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VMware vSAN

VMware vSAN

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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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

VMware vSAN is a versatile solution that users and customers have used to address various storage challenges. For instance, some users …
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TrustRadius Insights
TrustRadius Insights

VSAN

8 out of 10
January 31, 2022
Incentivized
We use vSAN for our virtual environment. We are currently running off of 6 servers. We are running multiple VMs off this setup. Our …
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Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Product Demos

VMware vSAN 6.6 Nested Lab Deployment DEMO

YouTube

vSAN 6.7 U1 Quickstart Demo

YouTube

VMware vSAN 6.6 Demo

YouTube
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Product Details

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 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 SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

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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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(57)

Community Insights

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!

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

(1-17 of 17)
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November 19, 2023

What to expect when deciding about vSAN

KM
Kike Maldonado
Project Manager
Vueling (Airlines/Aviation, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I would recommend using vSAN if you are looking for a comprehensive infrastructure solution that you would like to use in order to save costs about licenses and interaction with different vendors. The best time to contemplate a migration to this technology is when your storage box is approaching its end of [the] live cycle and you are starting to look in the market to renovate it. Before you make your decision, run all load simulations beforehand, since a migration project is not quick, so you better calculate your load aiming at a higher number [than] your current one.
January 25, 2023

VMware vSAN!!

VY
Vandana Yadav
Presales Executive
Corporate Infotech Pvt Ltd (Information Technology & Services, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is best suited for applications where there is not much data processing, means if customer does not want to go with external box of SAN or NAS, with the help of VMware VSAN the customer can pool all the hard disks of servers virtually which is shared by different VMs running on ESXI hypervisor. There should be 3 servers mainly to run this software.
Scenarios where there is large amount of data that is being processed by the customer applications, additional storage box is recommended,
January 19, 2023

Details Vmware vSAN Review for eperts.

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Education Management Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
The product is a must for enterprise & SMB segments as this gives a good value for money and the licensing policy is very well defined and cost effective for the feature set it provides. This is very well suited for organization which have multiple brand storage systems and would like to consolidate them all together, thus providing a huge storage capacity for the organizations data growth. The product becomes less appropriate in organization where they have single storage platform as the service provider would have the ability to consilidate all the storage systems. Hence this products may be under utilized.
January 17, 2023

VMware vSAN review

EB
Edwin Blom
System Administrator OT
KEMA BV (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 51-200 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Our VMware Datacenter is built in-house on local premises for the business critical applications. Works great when you want to be able to collocate your serves. Whenever you want to add more hardware or another host it's easy to do. We are hosting multiple hosts, we have failover options. For me this is a wonderful solution. This solution provides us things that work well.. Also, VMware vSAN is a cost-effective solution for our environment.
January 31, 2022

VSAN

Verified User
Technician in Information Technology
Education Management Company, 51-200 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It works great when you want to be able to collocate your serves. Whenever you want to add more hardware or another host it's easy to do. We have multiple hosts, so we have failover options. For us this is a great solution. This solution provides us with peace of mind that things will work well.
January 27, 2022

vSAN is by far the best hyper-converged storage solution

Verified User
C-Level Executive in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 51-200 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Especially relevant for service providers, as well as high-density deployments where rack space is at a premium. For anyone looking into hyper-converged solutions, it would be good to include comparisons with Nutanix and cisco's hyperflex who are also leaders in the space. It might also help to review each software vendors certifications to confirm that vSAN is "certified" with their application through reference architectures (SAP HANA, etc)
November 28, 2021

Journey with vSAN

Md Tanjil Islam Bappi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Md Tanjil Islam Bappi
Senior Manager
Omega Exim limited (Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
vSAN is well suited for any application that can run in Virtual Environment. vSAN serves better for VDI, NSX, and vSphere on Cloud solutions. vSAN is a good fit for small and medium business companies. vSAN can't be a good solution where you have Oracle Solaris or IBM power systems. vSAN can't provide storage space using FCP protocol.
June 30, 2021

