VCF 9.1 JSON Builder update
Refreshed schema, new 9.1 fields, validation against the latest bring-up requirements. Coexists with the 9.0 version.
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Browser-based utilities for VMware Cloud Foundation 9, NSX, vSAN, and networking. Click any stage of the workflow to see the tools for that job. No install. No accounts. Zero data collected.
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New VCF Deployment
Planning a greenfield VCF install? Size your hosts, plan IP ranges, allocate VLANs, build the JSON spec, and run the pre-flight checklist.
Host Sizing
IP Planner
VLAN Planner
JSON Builder
Checklist
Network Build-Out
Configuring the physical and logical network? Generate switch configs, validate MTU paths, allocate VLANs, and set up DNS zones.
Net Config
MTU Calc
VLAN Planner
DNS Designer
NSX Security Design
Locking down your NSX environment? Build DFW rules, plan perimeter ACLs for your physical firewalls, and design the segment topology.
NSX Firewall
ACL Planner
Segment Planner
Upgrade & Day 2
Upgrading VCF or running Day 2 operations? Check the upgrade path, run pre-flight validation, and follow guided runbooks.
Upgrade Advisor
Checklist
Day 2 Ops
Pre-Deployment & Planning
New Everything before you start — checklists, sizing, and upgrade pathsNew
VCF JSON Builder
Build, validate, and export your VCF deployment JSON spec. Supports Production and PoC modes, vSAN ESA/OSA, VMFS-FC, NFS, NSX 3-node cluster, VCF Operations, Automation, and real-time validation.
New
VCF Pre-Deployment Checklist
Interactive checklist covering every VCF deployment prerequisite — DNS, NTP, networking, hardware, licensing, certificates, firewall ports, and more. Add notes and export to PDF.
New
VCF Upgrade Path Advisor
Plan upgrades from VCF 4.x to 9.1 with the exact hop sequence, full 46-component 9.1 BOM, the 25-step component upgrade order per Broadcom, pre-upgrade checklists, and Broadcom doc links. Export plans as Markdown, JSON, or print.
New
VCF Offline Depot Generator
Generate Apache or nginx offline depot configs and a one-shot installer for VCF 9.x dark-site deployments. Live preview, Let's Encrypt with embedded Cloudflare/Route53 creds, self-signed or BYO cert, plus a full air-gap two-script workflow. Aligned with Broadcom KB 312168 and the VCF 9.1 BOM.
VCF Host Sizing Calculator
Calculate cluster host requirements based on vCPU, memory, and storage workloads with N+1/N+2 headroom and HA sizing.
Home Lab & Proof of Concept
New Get VCF running on under-spec lab hardware — validation bypasses and PoC workarounds for non-production environmentsNetworking & Infrastructure
IP planning, VLAN allocation, subnet design, DNS, and MTU analysisIP Subnet Planner
VLSM subnet calculator and IP range planner for VCF management, vMotion, vSAN, and NSX TEP networks. Validates overlaps and exports a clean IP plan.
MTU Path Calculator
Calculate effective MTU across GENEVE and VXLAN overlay paths. Models encapsulation overhead per layer and validates end-to-end jumbo frame requirements for NSX deployments.
New
VLAN Allocation Planner
Design your full VLAN range with 9 VCF templates. Conflict detection, subnet auto-fill, naming convention enforcer, L3 routing notes, and switch config export for Arista, Cisco NX-OS, IOS-XE, and Juniper.
New
DNS Zone Designer
Design forward and reverse DNS zones for VCF deployments. Export BIND zone files or Windows DNS PowerShell scripts with CAA support and a pre-deploy checklist.
VCF Network Config Generator
Generate a complete VCF 9 network configuration including VLAN assignments, MTU settings, teaming policies, and NSX TEP pool configuration for multi-cluster deployments.
Design & Architecture
Network design, topology planning, and storage calculatorsNew
VCF Reference Architecture Builder
Drag-and-drop VCF topology designer. Build logical, physical, and storage layers; assign racks across any tier; validate against VCF 9 best practices; export SVG, BOM, network plan, and vendor switch configs (Cisco, Arista, Juniper) with NSX BGP peering.
New
VCF 9 Diagram Template Library
11 reference architectures for VMware Cloud Foundation 9 — Fleet/Instance/Domain hierarchy, VPC & Segment networking, NSX Edge with Transit Gateway, vSAN ESA, stretched clusters, dual-VDS. Grounded in Broadcom VCF 9 Design Library. Export SVG, PNG, draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid, or PlantUML.
New
Rack Power & Cooling Calculator
Calculate total rack power draw, BTU/hr cooling load, PDU sizing, and circuit breaker requirements. Add devices from presets or manually, with PUE, redundancy, and multi-rack scaling.
vSAN Capacity Calculator
Calculate usable vSAN capacity with OSA/ESA policies, FTT tolerance levels, slack space, deduplication and compression ratios for accurate storage planning.
