Plain Virtualization

In my years transitioning from the virtualization front lines at VMware to my current role at NetApp, I’ve seen my share of "once-in-a-generation" market shifts. But the current landscape of 2026 is truly unprecedented. As reported by The Wall Street Journal , we are witnessing a "permanent reallocation" of manufacturing capacity toward AI, triggering a memory-chip shortage that industry veterans call the "craziest time ever". For architects and IT leaders, this isn't just about rising costs; it's a fundamental challenge to how we design for resilience and delivery. The 2026 Context: A Market in "Hyper-Bull" Phase The data is stark. Prices for memory surged 50% in late 2025, but that was just the preamble. According to the latest TrendForce projections , contract prices for conventional server DRAM are set to skyrocket by 90% to 95% in Q1 2026 alone. We aren’t just looking at budget adjustments; we are witnessing a complete decoupling ...

The discussion on moving to an alternative hypervisor due to Broadcom acquisition of VMware has been a popular topic mainly due to the cost increase of the licenses required to run VMware software. But let's be honest, there are applications that works only on VMware due to certification or qualification. There are still a bulk of workloads that doesn't requires and this is where an alternative is helpful to drive the cost down. Even if you have managed to assess and decided on the alternative choice (whatever that is), there are just one important cost that many has overlook and it is the most important. That is migration cost from VMware data format to your alternative data format. There many paid software for such requirements which are not free and generally price per VM or by the amount of data capacity. They are reliable but purchasing the additional cost for a one time use might not be as viable, not to mention the professional service cost needed on top of that. This ta...

Where I used to come from VMware, it build an ecosystem of integration with its vendors. And have a massive interops from compute, storage and network. It does this through an extensive API within its full software stack. When I joined NetApp earlier this year, NetApp have a Cyber Resilience Partner Ecosystem surrounding data. One of the category is Virus Detection. This was made possible with ONTAP Vscan technology which is a proprietary to NetApp. Which also means, not all AV vendor can just integrate. They need to be using ONTAP Vscan technology for that integration.  Now the questions is won't that made it less compiling? Maybe, but for the sake of security, this is needed. Why do I say so? Generally on the market, storage vendors all have integration to AV vendors in some way, However, most choose the "easy way out". They leverage on ICAP (Internet Content Adaptation Protocol). As ICAP is a generic protocol, it can be easily utilized. However, one issue with ICAP is,...

The NetApp Insight is NetApp flagship event which showcasing the new innovation and launches announcement. This year without fail, NetApp once again has release one of the most anticipated offering in the AI arena. The first in able to do this all right from the start doing it right more than 30 years ago with ONTAP, AFX and AIDE. Together with some new branding and new abilities. Let's go right into it into some of the major updates. 1. AFX ( link ) and AIDE ( link ) AFX is a new offering which is NetApp first announced in NetApp Insight 2024 and now its available. This is NetApp first disaggregated storage solution cater to demanding workload primary AI but also other such as EDA. The best part is certified with NVIDIA, it not just meet the performance but also inherit all the best of ONTAP such as Security and more. AIDE, on the other hand, as the name implies, its support the AI Data Pipeline. This is the first and only AI Data Engine that is available on the market. Just ima...

Why NetApp is bold enough to say they are the Most Secure Storage on the planet second to none. Here I am going to break it down what NetApp proof itself on: NetApp has pledge it self to CISA Secure by Design Commitment. And you can read here  what that is about also what the pledge entails. NetApp also comply to NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 by folloing the stringent guidelines entail here . NetApp has comly to a list security certifications as details here . To list a few, DoDIN APL, FIPS 140, Common Criteria, etc. Lastly, NetApp is validated by CISA for CSfC to store secret and top-secret National Security Systems (NSS) data. That is all what NetApp has proof. Why not let a third party do validated. NetApp engaged SE Labs to test out its built in Autonomous Ransomware Protection (ARP) with AI against 15 ransomware family, and has achieve a AAA rating. The only storage on the planet so far to get this rating. It proof that ARP was able to detect all 100% accuracy of the atta...

For those who missed the first half application or wasn't to the cut and have made improvement as suggested from the comments given, the application for second half is now open! If you do not know what is VMware vExpert, you can check out my post here . You might be already doing it why not apply and get accredited.  So start drafting and save your application and remember to submit them by 24th July US. You should expect the results to be out in Aug time frame. As usual if you need help or advice, feel free to approach any of the vExpert Pro nearest to you. If are not aware of the benefit and experience of vExpert accreditation check out my post here . Good luck to all applicants. Dates for reference Open July 7th Closing July 24th Announcement Happens on August 15th