Category: Tech Notes
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VCF Automation 9 Architecture: Assembler, Service Broker, Orchestrator and How a Request Becomes a Deployment (VCF Automation 9 Series, Part 2)
The architecture of VCF Automation 9: the three services, the deployment engine between them, how a catalog request turns into a running workload, and where extensibility hooks in.
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What VCF Automation Is: The Product Formerly Known as vRealize Automation, in VCF 9 (VCF Automation 9 Series, Part 1)
VCF Automation is vRealize Automation’s lineage on VCF’s architecture. What it is, the three services you work in, the provider/tenant/project model, and the VM Apps vs All Apps fork.
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VCF 9 API Authentication: Tokens, Refresh, Service Accounts and RBAC (Automating VCF Series, Part 3)
Authentication on VCF 9 is a subsystem, not a one-line step. Token pairs, the 60-minute expiry, refresh handling, service accounts and the ADMIN/OPERATOR/VIEWER roles.
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The VCF 9 Automation Toolchain: REST API, SDK, PowerCLI, Terraform and Ansible (Automating VCF Series, Part 2)
VCF 9 has one blessed contract and five good ways to call it. Here is what PowerCLI, Terraform, Ansible, the Unified SDK and curl are each actually for, and how to pick.
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Why Automate VCF 9: The API-First Shift and What Actually Changed (Automating VCF Series, Part 1)
VCF 9 collapsed SDDC Manager, vCenter, NSX and vSAN behind one Unified REST API. Here is what changed, the five tools that share it, and where I would start automating.
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Troubleshooting NSX 9 DFW and Security Policy: Applied-To, Realized Rules and the Default-Rule Trap (NSX Series, Part 30)
The most common DFW outage is a published rule with the wrong Applied-To. Here is how to see what is really realized on a vNIC, why a rule visible in the UI may not be applied, the default-rule trap, and the symptom-to-fix path. The NSX Series finale.
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NSX 9 Automation and API: The Policy API, the Hierarchical Tree and Terraform (NSX Series, Part 28)
NSX 9 removed the Manager API, so automation now means the declarative Policy API. Here is why intent beats imperative scripting, how the hierarchical API builds a whole topology in one call, and where Terraform, Ansible and PowerCLI fit on top.
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Migrating to NSX 9: N-VDS to VDS, the Migration Coordinator and the Removal You Cannot Dodge (NSX Series, Part 27)
NSX 9 removed N-VDS on ESX, so every host still on the N-VDS host switch has to move to VDS before it can run NSX 9. Here is the per-host migration loop, the migrate_to_vds API, the new-VDS-only constraint, and how to do it without dropping production.
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NSX 9 Performance and Sizing: Edge Throughput, EDP and DFW Scale (NSX Series, Part 26)
NSX performance is decided at design time, not tuned later. Here is how Edge form factor sets your north-south ceiling, why EDP and DPDK matter, how the distributed firewall scales with hosts instead of choking a chokepoint, and the sizing math I actually use.
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NSX in VCF 9: How SDDC Manager and Fleet Management Own the NSX Lifecycle (NSX Series, Part 25)
In VCF 9, NSX is a managed component, not a standalone product you babysit. SDDC Manager deploys and lifecycles it, VCF Operations and Fleet Management run it across instances, and you deploy greenfield or import brownfield NSX as a Workload Domain. Here is how the ownership actually splits.
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NSX 9 for Kubernetes: VKS, the Antrea-NSX Adapter and VPC Networking (NSX Series, Part 24)
VKS runs Kubernetes on VCF 9, and NSX is how its pods get networked and secured. Here is how Antrea is the default CNI, what the Antrea-NSX Adapter actually does, how VKS clusters land in NSX VPCs, and when bringing your own CNI makes sense.
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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