What is VMware vSAN?
vSAN is enterprise-class, storage virtualization software that, when combined with vSphere, allows you to manage compute and storage with a single platform. With vSAN, you can reduce the cost and complexity of traditional storage and take the easiest path to hyperconverged infrastructure and hybrid cloud. Evolve to an integrated hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution with vSAN to improve business agility, all while speeding operations and lowering costs.
Quick Intro: vSAN-Powered Hyperconverged Infrastructure
Discover how you can improve performance, all while lowering IT costs and minimizing complexity.
Watch the VideoKey Features and Benefits of vSAN
Embrace HCI and modernize your data center without risk.
Read the Datasheet
Experience the Leading Software for HCI in Just 30 Minutes
Test drive vSAN with a 30-minute Lightning Hands-on Lab. It’s free and there’s nothing to install.
Start Your LabWhy Choose vSAN for Hyperconverged Infrastructure?
Integrated with Your Hypervisor
Enjoy scalable, high-performance, and secure infrastructure with the only vSphere-integrated storage virtualization software.
Power Traditional and Cloud-Native Applications
Manage both virtual machine (VM) and container applications seamlessly, and benefit from integration with leading container orchestrators such as Kubernetes.
Simplified Operations
Easily roll out new infrastructure and applications with minimal training.
Lower Costs
Achieve better price per performance by supporting the latest storage technology on industry-standard servers.
Private Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Ready
Use HCI anywhere with the industry’s broadest ecosystem: 18 OEM server vendors and native services with leading public clouds including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, IBM Cloud and Alibaba Cloud.
Why Customers Choose VMware vSAN
See the infographicLower Your Data Center CapEx and OpEx
See the infographicIndustry Recognition for vSAN
vSAN Remains #1 in the HCI Market, IDC Q3 2019
Find out why HCI systems running on vSAN-powered hyperconverged infrastructure grew at nearly twice the market rate.
Read the Blog451 Research: “Voice of the Enterprise”
Discover why 2.5x more organizations select vSAN for hyperconverged infrastructure than the next largest vendor.
Read the BlogSpotlight
Optimize Your Infrastructure with a Self-Driving Data Center
Optimize Your Infrastructure with a Self-Driving Data Center
Participate in the Project Magna beta program to see how artificial intelligence and machine learning enable the self-tuning and continuous optimization of your vSAN clusters.
vSAN for Microsoft SQL Server
vSAN for Microsoft SQL Server
Learn how HCI can help you solve today’s database challenges in this new ESG white paper.
vSAN Feature Overview
Learn how vSAN’s software-defined storage services improve resource utilization and performance of HCI.
Read the ArticleCustomers Say vSAN is the "Best Hyperconverged Infrastructure
Read 120+ verified customer reviews to see why vSAN is recognized with a Gartner Peer insights Customers' Choice award in 2019.
Read the ReviewsForrester Wave for HCI, Q3 2018
See why Forrester positioned VMware as a leader with the highest score in the strategy category.
Get the ReportHCI Powered by vSAN for Google Cloud's Anthos GKE On-Prem
Seamless integration between Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) On-Prem and vSAN provides an agile, cloud-native solution.
Read the Solution OverviewCustomer Success with vSAN
20,000+ vSAN Customers
See how organizations across all industries use vSAN to pave the way to a software-defined data center.
Watch the Video (1:28)
Texas Tech University
“When comparing latency numbers on vSAN versus our previous storage array, we’re actually seeing a 20% performance improvement overall for Cognos reporting.”
- Stoney Streety, Enterprise Systems Analyst, Texas Tech University
Klinikum Braunschweig
“With a VMware digital foundation, we are driving innovation, employee satisfaction and patient welfare.”
- Norman Lüttgerding, CIO, Baunschweig Municipal Hospital
Rackspace
“Rackspace chose to go with VMware, because it’s a proven enterprise solution that customers want. Having a software defined platform deployed by VMware really allows us to grow and scale faster.”
