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VCF 9 (VMware Cloud Foundation 9) Networking Explained: Designing (VPC) Virtual Private Cloud.


Networking takes a quantum leap toward isolation and self-service with VCF 9, as VMware introduces Virtual Private Clouds. This is natively built on NSX, thereby redefining multitenant, secure, and scalable networking for enterprise private clouds.

credit: Broadcom

The focus of this article is specifically VCF 9 networking with VPCs: what they are, how they work, and why they matter from an architect's perspective.


What is a VPC in VCF 9......

With VCF 9, a VPC in VMware is a logically isolated networking construct in NSX that provides:

  • Strong tenant isolation
  • Independent IP addressing
  • Decentralized ownership of networking
  • Secure, scalable application connectivity

Think of a VPC as a private cloud inside your private cloud-very much along the lines of AWS or Azure VPCs, but full-on-prem and NSX-driven.

Why VMware did introduce VPCs in VCF 9?

Traditional NSX designs relied on Shared Tier-0/Tier-1 topologies, which worked-but scaled poorly for large enterprises and service providers.

VPCs solve this by enabling:

• Multi-tenancy without sprawl

• Application-centric networking

• Clear segregation of duties between platform and tenant teams

• Public-cloud operational parity

Core VPC Building Blocks

1. Projects

The Project in a VPC is a logical container used to isolate, organize and delegate network resources for specific team, application or tenant.

credit:Broadcom
    • Owned by a tenant, BU, or application team
    • Define quotas, including: IP blocks, subnets, security objects
    •  Provides the control plane for VPCs

    2. Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

    Within a Project, you create one or more VPCs where :

    •  Each VPC is its own routing domain
    •  There is no route leakage by default
    •  Full east-west isolation between VPCs unless explicitly allowed.

    3. VPC Subnets

    VCF 9 supports three subnet types, each with a particular role:

    VPC Private Subnet

    • For internal application tiers: Web/App/DB
    • No direct external connectivity.
    • Protected by Distributed Firewall - DFW

    Public Subnet

    • Provides north-south access
    • Bastion hosts, LB VIPs Public-facing applications
    • Connectivity controlled via NSX Gateway Firewall

    Private Transit Subnet (Very Important)

    • Used for external connectivity via NAT
    • Required when outbound/inbound access is required for VMs using external IPs
    • Misunderstood often, critical for architecture.

    Key point: in VCF 9, the External IPs can be attached to workloads connected to Private Transit Subnets only, and not the regular private subnets.


    Routing & Connectivity Model:

    North–South Traffic

    credit:Broadcom
    • VPC traffic exits via Project-scoped gateways
    • NAT and firewall policies applied at VPC edge
    • Underlay connectivity still leverages NSX Edge and Tier-0, abstracted away from tenants.

    East–West Traffic

    Enforced via DFW

    • Policies can be: IP-based, Group-based or Context Profile  L7 based.

    • Zero-trust is the default design posture


    VPC Networking Security Benefits

    VPCs are much improved in terms of security posture:

    • Hard isolation between tenants.
    • Microsegmentation by default.
    • Independent firewall rule sets per VPC.
    • Blast radius in case of a breach or misconfiguration reduced.

    VPCs make it far easier, from a compliance standpoint, to align with

    • PCI-DSS
    • ISO 27001
    • Zero-Trust frameworks

    Operational Model: Platform versus Tenant Teams

    The strongest point about VPCs in VCF 9 has to do with operational clarity:

    Platform Team (Central IT)

    • Leading NSX fabric, Edge, and Tier-0 management.
    • Enforces project and quota definitions.
    • Owns the Lifecycle and Upgrades.


    Tenant / App Team

    • It creates VPCs and subnets.
    • Manages the rules in FireWall.
    • Networking as a service is being consumed end.

    This separation is the biggest win of all for large enterprises and service providers.


    VPC vs Traditional NSX Design

    Aspect    Traditional NSXVCF 9 VPC
            Isolation       Logical        Strong tenant-grade
           Scalability       Limited        High
           Ownership       Central IT        Shared / Self-service
          Cloud parity       Low        Very high
         Security model      Add-on        Built-in


    My last thought on this.....

    VCF 9 VPC networking is more than just a feature: it's actually a basic architectural shift. It is changing NSX from a shared enterprise network to a real private-cloud networking platform aligned with modern app and security models. If you're designing, operating, or demonstrating VCF 9 then VPCs should be at the core of your networking strategy.


    Thanks for the reading...  :)

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