Tweet Congratulations to our New and Returning vExperts Last week we officially kicked off the 2026 vExpert Program and Broadcom would like to say congratulations to the new and returning vExperts. Thank you for your continued leadership and contribution to the VMware community. The vExpert Program continues to grow because of individuals who consistently share … Continued

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Live WebinarWednesday, March 25, 20269:00 AM PTRegister Now DescriptionEnterprises have spent billions of dollars integrating REST APIs to infuse business logic, workflows, and data into their application portfolios; they’re expected to continue spending to the tune of $30 Billion by 2033 according to some estimates, with the expectation that these investments will reinforce their aspirations … Continued

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Since the Cluster API 1.12 release announcement [1], I keep getting questions about immutability in Kubernetes.

Amid this new wave of interest, what stands out is how the Kubernetes community is looking at this topic from a different perspective than in the past.

Today, adopters are less focused on immutability at the individual node level and more interested in how immutable principles apply when operating an entire fleet of clusters.

This is the fundamental reason why the Cluster API project exists, and in this blog I’d like to share my perspective as a Cluster API maintainer.

Why immutability is important

The importance of immutability derives from the benefits this approach provides to the applications that are running on top of Kubernetes. 

Based on my experience, the most important benefits that Kubernetes adopters derive from immutability are the following.

Speed 

In modern IT, speed is paramount. 

For example, you need speed when scaling up your infrastructure to handle spikes in user requests; you need speed when performing blue/green deployments or when scaling down the infrastructure to keep application costs under control or to free up resources for other tasks.

Speed is also crucial when handling maintenance operations that should fit into a limited time window, or when handling any kind of disruption within the wide spectrum that goes from issues to a single application instance to when you are dealing with an entire region down.

Immutability is a foundational enabler to achieve speed in all the above scenarios and even more.

It is thanks to immutability that you can have tools for spinning up ten identical Pods in milliseconds, tools to create new clones of Machines hosting Kubernetes nodes in seconds, or to spin up a new, fully operational Kubernetes cluster in minutes.

Operations at scale

From a certain point of view, IT operations nowadays sit at the intersection between scale and speed.

Immutability is crucial to deal with those kinds of problems, because immutability provides the foundation for creating consistent and trusted clones of your pods, of your VMs, of your entire Kubernetes cluster.

When you start using such types of trusted clones, then you get the confidence that your dev, QA environment, and production environment behave consistently.

Without trusted clones, your operations team will have to deal with configuration drift, and snowflakes don’t scale well.

Security

Immutability is also often linked to security.

While this is generally true, based on my personal experience, there are a few distinctive advantages that immutability gives you from a security perspective. But for other aspects of security there are also valid alternatives an organization can and should consider.

As an example of a distinctive advantage, immutability provides the foundation for building systems where the underlying VMs are ephemeral because they are periodically recreated from scratch, thus providing a moving target that makes attackers’ work much more complex.

On the other hand, e.g. an immutable OS can be used successfully to reduce the attack surface inside a VM, but many organizations are achieving the same goal by using AppArmor, SELinux, hardened images, etc.

Continuing with the same example, also the A/B upgrade process that is a typical immutable OS can have a valid and possibly more robust alternative when you consider rolling out changes by creating new machines and deleting old ones. 

Same outcome, but re-using simple create and delete primitives like Kubernetes does for Pods.

Stability

As a software engineer and open source maintainer, I’m always dealing with the fact that there is a limited amount of complexity that a project or a system can absorb over a certain amount of time.

When the complexity budget runs out, bad things happen. Quality decreases and we can’t fix bugs and CVEs in a timely manner.

Immutability greatly helps in dealing with the complexity budget. It allows engineers to drastically reduce the number of variables to be considered, e.g., when managing the lifecycle of objects like a VM that is hosting a Kubernetes Node.

As a result, systems based on immutability usually provide a simpler, more stable and reliable platform for your application. 

And stability and reliability matters today as well as for the long-term sustainability of your application stack.