- Luke Huckaba, Principal Architect, Rackspace
Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solutions for Industries
Putting vSAN to Good Use
Business Critical Applications
- High performance – up to 150k IOPS per node
- Expedite deployment with highly-automated processes
- Reduce costs compared to legacy storage solutions
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
- High performance – up to 150k IOPS per node
- Reduce storage costs with rich data services
- Precisely match resources to growth requirements
Remote and Branch Offices
- Increase local IT performance while managing from your data center
- Start with a small physical footprint – just two nodes
- Control costs with flexible licensing models
Disaster Recovery
- Lower DR costs with HCI servers instead of purpose-built storage arrays
- Manage your DR site from your data center
- Orchestrate and automate recovery by combining with VMware Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication
Get Started
First, instantly test drive the full technical capabilities of vSAN with this free, hands-on experience.
Second, sign up for a free online assessment to evaluate the readiness of your current environment for HCI.
Then, compare editions and find the best option for your hyperconverged infrastructure in the Licensing and Packaging Guide.
Finally, learn how to correctly size storage and configure vSAN in the design and sizing guide.
Looking for More In-Depth vSAN Technical Info?
Explore StorageHub
Get technical resources – including documents, reference architectures, videos, and demos – to help you at every stage of your HCI deployment, from evaluation to optimization.
Visit StorageHub NowvSAN Network Design Guide
Learn about vSAN network requirements and discover best practices for design and configuration.
Start the PlaylistvSAN 2 Node Cluster Guide
More details about installation, configuration, and operation of a vSAN 2 Node Cluster.
Get the GuideCompare vSAN Editions
Find the best option for your hyperconverged infrastructure environment.
- Standard: Best suited for hybrid environments with per-VM storage policies.
- Advanced: Standard Edition plus all-flash space efficiency features.
- Enterprise: Advanced Edition plus software-defined, data-at-rest encryption, and stretched clusters.
- Enterprise Plus: Advanced management for performance optimization, efficient capacity management and more.
- Remote Office/Branch Office (ROBO): Best suited for remote locations with low consolidation ratios.
- Desktop: Provides a licensing option for VDI users.
- HCI Kits: Offers one SKU for both vSAN and vSphere
Compare vSAN Features
Standard
Advanced
Enterprise
Enterprise Plus
FAQ
Find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about vSAN.
What are the hardware requirements for running vSAN?
A vSAN cluster needs at least two physical hosts with dedicated local storage devices and shared witness. vSAN supports both hybrid clusters, containing hosts with magnetic drives in the capacity tier, and all-flash clusters, with hosts containing flash devices in the capacity tier. See the VMware Compatibility Guide for Systems/Servers and VMware Compatibility Guide for vSAN for more information.
What are the software requirements for running vSAN?
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.
Can I use existing SAN and NAS storage in the same cluster as vSAN?
Yes, vSphere can access and use traditional datastores with vSAN and vSphere Virtual Volumes—all in the same cluster. In most cases, vSphere Storage vMotion can be used to migrate VMs between these various datastore types. This feature makes it easy to migrate existing workloads when there’s a need to perform maintenance or retire an older storage solution. Explore the Migrating VMs to vSAN demo for more detail.
Where can I find guidance on sizing a vSAN cluster?
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. Find additional guidance in the vSAN Design and Sizing Guide.
How do I add storage capacity to a vSAN cluster?
Storage capacity can be increased in a few 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.
What are my deployment options for vSAN?
There are three deployment options available for vSAN: ReadyNodes, Appliance, and as-a-service. With the broadest choice of consumption options for HCI including over 500 pre-certified vSAN ReadyNodes™ from all major server vendors, you have complete flexibility to align with your vendor preferences and experiences. VxRail™ a fully integrated HCI Appliance from Dell EMC™ tailored for ease of deployment, and HCI-as-a-Service from leading cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, IBM Cloud and Alibaba Cloud and hundreds of others public clouds.
For more questions and answers, check out the full vSAN FAQs.