What is vSAN: VMware vSAN is a software that enables enterprises to achieve a Software Defined Storage solution and eliminates the need to purchase bulky external storage boxes using the local servers storage. Moreover, vSAN abstracts local storage of ESXi servers and makes a virtual disk pool and presents it to the hypervisors as a shared storage. This process will help in lowering the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by not needing to add additional storage boxes whenever storage space is needed. Since vSAN is embedded in the vSphere kernel, deploying any virtual appliance or any piece of software is not really needed. It is a very easy to use solution, it can be configured in a few clicks from vCenter server interface. vSAN relies on SPBM (Storage Policy Based Management) policies to control data placement and protection, how data is placed to tolerate a host failure, IO and site DR tolerance. vSAN Architecture: vSAN architecture consists of two tiers: a cache tier for the purpose of read caching and write buffering, and a capacity tier for persistent storage. If both tiers consist of flash devices then this configuration is called an all-flash config. Whenever the capacity tier devices are not flash, the configuration would be called a hybrid config. The two-tier design offers a very high performance to VMs while ensuring that devices can have data written on them in a very efficient way. vSAN uses something called disk groups to manage the relationship between these two tiers. A bit more details about disk groups: Each host in a vSAN cluster should contain at least 1 disk group Each disk group could contain 1 cache device at most and between 1 and 7 capacity devices. A maximum of 5 disk groups is supported in vSAN. Each disk group containing 7 capacity devices, resulting in a maximum of 35 capacity devices for each host. The cache tier device should always be a flash device whether the cluster is all-flash or hybrid. In a hybrid configuration, the cache device is utilized by vSAN as both a read cache (70%) and a write buffer (30%). In an all-flash configuration, 100% of the cache device is dedicated as a write buffer. Key Features of vSAN: Simple Flexible Integrated to vSphere Software defined Scale-out model Low latency/ High IOPs Cost Efficiency In the end, the simple, “pay as you grow” scalability of vSAN hyperconverged solutions means you don’t have to replace existing infrastructure. As you add nodes and scale out, new storage and compute resources are automatically virtualized and pooled to handle bigger workloads. GBM can help you plan, deploy and manage your complete vSAN HCI solution, every step of the way. Who we are: With more than 29 years of experience, 7 offices and over 1500 employees across the region – Gulf Business Machines (GBM) is a leading end-to-end digital solutions provider, offering the region’s broadest portfolio, including industry-leading digital infrastructure, digital business solutions, security and services. We have nurtured partnerships with the world’s leading technology companies and invested in a talented, skilled workforce to implement solutions that cater to customer’s specific, complex and diverse business needs. With on-the ground, readily available expertise, GBM provides round-the-clock support to customers across the region.