VMware announced yesterday the upcoming release of VMware Cloud Foundations which is its first SDDC solution and provides a natively-integrated infrastructure stack.

I was one of the lucky ones to get invited and attend VMware’s first ever bootcamp session on VMware Cloud Foundations and it did not disappoint.  We got some first hand knowledge of the product and its offerings and here is what I learned.

To start off with what exactly is Cloud Foundations.

• Its a software defined solution which integrates vSphere, VSAN and NSX into a single platform.
• It provides a common foundation across clouds with flexible deployment options and primary focus is on simplifying deployment and operations.
• Cloud foundation can run in private and public cloud.

Both private and public cloud faces a problem of availability with being able to move data across private and public cloud. This is where Cloud Foundations can build a common base and with the use of NSX can create a universal transport zone which provides the connectivity necessary to move your workload between sites.

Two different deployments:

• Customer self-deployment onsite
• Factory pre-loaded

Private cloud:

• Ready systems:
  • Qualified VSAN ready nodes – DELL, QCT, HP
  • Qualified networking – Cisco 9k, Arista 7500 (Northbound L2,L3)
• Integrated systems:
  • VxRack 1000 SDDC

Public cloud:

• Cloud service provider
  • IBM SoftLayer (Q3 2016 GA)
• Vmware vCloud air Network (vCAN)
• Vmware vCloud air

In my next couple of posts I will provide a bit more detail  on the Cloud Foundation private cloud components and installation.  These posts will only cover my notes from the bootcamp session so apologies for any mistakes and do let me know if you find any.  I will also update the posts in future when more information is available.