How to achieve immutability in Kubernetes

Immutability at its core is a concept, a philosophy. To make it real, you need technologies that embrace this concept.

Kubernetes is a great starting point: it provides primitives like immutable Pods, and higher-level abstractions like Deployments, StatefulSet etc. to manage these Pods.

But Kubernetes doesn’t take care of the underlying infrastructure.

This is where Cluster API fits in, because one of the fundamental tenets of the project is “it’s Kubernetes all the way down”.

Cluster API makes it possible to treat a Machine, a piece of infrastructure like a VM that is hosting a Kubernetes node, as an immutable component.

When a change is required, instead of modifying the Machine in place, Cluster API creates a new machine and deletes the old one, similar to how Kubernetes replaces Pods. 

And by offering abstractions to manage groups of Machines, like KubeadmControlPlane and MachineDeployment, you can use Cluster API to amplify the benefits of immutability while managing an entire cluster or a fleet of Clusters.

If you have a deep understanding of Cluster API, at this point you might object that there is a gray area, which is the OS hosted on the machine managed by CAPI.

Cluster API doesn’t take a strong opinion about the OS hosted on the machine, because, based on what we learned in the last few years, this is where different organizations and products can and should take different approaches.

First of all, each organization has different opinions about which OS to use and what trade-offs are acceptable at the OS level.

Second, many organizations do not want to implement special treatment for the OS of the Machines in a Kubernetes cluster, they prefer to have only one supported operating system and use it across different platforms and types of applications, and in most cases this is not an immutable OS. 

The key for dealing with such different requirements and technologies are the many Cluster API extensibility points.

By using those extensibility points, it is now possible to perform a carefully validated set of in-place update operations in a safe and fully automated way.  

If you’re interested in a deeper dive into this topic, we’ll also be discussing it in the session“In-place Updates with Cluster API: The Sweet Spot Between Immutable and Mutable Infrastructure” [2] at KubeCon EU in Amsterdam!

A few examples

Rolling upgrades 

Instead of performing complex procedures to update existing Machines, Cluster API goes through a rollout where new pristine Machines are created to replace old ones.

This approach, derived from the immutability principles, not only allows you to perform Kubernetes upgrade, but it allows you to perform any kind of change to Machines (infrastructure, OS, and Kubernetes components) by supporting two simple primitives, create and delete Machine.

The process is inherently repeatable and predictable; replacing each Machine ensures that every node reaches the desired state without the surprises often caused by configuration drift.

It is simple, it is robust, it is fast and secure.

On top of it Cluster API ensures that your availability criteria are always met during a rollout. It also supports chained and Kubernetes upgrades spanning multiple Kubernetes minors, and worker nodes can skip upgrades to intermediate Kubernetes minor releases whenever allowed by the Kubernetes version skew policies.

Remediating unhealthy Machines 

How can you handle machines that consistently fail, e.g., when the Kubernetes Node that is hosted on the Machine reports Ready condition false for more than five minutes?

Cluster API allows you to define MachineHealthChecks to handle such cases, and when automatic remediation kicks in, the system leverages immutability to solve the problem in a fast and efficient way:

A new, pristine replacement Machine is quickly created and the old one deleted—again leveraging the same two simple primitives, create and delete Machine.

Avoiding unnecessary rollouts

Machines are complex components, and sometimes you want to make changes that do not require a node drain or pod restart; for example, changing the image registry certificate.

If for any reason you want to perform those kinds of changes without a full Machine rollout, Cluster API provides extensibility points to make this possible by allowing a carefully validated set of in-place update operations in a safe and fully automated way. Even in these cases, configuration drift is avoided by applying the same change consistently across all Machines.

Same UX, immutability and the best of mutability, everything under strict control.

Wrapping up

Immutability powers many cloud-native systems, because it enables speed, operational scale, and stronger security practices.

 At the same time, combining immutable infrastructure with carefully controlled mutable operations allows organizations to take advantage of other well-known operational approaches where appropriate.

