---
name: vmwaresolutions-vs_planning
title: Planning for VCF for Classic - Flexible
description: As of 17 July 2025, new automated installations of Red Hat® OpenShift® for VMware® are no longer available for new or existing deployments of VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic - Automated instances. You can still use or delete your existing Red Hat OpenShift for VMware automated installations until 16 July 2026. The service will no longer be available from 17 July 2026.
last-updated: 2025-10-30
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vmwaresolutions?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Planning for VCF for Classic - Flexible
{: #vs_planning}

As of 17 July 2025, new automated installations of Red Hat® OpenShift® for VMware® are no longer available for new or existing deployments of VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic - Automated instances. You can still use or delete your existing Red Hat OpenShift for VMware automated installations until 16 July 2026. The service will no longer be available from 17 July 2026.
{: deprecated}

Review the following requirements before you order a VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic - Flexible instance. Plan your VCF for Classic - Flexible based on the IBM Cloud® data center location and your workload capacity requirements.

You are responsible for setting up the environment, installing, and configuring various VMware® components after the VMware ESXi™ servers are deployed. The following examples are VMware components: VMware vCenter Server®, VMware NSX®, and VMware vSAN™.
{: note}

## Account requirements
{: #vs_planning-account-req}

The account that you are using must meet certain requirements. For more information, see [Signing up for required accounts](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vmwaresolutions?topic=vmwaresolutions-signing_required_accounts&format=markdown).

## Licensing considerations
{: #vs_planning-licensing}

Bring Your Own License (BYOL) is no longer supported except for migrations or upgrades of existing BYOL clusters. Use this feature only if you are upgrading or migrating an existing BYOL cluster.
{: attention}

## IBM Cloud data center availability
{: #vs_planning-dc-availability}

The VMware vSphere® deployment has strict requirements for the physical infrastructure. Therefore, you can deploy instances only in IBM Cloud data centers that meet the requirements. The following IBM Cloud data centers are available for vSphere deployment.

Cascade Lake bare metal servers are available in [multizone region](#x9774820){: term}
IBM Cloud data centers. For more information, see [Creating a VPC in a different region](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-creating-a-vpc-in-a-different-region&interface=cli&format=markdown).

If you select a vSAN component, the location list is filtered by SSD (Solid-State Disk) availability.
{: note}

| Data center | Pod | Server options |
|:----------- |:--- |:-------------- |
| CHE01 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| OSA21 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| OSA22 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| OSA23 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| SNG01 | 02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| SYD01 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| SYD04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| SYD05 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| TOK02 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| TOK04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| TOK05 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
{: caption="Available IBM Cloud data centers for Flexible instances - Asia Pacific" caption-side="bottom"}
{: tab-title="Asia Pacific"}
{: tab-group="Data centers for Flexible instances"}
{: class="simple-tab-table"}
{: #simpletabtable-cr-ap}

| Data center | Pod | Server options |
|:----------- |:--- |:-------------- |
| AMS03 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| FRA02 | 01-03 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| FRA04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| FRA05 | 01 | Cascade Lake |
| LON02 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| LON04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| LON05 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| LON06 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| MAD02 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| MAD04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| MAD05 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| PAR01 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
{: caption="Available IBM Cloud data centers for Flexible instances - Europe" caption-side="bottom"}
{: tab-title="Europe"}
{: tab-group="Data centers for Flexible instances"}
{: class="simple-tab-table"}
{: #simpletabtable-cr-eur}

| Data center | Pod | Server options |
|:----------- |:--- |:-------------- |
| MON01 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| TOR01 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| TOR04 | 01 | Cascade Lake |
| TOR05 | 01 | Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| WDC04 | 01-05 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| WDC06 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| WDC07 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
{: caption="Available IBM Cloud data centers for Flexible instances - NA East" caption-side="bottom"}
{: tab-title="NA East"}
{: tab-group="Data centers for Flexible instances"}
{: class="simple-tab-table"}
{: #simpletabtable-cr-naeast}

| Data center | Pod | Server options |
|:----------- |:--- |:-------------- |
| DAL09 | 01-02, 05-06 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| DAL10 | 01-04 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| DAL12 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| DAL13 | 01-03 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| DAL14 | 01 | Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
{: caption="Available IBM Cloud data centers for Flexible instances - NA South" caption-side="bottom"}
{: tab-title="NA South"}
{: tab-group="Data centers for Flexible instances"}
{: class="simple-tab-table"}
{: #simpletabtable-cr-nasouth}

| Data center | Pod | Server options |
|:----------- |:--- |:-------------- |
| SJC03 | 01-02 | Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
| SJC04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, Sapphire Rapids |
{: caption="Available IBM Cloud data centers for Flexible instances - NA West" caption-side="bottom"}
{: tab-title="NA West"}
{: tab-group="Data centers for Flexible instances"}
{: class="simple-tab-table"}
{: #simpletabtable-cr-nawest}

| Data center | Pod | Server options |
|:----------- |:--- |:-------------- |
| SAO01 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| SAO04 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
| SAO05 | 01 | Cascade Lake, SAP-certified Cascade Lake |
{: caption="Available IBM Cloud data centers for Flexible instances - South America" caption-side="bottom"}
{: tab-title="South America"}
{: tab-group="Data centers for Flexible instances"}
{: class="simple-tab-table"}
{: #simpletabtable-cr-sa}

## Related links
{: #vs_planning-related}

* [Ordering Flexible instances](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vmwaresolutions?topic=vmwaresolutions-vs_orderinginstances-req&format=markdown)
* [Adding ESXi servers to Flexible instances](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vmwaresolutions?topic=vmwaresolutions-vs_addingservers&format=markdown)