WilliamLam.com

Search Results for: vSphere with Kubernetes

VCF 9.1 - Quick Tip: Optimized Workflow for Configuring Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) with NSX Virtual Network Appliance (VNA)

by // Leave a Comment

With VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, the Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) connectivity model now supports NSX stateful network services through the Virtual Network Appliance (VNA) cluster. This makes it easy for VI Admins to provision Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), which can then be used to deploy vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) workloads using either vCenter Server or VCF Automation (VCFA).

One of the most underappreciated benefits is the ability to complete various NSX workflows including an entire VNA cluster deployment and DTGW configuration directly from vCenter Server, without having to switch to the NSX Manager UI. While NSX Manager still provides the underlying micro-frontend interfaces that are integrated into the vSphere UI, I appreciate having the flexibility to perform these workflows from either the vCenter Server or NSX Manager interface, depending on your roles and responsibilities within an organization.

While there are a number of community blog posts covering DTGW and VNA deployments, they typically start in the vSphere UI for the initial VNA deployment before switching to the NSX Manager UI to complete the remaining configuration, which is perfectly valid. Personally, I prefer using the vSphere UI for as many workflows as possible, especially since enabling vSphere Supervisor and vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) is also performed through the vSphere UI.

[Read more...]

VCF Infrastructure Services (VIS) Appliance for VCF 9.1 Lab/PoC

by // 32 Comments

Since the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 back in May, customer excitement has been tremendous, with many deploying the latest release in their labs for evaluation and some even using it for pre-production environments. VCF 9.1 introduces a wide range of new capabilities, but experimenting with certain features can sometimes require supporting infrastructure that may not already exist in a lab environment, such as an OIDC provider for VCF Single Sign-On (SSO) or a web server to host VCF binaries.

I noticed a growing number of point solutions emerging within the community to simplify VCF deployments and make it easier to explore its capabilities in a lab environment. With the advent of AI, the barrier to entry has dropped dramatically, allowing more people with little to no programming experience to build useful tools.

I had been using ChatGPT and Gemini for quite some time but had not yet tried any of the newer agentic development tools, such as Claude Code or Cursor. Since I was already active in the OpenAI ecosystem, I decided to give Codex a try, especially given the rapid pace of development the platform was going through.

Here is a tweet from me on May 16, 2026 on my initial experience w/Codex:

[Read more...]

VCF 9.1 - VMUG x Intel x Micron Collaboration on Single VCF Host Deployment for VMUG Connect

by // Leave a Comment

Everyone knows how difficult and expensive it can be to build a personal lab, yet that is often where practitioners and architects gain their most valuable hands-on experience with VMware technologies.

Earlier this year, Intel reached out and shared that they would be attending several VMUG Connect events to showcase how organizations can leverage the latest Intel Xeon 6 processors for AI inferencing using Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX).

Intel was also interested in doing something cool and fun for the VMUG community at these events, so after brainstorming a few ideas, we landed on what seemed like the obvious answer: giving away a system to an attendee that would allow them to get hands-on with AI workloads running on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)! 😆

[Read more...]