VCF Reference Architecture Builder

A visual VCF topology designer covering logical, physical, and storage layers in one workspace. Start from a template (PoC, single domain, full mgmt + WLD, stretched cluster), customise the layout, validate against VCF 9 best practices, then export SVG diagrams, bill of materials, network plan, and vendor-specific switch configurations — all from a drag-and-drop interface.

When to use this tool

Use this tool when you need to:

• Design a new VCF deployment from scratch — visualise the topology before committing to hardware orders.
• Communicate the design to stakeholders, network teams, or auditors with diagrams instead of spreadsheets.
• Prototype alternative topologies — compare consolidated vs. multi-domain, stretched vs. single-site, in minutes.
• Generate a bill of materials from the visual design without manually counting components.
• Catch design errors early — the validator flags violations like 3-host vSAN with FTT=2, edge clusters without enough racks, etc.
• Produce vendor switch configs matched to the topology you designed.

How it works

VCF deployments span three views of the same topology:

• Logical layer — workload domains, clusters, network plane CIDRs, NSX edge clusters.
• Physical layer — racks, hosts within racks, ToR switches per rack, spine connectivity, power/cooling.
• Storage layer — vSAN architecture (OSA/ESA), disk groups, capacity tiers, NFS/FC alternatives.

The builder lets you author each layer independently but shares state between them — change host count in physical, the logical cluster updates accordingly. The validator runs continuously across all three layers.

Templates ship the standard VCF 9 reference designs as starting points; you customise from there rather than building from blank.

Step-by-step walkthrough

1. Pick a template

Templates available:

• VCF Proof of Concept — 3-host single cluster, minimal NSX, single rack. Lab build.
• Consolidated single-domain — 4-host management cluster running both mgmt and workloads.
• Standard Management Domain — 4-host management-only cluster, ready to add WLDs.
• Standard Workload Domain — additional cluster topology for adding to existing mgmt domain.
• Full Standard (Mgmt + WLD) — separate management + workload clusters, production design.
• Stretched Cluster (2-site + Witness) — multi-site stretched cluster with witness appliance.

Pick the closest match to your target. You can switch templates later but it resets the canvas.

2. Logical layer — clusters and networks

Click Logical tab. You see boxes for each workload domain, the management domain, and the NSX edge cluster. Within each: hosts, network plane CIDRs (mgmt, vMotion, vSAN, TEP, edge uplinks), and any vSAN-specific config. Drag boxes to rearrange, click any element to edit its properties (host count, CIDRs, VLAN IDs).

3. Physical layer — racks, hosts, switches

Click Physical tab. You see racks (one per row), with hosts and ToR switches inside each rack. Drag hosts between racks to rebalance. Add new racks for higher host counts. Each rack shows: rack name, host count, ToR switch model, power feed, U-units used.

4. Storage layer — vSAN/NFS/FC

Click Storage tab. Pick architecture per cluster:

• vSAN ESA — single-tier all-NVMe (recommended for new VCF 9 deployments)
• vSAN OSA — cache + capacity disk groups (legacy or hybrid)
• NFS — external NFS array
• VMFS-FC — Fibre Channel SAN

For vSAN, set FTT policy and disk count. The builder calculates usable capacity automatically (uses the same math as the vSAN Capacity Calculator).

5. Validation panel

The validator runs continuously and shows results in the side panel. Common findings:

• Cluster size violations — vSAN cluster with FTT=2 needs ≥6 hosts
• HA undersized — single rack means single point of failure
• Network redundancy missing — no second ToR for redundant uplinks
• Storage policy mismatch — RAID-5 on a cluster with too few hosts
• Edge cluster violations — edge nodes co-located on rack with management

Findings are colour-coded: red (must fix), amber (should fix), info (FYI).

6. Choose vendor for switch config

Pick from Cisco NX-OS (Nexus), Arista EOS, or Juniper Junos. The exported switch config will use that vendor's syntax.

7. Export

Multiple export formats:

• SVG diagram — vector image of the topology, opens in browser or any vector editor
• Bill of Materials (BOM) — host count, switch count, NVMe drive count, edge appliance count, all priced for procurement
• IP plan — every CIDR allocation in tabular form
• Switch config — full VLAN/SVI/trunk/BGP config for your selected vendor
• Print / Save as PDF — formatted for project documentation

Examples

Common mistakes

Related tools

Tools that pair well with VCF Reference Architecture Builder:

FAQ