Author: Dr. Pranay Jha
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NSX 9 Manager Deployment and Cluster Bring-Up in VCF 9 (NSX Series, Part 5)
In VCF 9 you do not install NSX Manager, VCF does. Here is what the workflow deploys, the prerequisites that decide success, shared vs dedicated, and how to verify.
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NSX 9 Design and Planning: Transport Zones, MTU, TEP Pools and EDP (NSX Series, Part 4)
The NSX 9 design decisions that decide whether your overlay works: the single overlay transport zone, GENEVE MTU, TEP IP pools and VLANs, and EDP mode.
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NSX 9 Licensing and Editions: VCF vs Standalone and the vDefend Trap (NSX Series, Part 3)
How NSX 9 is licensed in VCF 9: what the base bundle includes, why security needs a vDefend add-on at full core count, and when standalone NSX makes sense.
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NSX 9 Architecture: Management, Control and Data Planes (NSX Series, Part 2)
How NSX 9 splits into management, control and data planes, what the converged NSX Manager cluster does, the CLI to check it, how to size it, and what breaks when each plane fails.
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VKS: The Verdict and When to Use It vs Alternatives (VKS Series, Part 17)
VKS is not trying to be OpenShift, and judging it that way gets the decision wrong. Here is an honest verdict versus the alternatives, and where VKS genuinely earns its place.
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VKS Day-2 Operations: Backup, Multi-Tenancy and Capacity (VKS Series, Part 16)
Day-2 is where a VKS platform quietly succeeds or rots. Here is the hard line between infrastructure and app backup, the multi-tenancy spectrum, and the capacity math that bites late.
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Troubleshooting VKS: The Failure Modes That Actually Bite (VKS Series, Part 15)
Most VKS failures fall into three families, and all three are diagnosed from the same place. Here is the triage habit that turns a stuck cluster into a named cause fast.
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Running GPU and AI Workloads on VKS (VKS Series, Part 14)
GPUs are where VKS stops being interchangeable with generic Kubernetes. Here is the vGPU VM class, the GPU Operator, and how VKS becomes the substrate for VMware Private AI.
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Deploying Applications on VKS with GitOps: Argo CD, Flux and Helm (VKS Series, Part 13)
Application delivery on VKS is just Kubernetes; Argo CD, Flux and Helm work unchanged. Here is the honest boundary, and the four VKS-specific wiring points that trip people up.
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Upgrading VKS: Kubernetes Versions, the Service and Rolling Node Replacement (VKS Series, Part 12)
VKS upgrades decouple the platform from the cluster and roll nodes one at a time. Here is the model, the version-skew gating, and why most stuck upgrades are preconditions, not the engine.
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Observability for VKS: Metrics, Logs and VCF Operations (VKS Series, Part 11)
Kubernetes-only tooling is blind below the node. Here is how metrics, logs and VCF Operations fit together so you can tell the app from the cluster from the infrastructure.
Architect’s Toolkit
PJ’s Tools
VMware Cloud Foundation
- VCF Documentation
- VCF 9 Planning & Preparation Workbook
- VCF Bill of Materials (BoM)
- VMware Compatibility Guide
- VMware Interoperability Matrix
- VMware Configuration Maximums
- VMware Ports & Protocols
- VMware Hands-on Labs
- RVTools Download
Nutanix
AI & Cloud-Native Platform
- NVIDIA Build (Model Catalog)
- NVIDIA AI Enterprise Reference Architecture
- NVIDIA NIM Performance Benchmarking
- NVIDIA NGC Catalog
- NeMo Microservices Helm Chart
- Helm Charts Repository
- Hugging Face Models
Architecture & Design
About the Author
Dr Pranay Jha
Dr. Pranay Jha is a Cloud and AI Consultant with 18+ years of experience in hybrid cloud, virtualization, and enterprise infrastructure transformation. He specializes in VMware technologies, multi-cloud strategy, and Generative AI solutions. He holds a PhD in Computer Applications with research focused on Cloud and AI, has published multiple research papers, and has been a VMware vExpert since 2016 and a VMUG Community Leader.
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