VMWARE VCF AI/VM MIXED Sep 03, 2026
AiThority's coverage of the same NetApp/VCF 9.1 announcement takes the angle that NetApp is positioning ONTAP not just as VM storage but as the strategic backing for AI/VM mixed estates — calling out ONTAP Tools for VMware 10.x, vVols 3.0, NVMe/TCP, and SnapMirror/SnapCenter-based DR for the VM workloads running alongside AI inference pods. The frame is "the data plane under VCF for both traditional VM and AI workloads," useful for architects deciding which vendor reference designs to trust when mixing VCF with AIPod on the same cluster.
The admin lesson: a second-source read confirms NetApp is leaning into ONTAP-as-data-plane messaging for VCF, not just VM storage. If you are pitching an internal reference architecture, this angle (AI/VM mixed estates) is the one to emphasize to get budget for AFF A-series vs staying on hybrid FAS.