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VMware vSAN is a versatile solution that users and customers have used to address various storage challenges. For instance, some users …
Overview
What is VMware vSAN?
VMware vSAN is an enterprise-class storage virtualization software that provides a simple path to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and multi cloud. VMware vSAN is no longer sold as a standalone product and is now available as a part of VMware Cloud…
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Product Demos
VMware vSAN 6.6 Nested Lab Deployment DEMO
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vSAN 6.7 U1 Quickstart Demo
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VMware vSAN 6.6 Demo
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Product Details
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- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is VMware vSAN?
VMware vSAN is an enterprise-class storage virtualization software that provides a simple path to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and multi cloud. It enables users to scale compute and storage independently at petabyte scale via disaggregation for optimal resources utilization and lower costs.
VMware vSAN's additional features include:
VMware vSAN is no longer sold as a standalone product and is now available as a part of VMware Cloud Foundation.
VMware vSAN's additional features include:
- Developer-Ready Infrastructure - Enables developers to consume storage to create apps at scale, while providing the governance admins need to manage the infrastructure for VMs and containers.
- Integrated File Services - Provisions a file share with a single workflow, and vSAN can be used as a unified storage control plane for both block and file storage.
- Stateful Services - The vSAN Data Persistence platform framework can be used to integrate cloud-native applications into the underlying virtual infrastructure.
- Consistent Storage Policy-Based Management - Storage can be aligned with the application demands of VMs and container volumes. Define storage needs for a VM, volume or VMDK and let the software apply and enforce the requirements.
- Cloud-Connection for vSAN+ - Transforms on-premises infrastructure with cloud-connected services that centralize management and enhance efficiency.
VMware vSAN Technical Details
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
|---|---|
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
VMware vSAN is an enterprise-class storage virtualization software that provides a simple path to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and multi cloud. VMware vSAN is no longer sold as a standalone product and is now available as a part of VMware Cloud Foundation.
Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.2.
The most common users of VMware vSAN are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
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- Recommendations
VMware vSAN is a versatile solution that users and customers have used to address various storage challenges. For instance, some users have migrated their SQL databases from all-flash storage vendors to vSAN, effectively solving issues related to SQL and storage licenses. Additionally, vSAN has been leveraged in production environments to run critical business services like ERP, VDI, HRM, EMAIL, Active Directory, DNS, and in-house applications. This demonstrates the product's ability to handle diverse workloads efficiently.
In terms of configuration flexibility, vSAN supports different kinds of raids such as 5, 6, and 10 for each VM service. Moreover, the vSAN configuration with 2xSSD and 4xSAS disks has proven to provide faster IOPS compared to iSCSI storage. This not only enhances performance but also helps reduce hardware and maintenance costs.
One highlight of vSAN is its ease of setup and integration with all VMware products. This seamless integration allows users to maximize their existing VMware infrastructure while benefiting from the unified storage pool created by vSAN. Furthermore, the compatibility with all-flash technology ensures that it can meet a wide range of workload requirements.
vSAN has been highly recommended for use cases such as testing performance on VMware clusters for Test/Dev departments and hyper-converged models used by SMB users. It also serves as the main hyper-converged infrastructure solution for housing production virtual servers and critical systems. Customers who prefer not to use external storage can leverage vSAN's ability to combine the storage of servers in a cluster, eliminating the need for a separate SAN and storage administrator.
Overall, vSAN provides a unified storage management solution for multiple storage devices from various vendors while delivering features like data deduplication and compression. Its usage spans across virtual desktops, cluster management, data warehouse support, VM, file, and backup storage across networks. With positive outcomes reported by users and a wide range of use cases, VMware vSAN proves to be a reliable, flexible, and cost-effective solution for storage challenges in various industries.
Cost Savings: Several users have mentioned that using VMware vSAN allowed them to save costs in terms of storage and managed services. They were able to manage all aspects of their workload in one interface, reducing the need for rack space and improving business agility.
Flexibility and Data Accessibility: Users appreciated the ability to write data anywhere and access it anytime, even in the event of hardware failure. This feature provided them with flexibility and uninterrupted access to their data, contributing to a seamless user experience.
Simplified Management: Many users highlighted the ease of managing VMware vSAN from a single management platform, specifically mentioning vCenter. They found it convenient that VMware runs VSAN certification programs to ensure OEMs sell validated nodes, making it easier for customers to select appropriate certified ready nodes. This unified approach simplified infrastructure management and reduced complexity for users.
Difficult Disk Management: Some users have found it challenging to manage disks in the vSAN cluster, citing issues with finding unused/unassigned hard drives and balancing disk usage. They suggest a more user-friendly interface and guided configuration to simplify the process.
Limited Datastore Choice: Several reviewers express dissatisfaction with vSAN's limitation of having a single datastore for the entire cluster, which restricts their ability to isolate or group virtual machines as desired. This has been seen as a drawback by some users.
Compatibility Concerns: Many users mention compatibility issues with older servers and find it difficult to meet all hardware requirements. They believe that an expanded Hardware Compatibility List - HCL would be helpful in ensuring more compatibility and avoiding any potential complications during implementation.
