8KB 4KB (More efficient) Snapshot Impact High (over time) Near-Zero (Deep Snapshots) Replication External/Appliance Native […]
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9 is already a game-changer for the modern private cloud, unifying compute, storage, networking, and management into a single, scalable platform. But the true power for enterprise innovation lies in the optional VCF 9 Advanced Services (Add-ons). These services are a robust catalog of ready-to-deploy solutions that act as powerful add-ons, […]
For years, the “Golden Rule” of cluster management was uniformity. To keep your environment stable, you were told to keep your hardware identical. But as data centers grow, hardware cycles rarely align with budget cycles. vSphere 9.x shatters this limitation by introducing a revolutionary approach to Heterogeneous Clusters. By evolving the vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM), […]
Feature Cluster-based EVC Per-VM EVC Scope of setting Applies to an entire host cluster. All hosts present the same CPU feature baseline. Applies to an individual virtual machine. The EVC mode becomes an attribute saved with the VM. Configuration point Configured at the cluster level in vCenter. Configured per virtual machine, requires VM to be […]
VCF 9 introduces a new, unified operations model that simplifies how administrators manage and automate the entire VMware Cloud Foundation environment. Instead of relying on multiple legacy tools and fragmented workflows, VCF 9 consolidates Day-0, Day-1, and Day-2 operations into the VCF Operations Management interface. As part of VCF installation, following components gets deployed: VCF […]
In a typical vCenter Server upgrade, the vCenter Server itself requires multiple reboots, leading to an unacceptable interruption in management access, monitoring, and automation capabilities. Challenge of the Traditional Upgrade In older versions, upgrading vCenter was a sequential, disruption process: While the data plane (VM workloads) remained unaffected, the loss of the control plane meant […]
The cloud operating model is defined by agility, self-service, and isolation. With VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9, Broadcom has delivered a massive leap forward by integrating Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) capabilities natively into the private cloud experience. This isn’t just a renaming of NSX features even though the concept is relatable. Historically, setting up networking […]
VMware introduced Live Patch as part of vSphere 8 Update 3, enabling ESXi hosts to receive critical fixes without requiring maintenance mode or host reboots. Live Patch is designed to dramatically reduce the operational disruption associated with traditional ESXi patching. Instead of taking hosts offline or performing rolling maintenance across clusters, administrators can now apply […]
Memory Tiering in VCF 9 allows ESXi hosts to use a second, lower-cost memory tier—such as NVMe SSDs alongside traditional DRAM. vSphere intelligently manages these tiers by placing frequently accessed (“hot”) data in DRAM and moving less frequently accessed (“cold”) data to the secondary tier. Advantages: Higher effective memory capacity per host without requiring large […]
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9 introduces a simplified, service-based licensing model managed through the VCF Business Service Console (VCFBS). Instead of traditional per-CPU or per-core licenses key, VCF 9 uses a subscription-based, service-aligned entitlement that centralizes license activation, consumption tracking, and compliance. The Business Service Console provides a single unified interface where customers can: This […]
Many customers have invested in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) but may not yet be taking full advantage of its integrated capabilities. Our consulting approach is designed to help you realize the complete potential of your VCF investment by aligning the platform’s advanced features with your organization’s operational and strategic goals. We begin with a comprehensive […]
One of the customers is currently using VVS license for existing 3 x ESXi hosts and now want to expand the cluster by adding in one more ESXi host, however since the VVS license is no longer available – what are the options? Facts First: What are the options?
We recently tackled a tricky scenario – downsize a production vSAN cluster from 4-Node to 2-Node with witness node and moving to a new VVF licensing model.Here’s the breakdown of the challenge and the solution we developed. The Starting Line and the Roadblocks Our customer had an existing 4-node vSAN Cluster (version 7.x, Original Storage […]
This is truly a surprise to me! VMware recognizes their partners, appreciates them, and motivates them with such awards. Happy to receive VMware Evangelist of the Year 2023, Singapore!
