vsphere-architect

vSphere Architect Skill

A Claude skill for VMware vSphere architecture, design, and troubleshooting. Provides expert-level guidance on capacity planning, resource management, performance tuning, and infrastructure design for enterprise virtualization environments.

Installation

Claude.ai / Claude Desktop

1. Download vsphere-architect.skill
2. Go to Settings → Skills
3. Upload the skill file

Claude Code

Copy the skill folder to your skills directory:

cp -r vsphere-architect ~/.claude/skills/

Or add to a project's .claude/skills/ directory.

Slash Commands (Claude Code)

For tab-completable slash commands, copy the command files:

cp commands/*.md ~/.claude/commands/

Commands

Command	Description
/vcpu-ratio	vCPU:pCPU ratios, CPU oversubscription, scheduler behavior
/memory-mgmt	Memory reclamation hierarchy, ballooning, TPS, compression
/storage-design	VMFS vs NFS vs vSAN, VMDK types, multipathing
/drs-rules	DRS configuration, affinity rules, resource pools
/ha-design	HA admission control, FT, isolation response
/capacity-plan	Sizing methodology, ratios, formulas
/perf-troubleshoot	esxtop metrics, thresholds, diagnostic workflows

Usage Examples

/vcpu-ratio explain how 4:1 affects scheduling for database workloads

/memory-mgmt when does ballooning kick in vs compression?

/storage-design compare vSAN vs NFS for VDI with 500 desktops

/drs-rules configure anti-affinity for a 3-node SQL Always On cluster

/ha-design admission control for N+1 with 4 hosts and mixed VM sizes

/capacity-plan size a cluster for 200 VMs: 60% general, 30% database, 10% VDI

/perf-troubleshoot VM showing 8% CPU ready but host only at 60% utilization

Reference Files

The skill includes detailed reference documentation:

Compute

File	Contents
references/cpu-scheduler.md	VMkernel scheduler internals, co-scheduling, HT, latency-sensitive tuning
references/memory-sizing.md	TPS mechanics, balloon driver, compression, swap, NUMA memory, large pages
references/vm-reservations.md	CPU/memory reservations, shares, limits, HA slot size interaction
references/numa-vm-design.md	NUMA-aware VM sizing, vNUMA, wide VMs, hot-add impact, CPS alignment

Availability

File	Contents
references/ha-patterns.md	Slot calculation, isolation detection, FT requirements
references/ha-admission-control.md	Host Failures vs Percentage policy, slot inflation, troubleshooting
references/drs-tuning.md	Migration thresholds, share calculations, affinity patterns

Storage

File	Contents
references/storage-patterns.md	Datastore selection, vSAN policies, multipathing PSPs
references/vsan-architecture.md	OSA vs ESA, fault domains, storage policies, object model, rebuild mechanics

Networking

File	Contents
references/nsx-segmentation.md	Overlay/underlay, tier-0/tier-1 topology, DFW, microsegmentation, security groups

Security

File	Contents
references/vsphere-hardening.md	Lockdown mode, RBAC, certificates, VM encryption, STIG/CIS baselines, zero trust

Disaster Recovery

File	Contents
references/backup-and-dr.md	RPO/RTO tiering, VADP backups, replication patterns, SRM, ransomware resilience

Containers