New
NSX Segment & T1 Gateway Planner
Design NSX overlay and VLAN-backed segment topology. Create T1 gateways with route advertisements, attach segments with CIDR validation, live topology view, and export as Terraform HCL or PowerCLI.
New
NVMe Memory Tiering Calculator
Plan NVMe memory tiering for VCF 9 hosts. Configure DRAM:NVMe ratios using Mem.TierNVMePct, model active memory fit against the 50% DRAM rule, size NVMe partitions, configure per-VM tiering exclusions and encryption, and export PowerCLI configuration.
Day 2 Operations
Step-by-step guided runbooks for managing your VCF environment post-deploymentNew
VCF Day 2 Operations Planner
Step-by-step guided runbooks for cluster expansion, workload domains, certificate rotation, component upgrades, password rotation, vSAN expansion, and NSX segments.
New
ESX CLI Quick Reference
Searchable command reference for esxcli, vim-cmd, esxcfg, dcli, and nsxcli. 170+ commands organized by task with risk indicators, workflows, and example outputs.
Security
New Firewall rule planning, ACL generation, and security policy designNo tools match your search
VirtualBytes focuses on VCF, NSX, vSAN, and infrastructure tools. Try one of these categories:
From the blog // virtualbytes.io
All posts// Documentation
Guides & documentation for every tool
Step-by-step walkthroughs — what each tool does, how to use it, common inputs and outputs, and examples.
What's coming // VCF 9.1 wave
VCF 9.1 Diagram Templates
Updated reference architectures for the new VLC sizing, vSAN ESA defaults, and NSX changes that ship with 9.1.
Release NotesWhat's changed
May 2026
NewVCF Offline Depot Generator — Apache or nginx offline depot configs and a one-shot installer for VCF 9.x dark-site deployments. Live preview, Let's Encrypt with Cloudflare/Route53 DNS-01, self-signed or BYO cert, and a full air-gap two-script workflow. Aligned with Broadcom KB 312168 and the VCF 9.1 BOM
NewShared theme system — FAB toggle on every tool, FOUC prevention on initial load, per-tool accent colors preserved across light and dark mode. Choice persists across pages
ImprovedVCF Upgrade Path Advisor — VCF 9.1 support, full BOM, 25-step upgrade order, and Markdown / JSON / print export
ImprovedConsistent UI across the platform — unified toasts, dialogs, and ⌘K keyboard shortcuts on every tool
ImprovedPrint-friendly output — every tool now prints cleanly without nav, sidebars, or background colors bleeding through
NewVCF Reference Architecture Builder v2.7 — sticky menubar with dropdowns, themed modals, ⌘K command palette (72 commands), and theme toggle synced with the platform
Apr 2026
NewVCF 9 Diagram Template Library — 11 reference architectures (Fleet hierarchy, VPC networking, NSX Edge modes, stretched cluster, vSAN ESA, dual-VDS) with export to SVG, PNG, draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid & PlantUML
NewVCF Reference Architecture Builder — visual topology designer with VCF 9 validation and vendor switch configs (Cisco, Arista, Juniper)
Mar 2026
NewESX CLI Quick Reference — 170+ searchable commands for esxcli, vim-cmd, esxcfg, dcli, nsxcli with risk indicators and workflows
NewFirewall ACL Planner
NewNVMe Memory Tiering Calculator — VCF 9 Mem.TierNVMePct ratios, active memory sizing, per-VM tiering & encryption, PowerCLI export. Based on VMware blog series & MemTierSizer
NewNSX Segment & T1 Gateway Planner — design T1 gateways, overlay/VLAN segments, live topology view, Terraform HCL & PowerCLI export
NewVCF JSON Builder — build, validate and export VCF installer JSON specs. Supports Production & PoC modes, vSAN ESA/OSA/FC/NFS, NSX cluster, VCF Operations and Automation
NewRack Power & Cooling Calculator — total rack power draw, BTU/hr cooling load, PDU sizing, circuit breaker requirements, PUE, and multi-rack scaling
NewDNS Zone Designer — BIND & Windows DNS export, CAA records, 5 VCF templates
NewVLAN Allocation Planner — 9 templates, conflict detection, L3 routing notes, switch config export
ImprovedSite-wide performance — faster initial load, reduced render-blocking, smoother navigation and tool transitions
Feb 2026
NewVCF Day 2 Operations Planner — runbooks for cluster expansion, cert rotation, vSAN & NSX
NewNSX Firewall Rule Planner — DFW rule builder, security groups, conflict detection
NewVCF Network Config Generator — L3 gateways, ESXi trunk interfaces, BGP underlay
ImprovedVCF Pre-Deployment Checklist — expanded hardware and networking validation
Jan 2026
NewvSAN Capacity Calculator, VCF Host Sizing, VCF Upgrade Advisor, MTU Path Calc, IP Subnet Planner
NewVCF Pre-Deployment Checklist — initial release
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