VMware vSAN--one of the pillars of the HCI

Verified User
Strategist in Information Technology
Package/Freight Delivery Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
VMware vSAN is suitable for company that wants to provide better storage as service, and of course it is better when used together with all other VMware components to maximize benefits. Companies with legacy server nodes with storage attached can also consider using VMware vSAN to contribute those servers' storage to the virtual machine, instead of buying the new SAN just for capacity expansion.
May 08, 2021

VMware vSAN and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX

Chandrakandh Mouleeswaran | TrustRadius Reviewer
Chandrakandh Mouleeswaran
Sr. Technical Consultant
Lenovo (Computer Hardware, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
vSAN is well suited for many generic workloads and enterprise applications. The customer can easily start with a 2-3 node cluster and then scale out. Also, vSAN has to be considered along with other products such as VMware VCF and Horizon to get a complete solution from VMware and other benefits. vSAN uses FTT=1 and it requires double the amount of storage when RAID1 is used. Also, RAID5/6, deduplication, and compression have additional overhead and the customer has to exercise appropriately. Since HDD and SSD prices are comparable nowadays, vSAN All-Flash can provide seamless performance to many workloads such as VDI, SQL Server. Cloud, etc.
September 21, 2020

Some info about vSAN features

DM
Dmitry Malafeev
Senior Systems Engineer
Drake Australia (Consumer Services, 201-500 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
vSAN is well suited for small/mid-sized business implementation to reduce the cost for VMware clusters. It is a big savings to the company on SAN storage. Nowadays, most companies are going to cloud so implementation of vSAN or SAN on-premises is not more required.
September 17, 2020

Attractive, yet expensive, solution for hyper-convergence.

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Computer Software Company, 11-50 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It's not that good performance-wise and sadly the cost on each processor quickly scales up. However, it's great for scalability and data integrity, easy to deploy and configure. If you need more power, buy more nodes. It's great for small data centers but I wouldn't personally use it for big ones. vSAN is a good, yet expensive (because of the cost for each processor will quickly add up), option for hyper-converged storage.

The only thing I disliked is that data deduplication and compression and the raid 5 erasure coding are only for licenses equal or higher than advanced.
September 14, 2020

VMware vSAN is powerful yet simple to use.

BR
Brent Runyan
IT Systems Architect
BYU - College of Life Sciences (Higher Education, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
VMware vSAN is perfect in an environment where you have existing servers with storage and you would like to use them in a VMware environment. Also, for someone looking to build a VMware environment, they could purchase servers with storage and not have to worry about purchasing a separate SAN. vSAN would not be appropriate for someone who already has a SAN.
September 14, 2020

Fast, solid and easy to use vSAN solution!

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
VMware is widely known for their virtual server prowess and their vSAN implementation is just as good as their other products. It's easy to recommend this product to colleagues as everyone is using a SAN these days. I have already recommended this to others who are in the market for a new SAN or vSAN.
October 04, 2019

VMware vSAN - hyper-convergence versus dedicated storage is a great alternative

Verified User
Director in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
For an SMB, vSAN and other hyper-converged products seem to provide a cost-benefit especially as it relates to future growth and reduced management. VMware vSAN is not, however, a simple-to-understand product. It can be easy to set up and deploy with the proper understanding, but there are serious complexities that need to be understood and mitigated for you to be successful and very happy with its long term care and operation.
July 11, 2019

Admins agree that vSAN is great!

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you're already a VMware shop, vSAN is a no-brainer, especially if you're looking to upgrade storage already. With the improvements in vSAN 6.7, it's really on par with the best storage solutions out there and can be really cost effective. Depending on your budget you can customize your solution to tailor your own needs whether it's a low-cost hybrid solution or an all-flash with NVMe screamer.
July 05, 2019

vSAN use in an R&D lab

EG
Eric Garrison
Customer Engineer
ATTO Technology Inc (Information Technology and Services, 51-200 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
High IO is excellent, but I was surprised by the performance in high write transactional testing. It performed well above my expectations. It performs well in environments with focused workloads and we recommend that each workload be its own cluster size-dependent of course. Again, assuming the workload needs the performance, you would be hard-pressed to find a better solution if you already have VMware in your environment.
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