What is Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG)

Tanzu is a marketing term for “Kubernetes running on VMware vSphere/ESXi.” VMware Tanzu leverages open-source software. Tanzu is an ecosystem of products. The first is Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG). It’s essentially just your basic Kubernetes distro with a few VMware customizations. The benefit of TKG is that you get native support for vSphere resources (e.g., computer, memory, storage, and networking). For example, when creating storage classes, you can leverage your existing storage/datastores in vSphere. VMware offers an ecosystem of “add-ons” like Tanzu Mission Control, Tanzu Application Catalog, Tanzu Observability, etc. These products integrate with TKG and offer a variety of features. The Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service (which is rebranding to the vSphere Kubernetes Service) integrates with what you're already using: nodes are created as VMs, anti-affinity between nodes is provided by DRS, persistent volumes in your Kubernetes clusters are just first-class disks in vSphere, etc. Read More Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) Summary: Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) is VMware's enterprise-grade Kubernetes distribution. It provides a consistent, secure, and scalable way to deploy, manage, and operate Kubernetes clusters across multiple environments, including on-premises data centers, public clouds, and edge locations. Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry offers an opinionated runtime with streamlined workflows, automation, self-service capabilities, access to third-party service brokers, and high availability for microservice-based architecture.

Apr 4, 2025 - 06:09

Tanzu is a marketing term for “Kubernetes running on VMware vSphere/ESXi.” VMware Tanzu leverages open-source software.

Tanzu is an ecosystem of products. The first is Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG). It’s essentially just your basic Kubernetes distro with a few VMware customizations.

The benefit of TKG is that you get native support for vSphere resources (e.g., computer, memory, storage, and networking).

For example, when creating storage classes, you can leverage your existing storage/datastores in vSphere.

VMware offers an ecosystem of “add-ons” like Tanzu Mission Control, Tanzu Application Catalog, Tanzu Observability, etc. These products integrate with TKG and offer a variety of features.

The Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service (which is rebranding to the vSphere Kubernetes Service) integrates with what you're already using: nodes are created as VMs, anti-affinity between nodes is provided by DRS, persistent volumes in your Kubernetes clusters are just first-class disks in vSphere, etc.