This is the sweet spot between immutable and mutable infrastructure that allows teams to achieve speed, security, and reliability when operating Kubernetes at scale.

References

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If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. – African Proverb

For Libby Shen, this isn’t just a favorite quote—it is the guiding principle of her 25-year career in technology. As a National Principal Architect at Broadcom, working on the VMware Cloud Foundation Professional Services team, Libby serves as a vital bridge between complex platform capabilities and practical, real-world adoption for some of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Based in New Jersey, Libby supports the Southeast and Northeast regions, helping large customers modernize their enterprise IT environments. Her mission is simple: to help customers modernize with confidence.

A Foundation Built on Logic and Creativity

Libby’s journey into tech was sparked by the “engineering genes” she inherited from her father, an electrical engineer. Before she even entered kindergarten, she watched him program early processors that printed tiny receipt-like patterns. By third grade she was learning the BASIC programming language on an Apple II.

“I loved how logic and creativity could come together,” Libby recalls. “In my family, we were always competing to see who could write the shortest program to solve a math problem.”

While completing a summer internship at Lucent in 1994, she witnessed the transformative power of the personal computer as it became standard office equipment. Recognizing the impact on the industry, she returned to college and doubled her workload to earn two bachelor’s degrees: one in Management Science and another in Computer Science. This unique combination allows her to understand both the business objectives and the technical intricacies required to bridge the two domains.

Driving Real-World Outcomes

Libby joined VMware at the end of 2019, bringing more than 20 years of experience in enterprise infrastructure automation from her time at Dell EMC. Today, she focuses on large-scale private cloud design, deployment, and lifecycle management, helping organizations ensure their platforms remain resilient, secure, and ready to evolve as business needs grow.

One of her most defining career memories was leading the automation for a massive telecommunications project. Faced with a nine-digit fine if they missed their deadline, this customer partnered with VMware to build an entirely new open RAN network—a feat many in the industry thought was impossible. Libby and her team worked intense hours to build the automation framework that successfully launched the network across the U.S. market. Her efforts earned her the Professional Services Person of the Year award.

“I enjoy seeing concrete outcomes,” Libby says. “Whether it’s helping a customer avoid multi-million dollar support fines by automating a VMware vSphere upgrade or advising on global VCF fleet design, these results aren’t just hypothetical slide decks—they impact a customer’s budget, performance, and business continuity.”

One of Libby’s priorities is helping large customers modernize their applications through the adoption of VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS). VKS enables organizations to run Kubernetes natively on VMware vSphere or on VCF, allowing developers to deploy and manage containerized applications while IT teams maintain the security, governance and operational consistency of their existing VMware infrastructure. 

Libby typically engages with customers after the initial Jumpstart Workshop, working with them to define their enterprise VKS architecture and build a roadmap for adopting new capabilities in VCF 9. She partners closely with product, engineering, and field teams to ensure architects and partners have the technical skill sets needed to deliver these complex Kubernetes projects at scale. ​​By serving as a bridge between the field and engineering, Libby helps ensure that VKS continues to evolve in ways that address real-world challenges for our global enterprise customers.

Libby has written several insightful blogs, drawing on her experience with both Migrating applications to VKS and Upgrading to VKS. 

Empowering the Next Generation

As a leader, Libby believes her role is to elevate everyone around her. She mentors junior architects and works closely with product management to ensure that field feedback is incorporated into future roadmaps for VCF. “I encourage my team to approach every problem with both logic and creativity.”

For young women considering a career in tech, Libby offers advice rooted in her passion for distance running. A six-time marathoner who has completed the Tokyo, Berlin, and New York races, Libby views a tech career as a marathon, not a sprint. “The big goals can be daunting, but you don’t run the whole race at once. You run one mile at a time,” she says.

Outside of work, Libby finds balance through oil painting and spending time with her two daughters. She credits motherhood with strengthening the empathy, patience, and listening skills that make her a better leader today. “We are at the best time for women in tech,” she notes. “Technology has leveled the playing field, empowering us to turn bold ideas and unique perspectives into reality.”

