i o n

r ibut
is t
SESSION ID: HCI1192BU

or d
Understand vSAN in less t i on
l ic a
than 1 hour pub
o r f
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 0
Francis Daly & James Doyle1 @FrancisDaly

o r
VMware Education
l dServices @JamesDo53857910
w
VM
#vmworld #HCI1192BU
Disclaimer
i o n
This presentation may contain product features or functionality that are currently
r ib ut
under development.
is t
r d
o to deliver
This overview of new technology represents no commitment from VMware
t i on
these features in any generally available product.
l ic a
p
Features are subject to change, and must not be includedu b in contracts, purchase orders,
f o r
t
or sales agreements of any kind.

N o affect final delivery.

n t
Technical feasibility and market demand: will

Pricing and packaging for anyn te features/functionality/technology discussed

C o new

1 9
or presented, have not been determined.
0
l d 2
o r
w
VM
The information in this presentation is for informational purposes only and may not be incorporated into any contract. There is no commitment or obligation
to deliver any items presented herein.

©2019 VMware, Inc. 2

 i o n
Agenda r ibut
What do you need to get started (James)
is t
Hardware Choices (Francis)
or d
t i on
Cluster Deployment Models (James)
l ic a
pu b
f o r
Objects and components (Francis)

o t
t: N
Storage Policy Based Management (James)

te n
o n
Simplified Monitoring (Francis)

9 CYour Cluster (James)

2 0 1
Scaling

r l d Cluster Maintenance (Francis)

wo
VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 3
 i o n
What You Need to r ibut
is t
Get Started or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 4
vSAN Datastores
What you need to get started
i o n
r ibut
is t
vSAN Datastore
r d
o Cluster creates
t i onA vSAN

l ica one shared vSAN

pub datastore.

f o r A vSAN Cluster requires:

o t
N
Cache Tier • 3 ESXi hosts enabled for
(SSD)
n t: vSAN

n te • A vSAN network
Capacity Tier
(SSD or HDD)
C o • Local disks on each host

01 9
2
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 5
Cluster Quickstart
Simplified, Consistent Deployment
i o n
r ib ut
is t
o r d
n
Cluster Basics Add hosts Configure hosts

ati o
b l ic
Enabling cluster services such
pu
Adding hosts to the cluster

r
Configure the vSAN cluster in

o
as vSphere HA, vSphere DRS, and validating items such as the following order:
and vSAN
o t f
hardware compatibility, • DVS

t: N
firmware and drivers are • VMware vSphere®

n
supported, and time is vMotion® traffic

n te
synchronized across the • Storage traffic

C o environment. • Claim disks

01 9 • Fault domains

d 2
w orl
V M
©2019 VMware, Inc. 7
 i o n
r ibut
is t
Hardware Choices or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 8
Plan Your Build
i o n
r ibut
is t
or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 99
Hardware Compatibility
Build your own, but do it right!
i o n
rut
ib
is t
r d
Usingo
t i o n certified hardware is

l ica critical to ensure

pub performance and stability.

fo r Check the VMware

o t Compatibility Guide for

t: N certified components, drivers

te n and firmware versions.

o n
9C
Storage Controllers are key

2 0 1 to ensuring optimum

r l d performance and stability.

wo
VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 10
 Disk Groups
Building Blocks of vSAN Datastores
i o n
rut
ib
i s t
Cache r d
o can be either
Tier
t i o n
Disk groups

l ic a Hybrid or All-Flash.
Capacity
pub All-Flash provides many
Tier
f o r benefits:
Disk Group
o t Disk Group

t: N
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group
• Space efficiency via

te n erasure-coding, and
Cache
o n deduplication and
Tier
9 C compression

2 01
l d
• More efficient caching
Capacity
or
Tier
w
VM
• Better performance
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

