Skip to main content
  • EN

Hi Everyone,

Over the past few months, like many others, my role has shifted slightly.
After years of working deeply with VMware technologies (vSphere, NSX, vSAN, Veeam integrations, etc.), I’m now also helping customers explore adjacent or complementary solutions — especially in Kubernetes-native environments.

One technology that comes up a lot is KubeVirt — a way to run VMs inside Kubernetes clusters, alongside containers.
It's not intended to replace vSphere, and it’s certainly not a "better vs worse" situation. It's simply different — and the learning curve can catch you off guard if you approach it expecting it to feel like vCenter.

While working with KubeVirt, here are a few key takeaways I thought might be helpful to share:

  • Storage is very different: Instead of datastores and VMDKs, you deal with Kubernetes PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) and CSI drivers. Live migration depends heavily on ReadWriteMany or block volumes.

  • Networking needs a shift in mindset: Concepts like vSwitches and Port Groups are replaced by Kubernetes CNIs, Multus, and YAML-defined networking attachments.

  • Operations are YAML-first: There’s no vSphere GUI equivalent by default. Creating a VM, adding NICs, expanding storage — all done declaratively via Kubernetes manifests.

  • Day 2 operations look different: Monitoring, backups, and security all shift towards Kubernetes-native tools like Prometheus, Velero, and Network Policies.

  • GitOps can change everything: Infrastructure-as-code for VMs feels strange at first but becomes incredibly powerful once you adapt.

Because I struggled initially trying to map all the concepts from "how I know vSphere works" over to "how Kubernetes expects me to manage VMs," I decided to write a detailed guide mapping VMware concepts directly to KubeVirt equivalents.

If you're curious or starting down this path, the guide is here:
👉 https://veducate.co.uk/kubevirt-for-vsphere-admins-deep-dive-guide/

This isn’t a sales pitch for KubeVirt — and it's definitely not a bake-off against VMware.
It’s simply a resource to help if you ever find yourself needing to bridge these two worlds.

Happy to answer any questions or discuss how backup and DR models change slightly when you enter Kubernetes-land too (especially with Veeam’s K10/Kasten integrations).

Thanks for reading!

I will save this for reading later as I need to get in to the Kubernetes world this year hopefully.  Been trying but as usual other work related things trump the learning.  😋

Great Article!

hi ​@saintdle I didn't read it carefully yet, seems to be extremely useful for vSphere guys! congrats, thank you .

Congratulations on the clear and concise content!

Comment


Terms & Conditions