To read more stories from other women across VCF Professional Services, explore Rocio Oswald’s story and other International Women’s Month features on our blog.

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Let’s cut through the complexity: you’ve spent the last year streamlining the cloud lifecycle and architecting your organization’s future. Now, it’s time to move from the server room to the spotlight.

The Stage is Set: Call for Proposals (CFP) Now Open for VMware Explore 2026

Whether you’re a private AI pioneer or a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) veteran, we want to hear how you’re driving meaningful impact. This is your community powerhouse, and your collective expertise is what makes it run.

The Logistics: Mark Your Calendars

• Submission Window: March 11 – April 24, 2026 (closing at 5:00 PM PT).
• Event Dates: August 31 – September 3, 2026.
• Location: The Venetian Convention and Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV.
• Who Should Apply?: Employees, Customers, Partners, and Community Members of the Broadcom ecosystem.

The Content Tracks

Your sessions should align with one of our four core pillars:

1. Cloud Infrastructure: Modernize infrastructure, operating models, and applications.
2. App Modernization: Accelerate application development and delivery.
3. Security: Deliver seamless, secure app experiences through intelligent network automation.
4. Innovation: Gain fresh perspectives to ignite innovation and professional growth.

3 Reasons to Step Up to the Mic

1. Build Your Personal Brand: Adding “VMware Explore 2026 Speaker” to your resume isn’t just a flex; it’s a career catalyst that builds credibility within the IT ecosystem.
2. Celebrate Your Successes: Last year, we saw how VCF 9.0 started reshaping private cloud. Tell us how you actually implemented it. Real-world customer journeys are the highest-rated sessions for a reason.
3. Expand Your Network: Presenting at a flagship event with over 300 technical sessions means connecting with the best minds in the industry.

Submission Tips for the Win

• Prioritize Customer Use Cases: We (and the attendees) love technical deep dives backed by real-world data.
• Craft a Compelling Title: Think of it as your session’s “elevator pitch.” Make it clear, catchy, and relevant.
• Address the “So What?”: Explicitly state what value attendees will take back to their desks after the event.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to check out our previous Explore Blog recaps for inspiration on the sessions and topics that resonated most with last year’s crowd.

The stage is calling! The #VMwareExplore 2026 Call for Proposals is officially OPEN. Whether you’re a VCF expert or an AI innovator, we want your story in Las Vegas. Apply by April 24!
Share on X

You have nothing to lose by submitting a proposal to speak at Explore and there is so much to gain.

What are you waiting for? 

 Go ahead and submit a proposal now.   

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VMware Data Services Manager: Delivering DBaaS for the Private Cloud

As part of our Virtually Speaking Advanced Services Series, we recently sat down to talk about VMware Data Services Manager (DSM) and how it brings true database-as-a-service (DBaaS) capabilities to the private cloud.

Joining us for the conversation was Michael Gandy, Product Manager for DSM, along with co-host Jad El-Zein. The discussion covered everything from the growing operational burden of modern databases to how DSM is evolving into a core platform service within VMware Cloud Foundation.

The Real Problem: Databases Are Everywhere

One of the most important points Michael made early in the episode is just how large the database footprint has become inside the enterprise.

In many organizations, 25–30% of workloads are databases. That number can be even higher depending on the industry. But the challenge isn’t just scale—it’s complexity.

Traditional commercial databases often came with well-established tooling, processes, and dedicated administrators. Today, organizations are rapidly adopting modern open source databases like Postgres, including extensions like pgvector for AI workloads or MySQL.

While these platforms are powerful and flexible, they introduce a new challenge: a shortage of specialized database expertise. Many IT teams simply don’t have the staff to manually provision, patch, secure, and maintain these environments at scale.

What’s Next in the Series

This episode is part of our ongoing Virtually Speaking series focused on the Advanced Services available in VMware Cloud Foundation. Each episode takes a closer look at a specific service and the real-world outcomes it enables, with the people who build and deploy these solutions every day.