I learnt about vSphere+ 15 days trail and wanted to explore the options and how to setup etc. Took this opportunity to make a video as well! Important links: —————–vSphere+ Product Documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere+/services/vsphereplus-getting-started/GUID-E64F5E6C-E4A3-411D-9787-161D24E73D04.html VMware Product Interoperability Matrix: https://interopmatrix.vmware.com/Interoperability?col=1217,&row=2,%261 VMware Core Based Licensing: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/89116 vSphere+ Trail: https://vmc.vmware.com/infrastructure/vsphere-plus/overview vSphere+ Hands-on Lab (HOL): https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/evalcenter?p=vsphereplus-hol-overview-23
Please take a note on this on priority if you are in VMware project or managing VMware infrastructure. This is the talk over the weekend, potential ransomware attack on VMware ESXi Servers. I have simplified the table with the base build number with fix for ease of validating your environment. Note: This article covers only […]
This is a long video but it has some troubleshooting steps and couple of approaches I used to Upgrade ESXi from 7.x to 8.x. This will be a treat for folks running nested ESXi and running into issues like below: – The CPU on the host is not supported by this image – How to […]
In this video I have performed live upgrade of vCenter Server from 7.x to 8.x. I also hit the issue outlined in this article: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Upgrade-Install/VCSA-upgrade-6-7-to-7-0-fails-on-Stage-2-step-1-at-50-with-quot/td-p/2868120 – “Unable to authenticate user”
We might face a situation where we need to uninstall and reinstall VMware Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication. In my case the vApp properties of both SRM and Replication appliance was disabled and this would cause issues during upgrade etc. So had to sort this out before upgrade, as per VMware GSS we had […]
I was part of a big migration project for a customer who has different types of VMware VMs: These VMs had to be migrated from exiting vSphere 6.5 environment to new vSphere 7.x/8.x environment. Note: Both the old and new infrastructure was having the same storage presented, however customer wanted to use different datastores for […]
Difference between physical and virtual mode RDM is only the way VM interacts to RDM, in Physical mode the commands from VM is direct to RDM no interference at hypervisor level, so snapshot is not possible. In Virtual mode, we can take snapshots of VMs. There are some more limitations physical vs virtual but snapshot […]
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-L… – Release notes https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87089 – Workaround instructions to address CVE-2021-44228 and CVE-2021-45046 in vRealize Log Insight (87089) VMware Security Advisory – https://www.vmware.com/security/advis… VMware Response to Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046)
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-O… – Release notes https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87076 – Workaround instructions to address CVE-2021-44228 and CVE-2021-45046 in vRealize Operations 8.x (87076) VMware Security Advisory – https://www.vmware.com/security/advis… VMware Response to Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046)
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87120 – Workaround instructions to address CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046 in vRealize Automation and vRealize Orchestrator 8.x (87120) VMware Security Advisory – https://www.vmware.com/security/advis… VMware Response to Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046)
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87185 – HW-150541: VMSA-2021-0028, VMSA-2021-0030 for VMware Identity Manager (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046, CVE-2021-22056) (87185) https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87093 – Workaround Instructions to address CVE-2021-44228 in VMware Identity Manager 3.3.X (87093) VMware Security Advisory – https://www.vmware.com/security/advis… VMware Response to Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046)
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87097 – Workaround instructions to address CVE-2021-44228 and CVE-2021-45046 in vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 8.x (87097) VMware Security Advisory – https://www.vmware.com/security/advis… VMware Response to Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046)
Technology Products Description Desktop Hypervisor Fusion Pro Fusion Player Workstation Pro Workstation Player Desktop Hypervisor products from VMware provide IT pros, developers and businesses alike with a powerful local virtualization sandbox to build, run or support apps of any kind. (Can install on local laptop/Desktop) Compute Virtualization vSphere / ESXi vCenter Server vSphere – ESXi […]
Below is a short summary on VCF – VMware Cloud Foundation and how to setup a demo lab! Introduction: Just like how we evolved from traditional hardware/network/storage approach which was siloed and had to be managed by different team/vendor to CI and HCI infrastructure – which is integrated solution for compute, storage and networking. Similarly, VMware has come up […]
