Category: VMware
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Templates, clones and snapshots in VMware, made simple (VMware for Beginners, Part 8)
Snapshots are short-lived save points, templates are reusable master images, and clones are one-off copies. What each does, when to use it, and the snapshot mistake that quietly fills datastores.
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Virtual networking basics: vSwitch, port groups and VLANs (VMware for Beginners, Part 7)
A plain-English guide to VMware virtual networking for freshers: what a vSwitch, port group, uplink and VLAN really are, how a packet travels from VM to physical switch, and the VLAN and port-group mistakes that break a VM network.
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Datastores and storage basics: where your VMs actually live (VMware for Beginners, Part 6)
A plain-English guide to VMware datastores: what VMFS, NFS and vSAN are, how a VM lives as files on disk, and why thin provisioning is the storage choice most likely to page a junior engineer.
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Anatomy of a virtual machine: vCPU, vRAM, disk and NIC (VMware for Beginners, Part 5)
A virtual machine is just four parts: a vCPU, vRAM, a virtual disk and a virtual NIC. Here is what each one really does, the sane default for each, and the beginner traps that catch new admins.
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What vCenter actually does (VMware for Beginners, Part 4)
ESXi runs your VMs, but vCenter Server is the control room that manages every host from one screen and powers vMotion, HA, and DRS. A plain-English guide for freshers, with the setup gotchas nobody warns you about.
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ESXi, the hypervisor that runs your VMs (VMware for Beginners, Part 3)
A plain-English tour of VMware ESXi: what the hypervisor is, the VMkernel inside it, Type 1 versus Type 2, how you manage a host, and the boot-media trap that catches beginners.
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Physical server or virtual machine: what really changes (VMware for Beginners, Part 2)
A plain-English look at how a virtual machine differs from a physical server, why companies consolidate onto fewer hosts, and the oversubscription metric every fresher should learn first.
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What virtualization is, and why every company runs on it (VMware for Beginners, Part 1)
Virtualization in plain English: what it is, how one physical server safely runs many machines, and why nearly every company you will work for runs on it.
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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.
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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