In the coming episodes, we will continue exploring services that extend VCF beyond core infrastructure, including areas like advanced networking, security, data services, observability, and AI. The goal of this series is to show how these capabilities work together to help organizations modernize infrastructure, secure applications, and accelerate innovation.

Be sure to follow the series as we continue to break down each Advanced Service and the role it plays in building a modern private cloud with VMware Cloud Foundation.

Links Mentioned

• Virtually Speaking Series Overview
• VMware Cloud Foundation & Advanced Services Info
• VMware Advanced Cyber Compliance (ACC)
• VMware vDefend (Advanced Security)
• VMware Avi Load Balancer
• VMware Tanzu Data Intelligence
• VMware Data Services Manager (DSM)
• Network Observability for VCF
• ValueOps by Broadcom
• Identity Security for VCF
• VMware Cloud Foundation YouTube Channel
  

The Virtually Speaking Podcast

Virtually Speaking is a technical podcast dedicated to discussing VMware technology topics related to private and hybrid cloud. Each week Pete Flecha and John Nicholson bring in various subject matter experts from Broadcom and from within the industry to discuss their respective areas of expertise. If you’re new to the Virtually Speaking podcast, check out all episodes on vspeakingpodcast.com and follow on X @VirtSpeaking.

The post VMware Data Services Manager – DBaaS Solution for Private Cloud appeared first on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog.

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In the current enterprise landscape, the ability to validate high availability and disaster recovery (DR) architectures is a prerequisite for operational excellence. However, for proof of concepts (PoCs) and learning, the infrastructure required to stage these environments—traditionally necessitating two distinct physical footprints—often stalls innovation. 

The VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Holodeck toolkit has emerged as the suitable solution for this challenge. By leveraging nested virtualization, Holodeck enables the deployment of a fully functional, dual-site VCF environment on a comparatively smaller hardware footprint. This provides a sandbox environment to master complex multi-instance operations without the capital expenditure of a secondary data center.

Architecture: The “Lab-in-a-Box” Framework

Holodeck’s dual-site capability is built on a sophisticated networking and automation stack designed to provide a nested enterprise private cloud.

• Holorouter Architecture: A specialized Photon OS appliance serves as the centralized network services hub. It provides BGP, DNS, DHCP, and NTP services. It also provides the routing service required to route traffic between “Site-a” and “Site-b” as if they were geographically separated.
• Automation Layer: The deployment process is entirely automated. With just a couple of commands that the user runs, Holodeck deploys the entire dual-site VCF environment.
• Isolated Networking: The internal networks of Holodeck are designed for complete isolation, making them inaccessible from the external corporate network by default. This design establishes a genuinely contained sandbox environment. Users have the flexibility to configure connectivity if needed, for integration validation or other use cases.

Strategic Use Cases

A dual-site Holodeck deployment is more than a proof of concept; it is a rigorous testing ground for the following enterprise scenarios:

1. Disaster Recovery

Validate your business continuity strategy by deploying VMware Live Recovery across nested sites. This allows teams to practice site failover, non-disruptive recovery testing, and IP re-customization in a zero-risk environment.

2. NSX Federation and Global Policy Management

Holodeck provides the ideal platform to test NSX Federation with dual-site deployment. Users can configure NSX to stretch segments across both sites, ensuring consistent security postures and unified networking policies across the virtual fabric.

Key Advantages of Holodeck

• Rapid Iteration: The dual-site nested VCF deployment takes only a few hours with the automated process. If a test fails or an environment becomes unstable, it can be wiped and redeployed with just a few commands.
• Zero External Dependencies: Holodeck provides its own internal DNS, DHCP, NTP, and BGP services. It requires no configuration changes to your corporate network, enabling “plug-and-play” labs.
• Blueprint Validation: Use Holodeck to “dry run” your production design. If the configuration succeeds in the nested environment, it serves as a verified blueprint for your physical rollout.