©2019 VMware, Inc. 11

vSAN Ready Nodes
Let the vendors do the work
i o n
rut
ib
is t
o r d
t i o n
Pre-configured vSAN servers

l ica built with certified hardware

pub Choose from different

fo r profiles depending on

o t compute and storage

t: N requirements

te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 12
Dell EMC VxRail
Jointly-engineered HCI appliance
i o n
r ibut
is t
Complete hardware and software solution built or d
on
VMware vSAN t i on
l ic a
pub
f o r
o t
t: N
te n
Unified hardware and software support
o n
9 C
2 0 1
o ld
r 2U/4-node architecture
w
VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 13
 i o n
r ibut
is t
Deployment Models or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 14
Provide Awareness of Topology and Rack Designs
vSAN custom fault domains
i o n
r ut
ib
is t
Object
r d
oexplicit fault domains
t i o n
Create

l ica to increase availability

RAID-1

pub Protect against

f o r rack failure, etc.

o t
t: N
Ensures other copy/replica
n
W

n te does NOT live in the same

o
C1 rack as first copy

9 C
01
C1

d 2
w orl
V M Rack 1 Rack 2 Rack 3 Rack 4

©2019 VMware, Inc. 15

 Stretched cluster
i o n
r ibut
is t
o r d
n
3rd Site

o
Objectives
Witness Host

a t i
c
• Provide stretched cluster

b l i functionality without the

r pu need for expensive, complex

t f o storage arrays

o
vSphere vSAN

t: N
Benefits

te n • Single HCI cluster stretched

on
across two sites
vSAN Stretched

9 C • No specialized hardware

01
Cluster required

d 2
orl
• Simplified management
Fault Fault
• VM granular local and
w
Domain 1 Domain 2

M
remote protection

V Data Site 1 Data Site 2 configured via policies

©2019 VMware, Inc. 16

Two-Node Clusters
Minimal cost branch office option
i o n
r ut
ib
is t
r d
Sameo
Witness
t i o n architecture as a 1+1+W
Appliance

l ica Stretched Cluster

b
ROBO Site 1 s

r pu 2 Node direct connect

t fo removes need for expensive

N o 10gb switches at each site

n t:
n te Limited to RAID-1 protection

o of all VMs
ROBO Site 2

9 C
01
Per-VM licensing available

d 2
orl Centralized VMs can run on either node

M w Data Center (no affinity rules required)

V
ROBO Site 3

©2019 VMware, Inc. 17

vSAN Encryption
Secure data-at-rest
i o n
r ib ut
is t
vSAN o r d
t i o n encryption provides the

a Datastore level, data-at-rest

following benefits:

b l ic •

r pu encryption for all objects on

fo
vSAN Datastore

o t • Per-cluster settings

t: N
• Supports hybrid, all-flash,
n
vSAN Cluster 1

te
stretched, and two-node

o n clusters

9C
• No need for self-encrypting

2 0 1 drives

d
• Works with all vSAN
r l
wo
vSphere vSAN vSphere vSAN vSphere vSAN features

VM
• Works with KMIP-compliant
key management systems
vSAN Cluster 1 vSAN Cluster 2 vSAN Cluster 3

©2019 VMware, Inc. 18

 i o n
What Are Objects and r ibut
is t
Components? or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 19
 vSAN Objects
i o n
ut
r ib
is t
r d
o a virtual machine
t i o n
Historically,

l ica stores files inside a flat

pub VMDK file.

f o r On a vSAN datastore, the

t
VMDK Object on the
vSAN Datastore
N o data is stored as a VMDK

n t: object.

n te
o Other object types include:

9C
Cache Cache Cache Cache
• VM Home Namespace

2 0 1 • Swap

r l d • Disk Snapshots

wo
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group
• vMEM

VM vSAN Network

©2019 VMware, Inc. 20

About Components (1)
i o n
r iut
b
is t
r d
Each o
Storage Policy
• FTT 0 - RAID 0
• Stripe Width 2
t i o n storage object is

l ica deployed in vSAN as a RAID

pub tree and each leaf of the

r
RAID tree is a component.

t f o
N o For example, a storage

t:
Components on a RAID
policy that tolerates a failure
n
0 object

n te creates a copy of the VMDK

C
Cache
o Cache Cache data in another location of

01 9 the vSAN datastore.