Users of VMware vSAN have made several recommendations based on their experiences with the product. First, they suggest considering building your own VSANS (Ready Nodes) instead of using VXRails. This recommendation comes from users who have found that building their own VSANS allows for more customization and flexibility in their vSAN deployments. Second, users advise finding an easy algorithm to reduce CPU overhead and improve disk read and write cache. Some users have suggested that optimizing the CPU overhead and improving disk performance could enhance the overall efficiency of vSAN. Lastly, users recommend talking to support to confirm compatibility with the operating system requirements. They advise reaching out to support to ensure that vSAN is compatible with the specific operating system requirements of their environment. These recommendations provide valuable insights for users looking to make the most of VMware vSAN, allowing them to explore alternative deployment options, optimize performance, and ensure compatibility with their existing infrastructure.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
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November 19, 2023
What to expect when deciding about vSAN
Currently[,] we are testing both technologies in a time frame so we [still know] after some years which one is the best, according to our loads' needs. We had VMware before moving to vSAN, one [of] many [reasons] to move to vSAN is the opportunity to make the jump in a continuous way. The basic infrastructure did not change, our tech team knowledge was maintained since we did not move to another vendor's solution.
January 25, 2023
VMware vSAN!!
Upgrades and maintenance are little difficult in other solutions available. Also, VMware vSAN offers a vast range of features optimizing the CPU and memory to great extent resulting in faster performance . Performance is enhanced with VMware vSAN and support of vSAN is also very easy for all the users .
January 19, 2023
Details Vmware vSAN Review for eperts.
VMWare stand out compared to all the products. However, it is worthwhile mentioning the following products can be used to achive similar results. Hitachi Virtual Storage Systems Nutanix Cloud Infrastrucure. In case if we are using Nuatinux at the Hypervisor level then it would be recommended to use their very own product for storage virtulization even though the vendors say that all their products are cross platform supportable. However, during tests we have found high performance when using same products accross virtualization.
January 17, 2023
VMware vSAN review
We have done the POC with both products to understand the differences, similarities and to select the best option for our purpose.
At this moment in time both products still have their own pro's and con's.
At this time decision was taken to work with both products, in the future we will re-evaluate this decision.
At this moment in time both products still have their own pro's and con's.
At this time decision was taken to work with both products, in the future we will re-evaluate this decision.
January 31, 2022
VSAN
I came from environments where we used hosts and a san. The Sans are always very expensive and to add additional resources to the san it's in large amounts. Most of the environments only had a couple of hosts so downtime or outages were always a concern. Being able to spread the resources and hardware across multiple devices gave us reliability and security.
January 27, 2022
vSAN is by far the best hyper-converged storage solution
Nutanix was the first hyper-converged solution, but it requires its own hardware. hyperflex looks promising, but it's also only working on cisco hardware. in both cases the costs are much higher, compared to building a custom vSAN solution on certified hardware, leveraging existing supply chain relationships that each organization has with their supply chain partners
November 28, 2021
Journey with vSAN
Our VMware solution is built in-house for the organization's private application, we don't want to put our data on cloud premises. Also, vSAN is a cost-effective solution for our environment. We have done the POC with both products to understand the Flexibility, Management, and cost. After the successful POC, we have chosen the VMware vSAN.
May 08, 2021
VMware vSAN and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX
Nutanix and VMware are comparable solutions but VMware ESXi is a leading hypervisor. Nutanix also support ESXi and AHV and other hypervisors. We support both Nutanix and VMware and it is customer choice to choose considering many other things like software, channels and partnership.
September 21, 2020
Some info about vSAN features
vSAN was handy to do our testing. It helps to provide plenty of storage performance with a simple interface. It is easy to configure and works just great. VMware software, in general, provides the best performance and reliability for the virtualization platform. It's always worth trying HCI and testing modern technology.
September 14, 2020
VMware vSAN is powerful yet simple to use.
- HPE SimpliVity (formerly OmniCube)
We used HPE SimpliVity in the past. HPE SimpliVity provided a similar functionality, but it required a virtual controller VM on each host which consumed CPU, RAM, and Storage. Upgrades and maintenance on the HPE SimpliVity nodes was more difficult because the controller VMs had to be shutdown separately because they could not be vMotioned to another host. vSAN is a far superior product.
VMware vSAN is the only hyper-convergence product we have used, but it replaced multiple dedicated Nimble storage arrays. Nimble had a vCenter plugin which made it much easier to use, but VMware vSAN is baked right into the vCenter. vSAN also really doesn't require much if any management after it is setup and running which wasn't the case with the dedicated storage array.
July 11, 2019
Admins agree that vSAN is great!
- HP LeftHand P4000 (Discontinued), HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage, Pure Storage FlashArray and Dell EMC Data Domain
July 05, 2019
vSAN use in an R&D lab
We only tested vSAN.
June 29, 2019
vSAN pairs great with branch and remote offices
vSAN is far more integrated than any other SDS solution running on vSphere. It is also a simpler deployment and management model.