Import, Migrate, and Extend VMware Cloud Foundation

VMware Cloud Foundation simplifies infrastructure administration by automating lifecycle management workflows and password/certificate rotation at scale. You don’t have to start from scratch to benefit from these capabilities. Discover how the latest release enhancements enable you to manage existing VMware vSphere deployments with VCF, as well as seamlessly migrate to and from VCF environments, whether on-premises or in the public cloud. In this presentation we will review:
● Introduction to VCF Import
● HCX overview and mention other tools to migrate to VCF
● Extend to the cloud with a focus on Google Cloud VMware Engine

In this presentation, Eric Gray from VMware by Broadcom discusses the technical aspects of importing, migrating, and extending VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environments. He explains how VCF simplifies infrastructure lifecycle management by automating tasks like updates, password management, and certificate rotation. One of the key points is that organizations don’t need to start from scratch to benefit from VCF. Existing VMware vSphere environments can be integrated into VCF through a process called “conversion” for management domains and “import” for workload domains. This allows administrators to bring their current infrastructure under VCF management, enabling them to take advantage of VCF’s lifecycle management features without having to rebuild their environments. Gray also highlights the flexibility of storage options, noting that while VCF typically uses vSAN, existing environments with NFS or Fibre Channel storage can still be imported and managed.

The second part of the presentation focuses on migrating workloads to VCF environments, particularly using VMware HCX, a tool that facilitates seamless migration of virtual machines (VMs) from older vSphere environments or even non-vSphere infrastructures like Hyper-V and KVM. HCX allows for live migrations with zero downtime by stretching Layer 2 networks, ensuring that workloads can retain their IP addresses during the move. Gray demonstrates how HCX can be used to migrate workloads between on-premises environments and public cloud platforms like Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE). He also touches on other migration options, such as NSX Layer 2 extensions and cross-vCenter migrations, but emphasizes that HCX is included with VCF and is a robust, mature solution for large-scale migrations. The session concludes with a live demo showing the migration of a web application from an on-premises environment to GCVE, illustrating the ease and efficiency of the process.