2
Stripe Stripe

or l d Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

The VMDK is the object and

w
each copy is a component of

VM
that object.
vSAN Network

©2019 VMware, Inc. 21

About Components (2)
i o n
r iut
b
is t
r d
Each o
o n
Storage Policy
storage object is
t i
• FTT 1 - RAID 1

l ica deployed in vSAN as a RAID

pub tree and each leaf of the

r
RAID tree is a component.

t f o
N o For example, a storage

t:
Replica Components on
policy that tolerates a failure
n
the vSAN Datastore

n te creates a copy of the VMDK

Cache
C
Cache
o Cache Cache data in another location of

01 9 the vSAN datastore.

2
Replica Replica

or l
Disk Group d Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group
The VMDK is the object and

w
each copy is a component of

VM
that object.
vSAN Network

©2019 VMware, Inc. 22

About Witnesses
i o n
r ut
ib
is t
r d
vSANo
Storage Policy

n
• FTT 1 - RAID 1

o
witnesses are used to

a t i
c
provide an availability

b l i mechanism to VMs by

r pu serving as a tiebreaker when

t f o a quorum does not exist

N o within a vSAN cluster.

n t:
te
on
Isolated
Cache

9 C
Cache Cache Cache

2
Component
01 Witness Component

orl d
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

M w
V vSAN Network

©2019 VMware, Inc. 23

Resynchronizing Components
Restoring redundancy automatically
i o n
r iut
b
is t
r d
vSANo
700GB

t i o n initiates

a
RAID-1

c
resynchronization either
FTT=1

b l i when a hardware device,

r pu host, or network fails, or a

t fo host is placed into

N o maintenance mode in the

n t: vSAN cluster.

n te
o Goal is for object to be

9 CW
C1
C2 C1
C2 C1
C2 compliant
1
C3 C3 C3
Replica
2 0
Replica Replica

r l d Intelligent rebuilds

wo
VM
Resync Traffic

©2019 VMware, Inc. 24

 i o n
Storage Policy Based r ibut
is t
Management or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 25
Storage Policy Based Management
Your gateway to automated storage consumption
i o n
ut
r ib
Storage Policy-Based Management (SPBM) helps youis t that
r d level of
ensure
virtual machines use storage that guarantees a o
n
specified
o
Storage Policy
Based
a t
capacity, performance, availability, redundancy,
i and so on.
Management
b l ic
provides object- Storage policies help you meet the
• Categorize storage basedron p u following goals:

o disks for optimal configuration

level granularity
f
certain levels of service
for storage
t
o object-based fault tolerance
• Provision virtual machine
resource
t : N
n
consumption. • Protect data through

n te characteristics are defined as sets of rules.

o
These storage
C
0 1 9
d 2
w orl
V M
©2019 VMware, Inc. 26
VM Storage Policy Capabilities for vSAN
Optimise VM storage usage
i o n
r ib ut
Storage policies can be created from one or more vSAN rules.
is t
o r d
n
Storage Capability Use Case Values Default
No data redundancy
1 Failure – RAID-1 c a ti o
b l i (Erasure Coding) 1 Failure – RAID-1
(Mirroring)

2 Failurep–u
1 Failure – RAID-5
r
Failures to tolerate Redundancy (Mirroring)

f o
RAID-1 (Mirroring)

ot3 Failure – RAID-1 (Mirroring)

2 Failure – RAID-6 (Erasure Coding)

t: N
Number of disk stripes per object
te n
Performance 1 to 12 1
Flash Read Cache reservation (%) n
C o Performance 0 to 100% 0
Force provisioning
1 9
0 (%)
Override policy Yes or no No

l d 2
Object space reservation Capacity 0 to 100% 0

o r planning
w
VM object checksum
IOPS limit for object Performance - No limit
Disable Performance Yes or no No