Deployment Process

Prerequisites:

1. Hardware Requirements: Confirm that the physical host meets the necessary hardware specifications for dual-site deployments, as detailed in the documentation here.
2. Network Configuration: Create a trunk portgroup on either a vSphere Standard Switch, vSphere Distributed Switch, or NSX switch. This portgroup must allow VLANs 0, 10 through 25, and 40 through 58. For more details, refer to the documentation.
3. Depot Setup: Holodeck supports both online and offline depot modes for VCF deployments. If deploying in an offline environment (with limited or no internet connectivity), you must set up the offline depot before starting the Holodeck deployment. Detailed instructions are available here.
4. Download Binaries: Download the VCF Installer OVA and the VMware ESX ISO from the Broadcom Support Portal.

Deployment Steps:

1. Deploy Holorouter: Deploy the Holorouter OVA onto the target host (a standalone VMware ESX host or a vSphere cluster managed by VMware vCenter). The detailed process is available here.
2. Stage Software: Log into the Holorouter and copy the downloaded VCF Installer OVA and VMware ESX ISO to the designated folder. Instructions can be found here.
3. Dual-Site Holodeck Deployment:
   1. The deployment can be run for both sites concurrently via two separate Holorouter sessions, or you can wait for site ‘a’ deployment to finish before starting site ‘b’ deployment.
   2. To begin the deployment of the nested dual-site VCF environment with default CIDRs and VLANs, execute the following commands:

      pwsh
New-HolodeckConfig -TargetHost <target_host_url> -Username <target_host_username> -Password <target_host_password>
New-HoloDeckNetworkConfig -Site a
New-HoloDeckNetworkConfig -Site b
Set-HoloRouter -dualsite
New-HoloDeckInstance -Site a [Additional Parameters]

   3. Open a new session to the Holorouter, or wait for the site ‘a’ deployment to complete, and run the following command: 

      Get-HolodeckConfig | Import-HolodeckConfig
New-HoloDeckInstance -Site b [Additional Parameters]

   4. If you are using custom CIDRs and VLANs, run the following commands to initiate the deployment of nested dual-site VCF environment: 

      pwsh
New-HolodeckConfig -TargetHost <target_host_url> -Username <target_host_username> -Password <target_host_password>
New-HoloDeckNetworkConfig -Site a -MasterCIDR <site-a-cidr> -VLANRangeStart <site-a-vlanrangestart>
New-HoloDeckNetworkConfig -Site b -MasterCIDR <site-b-cidr> -VLANRangeStart <site-b-vlanrangestart>
Set-HoloRouter -dualsite
New-HoloDeckInstance -Site a -CIDR <site-a-cidr> -VLANRangeStart <site-a-vlanrangestart> [Additional Parameters]

   5. Open a new session to the Holorouter, or wait for the site ‘a’ deployment to complete, and run the following command: 

      Get-HolodeckConfig | Import-HolodeckConfig
New-HoloDeckInstance -Site b -CIDR <site-a-cidr>,<site-b-cidr> -VLANRangeStart <site-a-vlanrangestart>,<site-b-vlanrangestart> [Additional Parameters]

• NOTE: Ensure the custom CIDR is a /20 network. 

• NOTE: The specific parameters available for the New-HolodeckInstance command vary based on the type of deployment. For detailed information on the supported parameters, please refer to the documentation for your chosen deployment:
  • VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF)
  • Management domain only
  • Full stack VCF

Conclusion

Holodeck is an invaluable resource for architects and administrators who want to gain a deeper understanding of VCF. It offers a comprehensive use case validation and learning experience. Owing to the nature of its deployment, it is very efficient in terms of resource consumption. This resource efficiency is especially beneficial for PoCs, allowing users to rapidly prototype and test VCF configurations without significant infrastructure investment. Furthermore, with support for dual-site deployments, Holodeck expands the scope for users to validate disaster recovery and high availability scenarios.

If you are looking for more information on Holodeck and its capabilities, please refer to the official documentation here.

The post Simplify Multisite PoCs Using Holodeck appeared first on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog.

