The Conceptual Model acts as the foundation, gathering requirements strictly from the customer's perspective to outline the business goals and constraints driving the solution. The Logical Design translates these requirements into a technical framework of components and services; it outlines required design features (e.g., redundancy, hierarchy) which then dictate which products are suitable, without yet naming specific models or settings. Finally, the Physical Design represents the "as-built" state, detailing the specific products (vendors, models) and configuration details (IP schema, cabling, settings) necessary for implementation.

VMware, Inc. "vCenter Server and Host Management," VMware vSphere 7.0 Documentation. Section: "vSphere Architecture and Design." (This documentation outlines the progression from abstract requirements to physical implementation).

VMware Validated Design (VVD) Documentation. "Architecture and Design Methodology." (Defines the strict separation between Conceptual [requirements], Logical [structure/relationships], and Physical [implementation details] phases).

VCDX Design Defence Blueprint. "The VCDX Design Methodology." (Explicitly defines the Conceptual phase as customer/business-centric and the Physical phase as containing configuration specifics).