Dell 14G Revival: Re-Flash, Re-Brand, Re-Dominate
Snagged a Dell PowerEdge R740XD on eBay—turns out it's actually a rebranded Dell PowerScale F900 node with custom firmware and branding! The chassis still reads PowerEdge R740XD, though,…
vExpert Isn’t Just a Badge – It’s a Career Accelerator
Being part of the vExpert program has genuinely been a game-changer for my career. It's opened doors to early access programs, giving me the chance to get hands-on…
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x Upgrade Workflow
Updated October 2026. I wrote this back in January for the 9.0.1 to 9.0.2 upgrade. VCF 9.1 changed the order enough that following the old list will stop…
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.1 – “The Certificate is Expired” NSX Edge Deployment
To work around this issue, follow this procedure, which involves disabling OVF validation on the NSX Managers. Ensure an up-to-date backup is in place and that the credentials…
VMUG Exclusive: Get Access to VMware Cloud Foundation Licenses for Your Home Lab
Great news! Broadcom has established the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) licensing program, which provides vExperts who pass either the VCP-VCF Admin or Architect exam with free access to…
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x: Fixing WD HGST Ultrastar DC SN200 NVMe Drives Stuck in Diagnostic Mode (Orange LED Blinking)
I ran into an issue when I purchased WD HGST Ultrastar DC SN200 NVMe disks for my new VCF 9 production lab. The first thing I noticed was…
VCF 9.0.0 Deployment fails with VCF Installer 9.0.1 with NSX Install Image
This is a known bug, and service requests are open with the Broadcom Support team. Link to KB there are scripts to help also or can be done…
VCF 9.x vCenter Linking Permission Fix
During this VCF 9.0.1 deployment, I observed that logging in with my Active Directory-driven SSO account did not display the linked vCenter instances when using my AD credentials.…
Veeam 13 Backup Appliance + VCF 9 Integration
Veeam v13 now offers an appliance-based backup solution, a significant advancement for users. Removing the need to manage a separate operating system like Windows for Veeam installation simplifies…
VCF 9 Expansion & vMotion vmkernel Limitations
If you are expanding your VMware Cloud Foundation 9 management or workload domain and have more than one vMotion vmkernel not created by the VCF deployment, you will…