What does it take to run VCF 9?
How do you get started?…
Let’s start the planning, as well as purchase 4 new vSAN ReadyNodes.
Why?
This long post by me covers the it, and the math behind it.
Want to dive deeper?…reach out, be happy to!
VCF – Ownership of Fleet, Instance, & Domains
I’ve created a standard folder structure to house the VMs that make up VCF.
I’ve separated out the different components of Fleet Management (Automation, Operations, Ops for Logs, Ops for Networks, SSO) from the Domain components (vCenter Server, NSX, Ops for HCX, LiveRecovery).
Why….to provide logical separations visible to any VCF admin looking at the VM Folder structure.
This 6-part post covers a lot of my thoughts in great detail.
Paul Bryant Blog post is here.
vSphere Configuration Profiles – APIs, PowerCLI, & Python
Configuration Profiles are similar to Host Profiles.
As host Profiles will not work with Image Based clusters…
Configuration Profiles fill that void.
Get a walkthrough on how this can be automated.
VMware Blog post is here.
Sizing your VM’s vCPU and vNUMA
Mark Achtemichuk had written about this topic in 2017, and it is still very relevant, and a discussion I still have with people.
You NEED to rightsize your VMs, and understand vNUMA on large VMs.
Since vSphere 8 and VMX-21, vNUMA at VM power on has happened automatically….but for all the other VMs? read on…
VMware Blog post is here.
VKS 3.6 released
vSphere Kubernetes Service 3.6 just got released.
Built on K8s 1.35, with a promise to easier updates.
VMware Blog post is here.
VMware Workstation & Fusion 25h2u1 released
Remember, these are now free to all users!
Looks like once you apply this update, auto-check for updates works again.
VMware Workstation Release Notes are here.
VMware Fusion Release Notes are here.
ESXi and self-signed certificates
Most of us understand that when you deploy an ESXi host, it generates a self-signed certificate during that process.
Most of us just added those ESXi hosts to our vCenter (6.x+) Servers, and since vCenter was acting as a Certificate Authority, vCenter replaced the certificates on the ESXi host for us, as the ESXi server was being added to vCenter.
Fast forward to the manner in which things are now done in VCF 9….
You ESXi server must match the hostname it has before you can “add it”.
This blog post covers the details very nicely….just enough to cover it.
El Paso Airport Shutdown vs your datacenter
What would you do if you were told your building was being powered off for 10 days?
Well, many would just use their DR plan to failover, and then fail back 10 days later.
Others would use their Metro Clusters to move workloads to the 2nd site.
While still others would be caught between a rock and a hard place.
The FAA planned on shutting down the El Paso airport for 10 days, with 1 hours notice. They have since reopened the airport (the same day they announced the shutdown)…what would YOU have done?
NBC News post is here.
AsBuiltReports – don’t forget about them!
A set of PowerShell scripts/modules that documents your IT Infrastructure.
VMware, Nutanix, Veeam, Rubrik, Microsoft Active Directory, Pure Storage, Dell/EMC, NetApp, Aruba, Fortinet (to name a few).
AsBuiltReports home page is here.
Intel CPUs vs AMD….and ARM…and GPUs in the datacenter
A lengthy article that discusses demand for these resources in our datacenter.
Also has a lengthy history of the why/how of CPUs as far back as Mainframes….
Blog post is here.
Gmail ending Gmailify & POP access
This happens now for new Gmail Users.
This happens “…late in 2026 for existing users“
For Gmailify…”You won’t be able to get specific features in Gmail applied to your third-party account…“
For POP….”Gmail will no longer support checking emails from third-party accounts through POP. The option to “Check mail from other accounts” will no longer be available in Gmail on your computer.“
If this is one way you handle email…get things updated!!!
Google Support post about the changes is here.
Nutanix NC2 – build a “cleanroom” in AWS
Nice article!
You can even swap Nutanix for other words…..
Investment? Minimal
When you need to use it? Priceless.
Nutanix Blog post is here.
Free Learning – GitHub Repo
AWS Workshops
KodeKloud
Nutanix University
Nutanix .NEXT 2026 – April 7-9, Chicago, IL
PluralSight
vBrownBag
VMware Hands On Labs
VMware Explore 2026 – August 31 – September 3, Las Vegas, NV
VMware Explore 2025 Sessions (William Lam’s easier to search list version)