VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 is now generally available, and one of the best parts of this release is that the new Hands-on Labs are already live. That means you do not need to wait for a lab environment, touch production, or build your own nested deployment just to start exploring the latest capabilities.
For administrators, architects, platform engineers, and anyone working with private cloud, this is a great opportunity to move beyond reading release notes and actually experience what VCF 9.1 brings to the table.
VCF 9.1 focuses on three big outcomes: improving infrastructure efficiency, accelerating application delivery, and strengthening operational resilience. Broadcom describes this release as a step forward for private cloud environments that need to support traditional workloads, modern applications, and AI-driven use cases under a single control plane.
Why These Labs Matter
Hands-on Labs are always useful, but the timing here is important.
VCF 9.1 introduces several capabilities that are easier to understand when you can actually see the workflows, interface changes, and operational model in action. The new labs allow you to explore VCF 9.1 directly from the browser, without needing to prepare infrastructure on your side.
That matters because many of the improvements in this release are not just feature checkboxes. They are about how infrastructure teams operate at scale, how platform teams expose services, and how organisations get more value out of the hardware they already own.
The New VCF 9.1 Hands-on Labs
There are three new VCF 9.1 labs available:
1. What’s New in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1
This is the best place to start if you want a guided overview of the release.
The lab introduces the redesigned VCF Operations interface and walks through areas such as the new segmented experience for operating, managing, protecting, and building private cloud services. It also covers health and diagnostics, Security Posture Management, native log management, and VCF Automation capabilities such as Namespace Self-Service and Namespace Capture.
This lab is especially useful for architects and administrators who want to understand how the VCF platform is evolving as a unified private cloud operating model.
What’s New in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1: Highlights (HOL-2701-01-VCF-L)
2. Hands-On with Kubernetes: Essential Updates and Capabilities in VCF 9.1
VCF 9.1 continues to strengthen the modern application platform story.
This lab focuses on vSphere Kubernetes Service, VM Service, Container Service, and Supervisor. It gives participants hands-on experience deploying and managing Kubernetes workloads, virtual machines, and containers through the platform.
The Kubernetes lab also highlights improvements such as VM Service Fast Deploy using linked clones, VKS 3.6 scale improvements, multi-network support, and Regional Harbor configuration. According to the lab description, VKS can support up to 500 clusters per Supervisor and up to 70% faster provisioning.
For platform teams, this is one of the most interesting areas of VCF 9.1 because it shows how traditional VM operations and Kubernetes services are coming closer together under a consistent operational model.
Hands-On with Kubernetes: Essential Updates and Capabilities in VCF 9.1 (HOL-2702-01-VCF-L)
3. Memory Tiering in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1
Memory Tiering is one of the coolest features to explore in this release.
The concept is simple but powerful: use local NVMe storage as a secondary memory tier so that colder memory pages can be moved out of expensive DRAM. This can help increase workload density and improve infrastructure economics without immediately adding more physical memory.
The dedicated Memory Tiering lab walks through the tiering engine, cluster-level configuration, memory mirroring for NVMe-tier redundancy, and observability through VCF Operations.
From an infrastructure efficiency perspective, this is a feature worth paying attention to. Broadcom has positioned enhanced NVMe memory tiering as a way to improve consolidation ratios and potentially reduce total cost of ownership.
Memory Tiering in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1: Spotlight (HOL-2703-01-VCF-L)
What’s Cool in VCF 9.1?
Beyond the labs themselves, VCF 9.1 brings several updates that are worth exploring.
Enhanced NVMe Memory Tiering
Memory Tiering is not just a capacity feature. It changes the conversation around how organisations use existing hardware.
Instead of treating DRAM as the only practical memory layer, VCF 9.1 enables a model where hot data remains in DRAM and colder pages can be offloaded to NVMe. This can help organisations run more workloads on the same hardware footprint while keeping performance and cost in balance.
Faster Kubernetes and VM Delivery
VCF 9.1 continues to improve the experience for modern application platforms. Enhancements around VKS, VM Service, Supervisor, and fast deployment capabilities are designed to help teams provision workloads more quickly and operate them more consistently.
This matters because many enterprise environments are not purely VM-based or purely Kubernetes-based. They are both. VCF 9.1 leans into that reality by supporting traditional and modern workloads under a single platform model.
Better Operational Experience
The “What’s New” lab highlights improvements in the VCF Operations experience, including a redesigned interface, health diagnostics, security posture management, and native log management. These are the types of capabilities that make a difference for day-two operations.
For teams managing complex private cloud environments, better visibility and diagnostics can reduce troubleshooting time and improve operational confidence.
vCenter Quick Patch
Another interesting enhancement in VCF 9.1 is vCenter quick patch. This capability is designed to reduce maintenance windows by patching only the components that require updates, rather than performing a traditional full in-place patch of every RPM. Broadcom notes that this can reduce vCenter downtime to under one minute, and in some cases to zero.
For environments where scheduling maintenance windows is difficult, this is a very practical improvement.
Infrastructure Efficiency at Scale
VCF 9.1 also includes improvements around lifecycle operations, provisioning, and scale. Broadcom has highlighted capabilities such as support for larger environments, parallel lifecycle operations, topology-aware scheduling, real-time observability, and improved host provisioning workflows.
These features may not sound as flashy as AI or Kubernetes, but they are exactly the type of improvements that matter when running private cloud platforms at enterprise scale.
Where Should You Start?
If you only have time for one lab, start with:
What’s New in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1
It gives you the broadest view of the release and helps you understand the platform direction.
Then, choose your next lab based on your role:
| Your focus | Recommended lab |
|---|---|
| Private cloud architecture | What’s New in VCF 9.1 |
| Platform engineering / Kubernetes | Hands-On with Kubernetes |
| Infrastructure efficiency / cost optimisation | Memory Tiering |
| Day-two operations | What’s New + Memory Tiering |
| Modern app platform exploration | Kubernetes & VKS lab |
Final Thoughts
VCF 9.1 feels like a release focused on practical outcomes: better infrastructure efficiency, faster workload delivery, improved operational visibility, and stronger resilience.
The best part is that the Hands-on Labs make these capabilities accessible immediately. You can explore the new interface, test the Kubernetes and VM service workflows, and understand Memory Tiering without waiting for your own environment to be upgraded.
For anyone working with VMware Cloud Foundation, these labs are a great way to stay current and start meaningful conversations with customers, platform teams, and infrastructure stakeholders.
Don’t just read about VCF 9.1. Open the labs, get hands-on, and see what has changed.