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Achieving a fully deployed VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) architecture, featuring separate management and workload domains across multiple, multi-region sites, is an evolutionary process. The journey begins with a foundational VCF fleet design, typically a minimal-footprint, single-site deployment where the management components and initial workloads share a single cluster. This initial setup provides the starting point for scaling your VCF instances and architecture to meet evolving business demands.

A crucial question for businesses starting small is this: Can you still leverage VMware Private AI, even with a minimal VCF environment, to ensure you are not left behind in today’s AI-driven world?

The video below demonstrates how to deploy and utilize VMware Private AI on a consolidated, minimal-footprint VCF architecture. This allows your business to start harnessing the power of AI today, right alongside your continued growth.

Additional Resources

• Official documentation on VCF fleet with a single site with minimal footprint
• Official documentation on VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA
• Official release notes on VMware Private AI Services

The post VMware Private AI on Consolidated VMware Cloud Foundation Architecture appeared first on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog.

The post VMware Private AI on Consolidated VMware Cloud Foundation Architecture appeared first on VMware Blogs.

Synopsis
Broadcom has published a 10-minute demo video that shows you how to work around a commonly reported failure scenario in 2-node Windows Server 2025 Failover Clusters (WSFC) when adding/configuring a quorum disk in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF).

Important: This video demonstrates a workaround for one symptom. It does not resolve the underlying WSFC 2025 defect that can present as broader quorum/core-resource transition and failover reliability issues.

Applies to
• Windows Server 2025 Failover Clustering (2-node)
• Shared disk / quorum disk configurations
• VMware Cloud Foundation deployments (symptoms also reported outside vSphere)

Customer-reported behavior (field symptom)
Customers have reported WSFC 2025 failure scenarios where expected quorum/core-resource behavior breaks down in a 2-node cluster. Broadcom has documented a related failure mode (where shutting down an active VM holding cluster resources when the cluster has no roles can lead to a cluster-down condition) and notes Microsoft is actively investigating.

Separately, similar 2-node quorum/ownership failure behavior is also described by customers in non-VCF environments (including 2-node configurations on Microsoft Hyper-V), confirming that the reported issues are not specifically hypervisor-related.

What we’re releasing
• A 10-minute demo video: This video shows a repeatable workaround to successfully complete quorum disk addition/configuration without triggering the Cluster failure condition.
• Scope: workaround for this specific symptom only – does not claim to “fix WSFC 2025.”

Microsoft mitigation (shipped update and enablement flag)
Microsoft has shipped Windows Server 2025 cumulative updates that customers commonly associate with the mitigation path, including KB5063878 (August 12, 2025; OS Build 26100.4946).

However, reports on Microsoft-hosted threads indicate the effective behavior may require an explicit FeatureManagement override registry value (2005146767) to be set (followed by a restart).

VERIFY THE UPDATE IS PRESENT (POWERSHELL)
GET-HOTFIX -ID KB5063878

RESTART (REQUIRED)
RESTART-COMPUTER

Notes:
• If you are actively experiencing cluster instability during quorum disk configuration, you are encouraged to start with the workaround shown in this video, then evaluate Microsoft’s shipped mitigation and override flag in a controlled maintenance window.
• Community reports also describe broader “quorum/core resources don’t transition as expected” scenarios during node maintenance (including patching) in 2-node WSFC 2025.
• It’s important to note that the behavior described in this post and the accompanying video does not occur if you use a File Share Witness as the Quorum.

References
• Broadcom KB: WSFC 2025 2-node cluster-down scenario statement
• Microsoft Q&A: 2-node WSFC 2025 quorum owner restart causing cluster down
• Microsoft Q&A: Event 1177/quorum-loss thread incl. FeatureManagement override 2005146767
• Microsoft Support KB: KB5063878 (Windows Server 2025 cumulative update)

The post VCF: Workaround for Quorum-Disk Failure Scenario in 2-Node WSFC 2025 Configuration appeared first on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog.

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