VMWARE VCF ONTAP Sep 02, 2026
NetApp has added validated-storage certification for ONTAP deployments backing VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 (the latest VCF release from VMware by Broadcom). The reference designs cover AFF A-series, AFF C-series, and ONTAP Select as primary storage for VCF 9.1's automated deployment framework, with NVMe/TCP and vVols 3.0 explicitly supported. ONTAP Tools for VMware vSphere 10.x and SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere remain the day-2 control surface for VM storage policy automation.
The admin lesson: if you are still running VVF/VCF on legacy 7-Mode or ONTAP 9.10–9.12, this is the certified upgrade path that preserves your existing vVols policies and SnapMirror-based DR — you do not have to migrate to VCF 9.1 just to keep ONTAP behind it, but you should plan to. Watch for the matching NetApp deployment guide on docs.netapp.com; until it lands, treat existing ONTAP 9.16.1 VCF 8 reference designs as the closest baseline for 9.1 sizing.