Storage Virtualization Software vSAN

vSAN benefits include:

• Seamless evolution – vSAN is integrated with vSphere. Extend virtualization to storage leveraging the same tools and skillsets.
  
• Industry-leading flexibility – You can run HCI on certified solutions  from 18 OEM server vendors and as native services with leading public clouds.
• Multi-cloud capabilities – You get consistent operations from edge to core to cloud, with intrinsic security throughout.
• Traditional and modern apps on the same platform.

A vSAN cluster needs at least two physical hosts with dedicated local storage devices and shared witness. See the VMware Compatibility Guide for Systems/Servers and VMware Compatibility Guide for vSAN for more information.

vSAN is integrated with the VMware vSphere Hypervisor, so there’s no need to install additional software or deploy storage controller virtual appliances to every host in the cluster, as is often the case. Only vCenter Server is required to configure and manage a vSAN cluster.

Yes, vSphere can access and use traditional datastores with vSAN and vSphere Virtual Volumes. In most cases, vSphere Storage vMotion can be used to migrate VMs between these datastore types. This makes it easy to migrate existing workloads when performing maintenance or retiring a storage solution.

To evaluate an existing environment for migration to vSAN, request a free HCI assessment. Data collected can be used along with the vSAN ReadyNode Sizer to help determine suitable vSAN ReadyNode server configurations.

Storage capacity can be increased in a couple ways: either scale-out your clusters by adding nodes, or scale-up existing nodes by adding capacity. Cluster Quickstart makes it easy to add compute and storage capacity to a vSAN cluster.

There are four deployment options available for vSAN: a jointly engineered turnkey system, Global Partner Appliances, vSAN ReadyNodes, and as a service with cloud providers. See vSAN deployment options for more information.

For detailed guidance on enabling vSAN, see vSAN documentation.

For step by step instructions on configuring a vSAN cluster, see vSAN documentation.

vSAN ReadyNodes are x86 servers that have been pre-configured, tested and certified for VMware HCI software. Each ReadyNode is optimally configured for vSAN with the required amount of CPU, memory, network, I/O controllers and storage. For more information, see vSAN ReadyNodes.