VMware Cloud Foundation is a unified software-defined data center (SDDC) platform for the hybrid cloud. Composed of VMware vSphere, VMware vSAN, VMware NSX, and VMware SDDC Manager, VMware Cloud Foundation delivers a natively integrated cloud-infrastructure software stack that is coupled with a cloud management platform.
VMware Cloud Foundation can be deployed on the premises as a private cloud or run as a service within a public cloud, enabling a consistent operating model from the on-premises private cloud to the public cloud. With on-premises deployment of VMware Cloud Foundation, you can use existing infrastructure investments to enhance your private-cloud capabilities.
SDDC Manager features life-cycle management capabilities that enable:
- Automation of critical day 0 to day 2 operations for the cloud infrastructure stack
- Rapid provisioning and one-click updating and upgrading
- Policy-based provisioning to simplify resource allocation
VMware Cloud Foundation uses onboard disks from the PowerEdge servers in a vSAN configuration as the primary storage and uses Unity resources as secondary, FC-attached storage for its workload domains. By supporting external storage, VMware Cloud Foundation helps meet the demands of applications that require more storage resources but do not necessarily require more compute resources.
For a Ready Stack design that includes VMware Cloud Foundation, see Design Guide: Dell EMC Ready Stack—VMware Cloud Foundation on PowerEdge Servers and Unity Storage.