NetApp has announced that new capabilities in NetApp ONTAP have been tested and validated to support VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, giving mutual customers a data infrastructure foundation designed for modern private and hybrid cloud environments.

The validation brings together VCF 9.1's private cloud capabilities with NetApp's enterprise data management, security and cyber resilience technologies. The companies say the combination can help customers reduce infrastructure costs, simplify operations and accelerate the deployment of AI software into production.

Modernizing private cloud infrastructure

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 provides a unified private cloud platform for traditional workloads as well as modern applications, including AI and containerized workloads.

NetApp ONTAP can serve as primary storage for VCF management and workload domains, allowing organizations to use existing infrastructure investments while introducing additional data management and protection capabilities.

The integration is designed to support consistent operations across on-premises environments as well as VCF deployments on leading public clouds.

For enterprises managing increasingly complex infrastructure estates, the combination provides a path to modernize without requiring disruptive changes to existing applications or operating models.

Strengthening cyber resilience and data protection

Security and recovery are another focus of the integration.

NetApp's capabilities for VCF environments include NetApp Console Backup and Recovery and NetApp Console Data Services, giving customers additional tools for data protection and cyber resilience.

NetApp is also expanding ONTAP Tools for VMware with datastore-granular replication and consistency group management. These capabilities are designed to provide administrators with more direct control through the vCenter interface while also exposing functionality through REST APIs for VCF Operations Orchestrator.

The approach is particularly relevant as enterprises look to protect virtualized environments against ransomware and improve their ability to recover critical workloads.

Supporting Kubernetes and modern applications

The validated solution also extends to containerized workloads through NetApp's support for VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) in VCF 9.1 environments.

This allows organizations to deploy Kubernetes-based applications while continuing to use existing VMware operational knowledge and tools.

By running traditional virtual machines and modern containerized workloads on the same VCF 9.1 and ONTAP infrastructure, IT teams can maintain a more consistent operational model while supporting DevOps workflows, CI/CD integration and microservices-based application development.

Flexibility across cloud environments

NetApp is also emphasizing workload mobility across on-premises, hybrid and multicloud environments.

The company's first-party cloud storage services are certified to support VMware Cloud Foundation environments across major hyperscale clouds. Through VCF license portability, customers can deploy VCF in certified hyperscaler environments and run VMware workloads in the cloud without refactoring.

This gives enterprises greater flexibility to determine where workloads should run based on performance, cost, regulatory requirements and business needs.

Supporting the AI-ready private cloud

The VCF 9.1 integration comes as enterprises look to build infrastructure capable of supporting both existing applications and increasingly demanding AI workloads.

VCF 9.1 improves infrastructure density for virtual machines and containerized AI workloads, while NetApp ONTAP provides the underlying data management and storage capabilities needed to support those environments.

The combined platform is intended to give organizations a more consistent foundation for modernizing infrastructure, protecting enterprise data and moving AI applications from development into production.

Broadcom and NetApp expand their collaboration

The announcement builds on the longstanding collaboration between NetApp and Broadcom around VMware environments.

Paul Turner, Chief Product Officer of the VMware Cloud Foundation division at Broadcom, said the VCF 9.1 release is designed as an AI- and Kubernetes-native private cloud platform focused on infrastructure efficiency and security.

Alvaro Celis, Chief Partner and Ecosystem Officer at NetApp, emphasized the importance of giving enterprises flexibility to place workloads in the environments best suited to their needs while maintaining operational consistency and protecting existing investments.

The validation means mutual customers can begin adopting VCF 9.1 capabilities with a NetApp data infrastructure layer that has already been tested for the new release.

About NetApp

NetApp is an intelligent data infrastructure company providing data management, storage, cloud and cyber resilience technologies for enterprises. Its data platform is built around ONTAP and is designed to connect, protect and activate data across clouds, workloads and environments. NetApp serves organizations looking to modernize infrastructure, support AI workloads and improve data resilience at scale.