NetApp says its ONTAP solutions have been tested and validated for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, allowing customers to continue using their existing data infrastructure in private and hybrid cloud environments.
Broadcom is continuing to develop VMware Cloud Foundation as a platform for private cloud environments with the release of version 9.1. NetApp says its ONTAP-based solutions have been tested and validated for the new VCF release. The validation is intended to allow mutual customers to continue using their existing data infrastructure when upgrading to VCF 9.1.
VMware Cloud Foundation is designed for organizations that want to run virtual machines and modern containerized applications on a common private cloud platform. According to NetApp, VCF 9.1 includes improvements aimed at resource utilization for virtual machines and containerized AI workloads. Automated operations and resource management are also intended to reduce administrative complexity.
NetApp positions ONTAP as the storage layer for VCF management and workload domains. The validation is intended to establish interoperability between the storage platform and the new VMware environment. For enterprises, this means that moving to VCF 9.1 does not necessarily require replacing the underlying storage infrastructure.
Data protection and cyber resilience are another focus. NetApp cites NetApp Console Backup and Recovery and NetApp Console Data Services as capabilities that can be used in VCF environments. The company also plans enhancements to ONTAP Tools for VMware, including datastore-granular replication and consistency group management.
These capabilities are intended to be integrated into the vCenter user interface and exposed through REST APIs for VCF Operations Orchestrator. This allows administrators to manage storage functions within their existing VMware management environment. NetApp says the capabilities can be used in traditional data centers as well as VCF deployments on public cloud platforms.
Kubernetes is another part of the platform strategy. NetApp says support for VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) has also been tested and validated for VCF 9.1 environments. Organizations can therefore run containerized applications on the same infrastructure used for traditional virtual workloads.
From an operational perspective, this approach allows organizations to continue using existing VMware tools and skills while integrating development and deployment processes for containerized applications into the existing infrastructure. NetApp points to use cases involving DevOps, continuous integration and continuous delivery, as well as microservices development.
The cooperation between NetApp and Broadcom is therefore focused on a common infrastructure for virtualized and containerized workloads. Paul Turner, chief product officer of the VMware Cloud Foundation Division at Broadcom, said the validation provides mutual customers with a tested data infrastructure foundation for adopting the capabilities introduced with VCF 9.1.
Another consideration for enterprises is how VMware environments can be operated across different deployment models. NetApp says its first-party cloud storage services support VCF environments across several major hyperscalers. Through VCF license portability, customers can deploy VCF in certified hyperscaler environments and move VMware workloads to the cloud without refactoring them, according to the company.
This extends the potential scope of the VCF and ONTAP combination beyond the traditional on-premises data center. For IT organizations, the focus is increasingly on how data and workloads can be operated consistently across on-premises, hybrid and cloud environments.
NetApp presented the VCF 9.1 support in connection with VMware Explore 2026 in Las Vegas. The company used the event to provide information about its support for VMware environments and the associated data infrastructure capabilities.
Dr. Jakob Jung is Editor-in-Chief of Security Storage and Channel Germany. He has been working in IT journalism for more than 20 years. His career includes Computer Reseller News, Heise Resale, Informationweek, Techtarget (storage and data center) and ChannelBiz. He also freelances for numerous IT publications, including Computerwoche, Channelpartner, IT-Business, Storage-Insider and ZDnet. His main topics are channel, storage, security, data center, ERP and CRM.
Contact via Mail: jakob.jung@security-storage-und-channel-germany.de