Broadcom expands VMware Cloud to boost AI & private cloud

Broadcom has announced a significant expansion to its ecosystem supporting VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), positioning enterprises to customise the foundations of their private cloud environments. This expansion introduces new hardware certification programmes, collaborative networking strategies, and updates in open-source software that support AI and Kubernetes workloads.

Hardware expansion

The programme now includes VCF AI ReadyNodes and a self-certification scheme for Original Design Manufacturers (ODM). These initiatives aim to speed up adoption of the latest processors, GPUs and accelerators in data centres. Manufacturing partners such as Supermicro, OVHcloud, Intel, and SNUC are among those taking part at launch.

AI ReadyNodes, developed as a fast-track certification, provide organisations with assured compatibility for AI model training and inferencing workloads. OEM partners, beginning with Supermicro, will certify server and GPU systems for these nodes.

"Supermicro is excited to be among the first hardware OEMs to certify our industry-leading GPU systems as VCF AI ReadyNodes. This milestone gives customers a clear migration path from previously certified Supermicro systems in the VMware certification program to the latest fully validated and optimised GPU solutions that help eliminate the cost and complexity of AI adoption," said Ismail Sayeeduddin, Vice President, Business Development, Supermicro.

ODM partners now have the ability to self-certify ReadyNodes within Broadcom's Technology Alliance Programme (TAP), an update designed to give customers more flexibility when sourcing their infrastructure and to improve total cost of ownership for private clouds. Yanic Fdida, Chief Product and Technology Officer for OVHcloud, said, "Broadcom's open certification program for VCF Ready hardware supports our vertical integration strategy, enabling us to self-certify our server systems for VMware Cloud Foundation. This will reinforce our commitment to deliver our customers with competitive, high-performance private cloud services that remain cost-effective. Broadcom's program will help accelerate our time-to-market for innovative and secure cloud solutions powered by VMware technology, further solidifying our position as a leading global cloud player."

Intel and SNUC have also committed to the certification programme. "Broadcom's expansion of the ReadyNode certification program accelerates the deployment of VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 on Intel Xeon 6 platforms. This combination delivers greater hardware consolidation and cost optimisation, which, when delivered through certified configurations, directly enables AI adoption via faster infrastructure modernisation," said Caitlin Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Americas Sales at Intel Corporation.

"The pairing of purpose-built SNUC extremeEDGE servers with VMware Cloud Foundation will enable customers across industries to deliver the edge of tomorrow. Through self-certification of extremeEDGE as part of Broadcom's expanded ReadyNode program, we will deliver our edge innovations faster, helping our mutual customers across industrial manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and the federal government maximise the value of AI," said Steve Savage, Chief Operating Officer at SNUC.

Open networking

Broadcom and Cisco are collaborating to align their cloud networking architectures around standards-based Ethernet Virtual Private Network (EVPN) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) designs. This strategy is intended to ensure interoperability and simplification of multi-vendor private cloud networking.

Cisco's cloud fabric approach includes a unified Nexus One solution, which implements a standards-based VXLAN EVPN control and data plane. "Cisco's foundational work in VxLAN EVPN, backed by the industry's most comprehensive IETF standards authorship, reflects our long-standing commitment to open networking," said Murali Gandluru, Vice President, Data Centre Networking, Cisco. "This collaboration with Broadcom demonstrates our shared commitment to open standards-giving our customers architectural flexibility and choice as they connect, protect and scale both AI and traditional, business-critical workloads."

Broadcom also confirmed that VCF Networking (NSX) supports the Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) platform. This open-source Linux-based network operating system is intended to cut operational costs and simplify automation in large-scale data centre deployments.

Open source contributions

Broadcom has emphasised its participation in the Kubernetes ecosystem as a major long-term contributor to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Alongside other community projects, Broadcom has achieved certification for VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) as a Kubernetes AI Conformant Platform. The certification is aligned with new industry efforts to standardise and ensure interoperability for AI workloads.

"VMware by Broadcom has been a long-time contributor to CNCF and continues to play a key role in supporting core projects like Kubernetes. Their ongoing investment helps keep Kubernetes vendor-neutral and production-ready at scale, especially for newer AI workloads, and is critical for the health of the broader cloud native ecosystem," said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of Cloud & Infrastructure at the Linux Foundation.