©2019 VMware, Inc. 27

Availability through Storage Policies
vSAN determines best location for data placement while adhering to storage policy
i o n
r ib ut
is t
r d
o data placement
700GB RAID-1 700GB

t i o n
Automated

a
FTT=1

c
and management via Cluster

b l i Level Object Manager

r pu
t fo Define outcomes via SPBM

o
t: N
• vSAN determines
everything else

te n
C1 C1 C1 n
o W C1
C
C2
C3 C2
C3
W C2
C3 W C2
C3
Replica Replica

01 9 Replica Replica

d 2
w orl
V M
©2019 VMware, Inc. 28
Object-level Granularity
Not all objects are equal
i o n
r ibut
is t
r d
o Home object and
t i o n
The VM

l ica each virtual disk for a specific

pub virtual machine can have a

r
different storage policy

t fo applied.

No
n t: Optimize performance and

n te availability depending on

C o disk requirements.

01 9
d 2
w orl
V M
©2019 VMware, Inc. 29
 i o n
r ibut
is t
Simplified Monitoring or d
t i on
vSAN Health Service and vSAN
l ica
Performance Service
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 30
vSAN Health Service
i o n
r ibut
is t
Cloud connected
or d
t i on
a
Integrated
throughout
b l ic
Preconfigured health
r pu
check tests to
t fo
monitor,
No
troubleshoot, and
n t:
diagnose.
n te
C o
9
Ask VMware

01
(prescriptive
suggestions)
d 2
o rl
w
CEIP Program

VMand Services
People

©2019 VMware, Inc. 31

Health Checks
i o n
r ib ut
i s t
r d
o Health
t i on checks

a
provide invaluable

b l ic insight to assist in

r pu troubleshooting

o
issues.

o t f
t: N Hundreds of

n
checks.

n te
C o
01 9
d 2
w orl
VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 32
Online Health Checks
Keep health checks up-to-date
i o n
r ib ut
is t
r d
o Relevant
t i on VMware

a
KBs.

b l ic
r pu New alerts added

t fo H730 controller

No
n t: Requires

n te participation in the

C o Customer

9
Experience

01
Improvement

d 2
orl
Program.

M w Storage load and

V Multicast tests
removed.

©2019 VMware, Inc. 33

Monitor Storage Performance
i o n
r ibut
is t
or d
Automatically
t i on
a
enabled.

b l ic
Metrics at the

r pu
o
cluster, host,
virtual machine,
o t f
and virtual disk
t: N
n
levels.

n te
Up to 90 days.
C o
Stored as DB
01 9
d 2
rl
Object.

w o
Verbose mode.

VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 34
 i o n
r ibut
is t
Scaling Your Cluster or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 35
Scaling Up vs Scaling Out
i o n
r iut
b
is t
r d
vSANo
t i o n is designed to scale up
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

l ica and scale out if you need

b
Cache Cache Cache
more compute or storage

r pu resources in the cluster.

t fo • Scaling up adds resources

N o to an existing host
Scaling Up
n t: • Scaling out adds hosts to

n te the cluster

C o
01 9
2
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

l d
Cache Cache Cache Cache

or
w
VM Scaling Out

©2019 VMware, Inc. 36

Adding Disks to Existing Disk Groups
Scaling up your storage nodes
i o n
r ut
ib
is t
r d
o expand the capacity
t i o n
You can

l ica of a disk group.

pub You do this by adding disks:

fo r • Ensure that the disks do not

o t have partitions.

t: N • Select the devices to include

te n in the disk

o n group.

9 C • Increase the capacity of all

01
disk groups to maintain a

d 2 balanced configuration.

w orl • Add devices with the same

M
performance characteristics

V as the existing disks.

©2019 VMware, Inc. 37

Adding Hosts to a vSAN Cluster
Scale Out
i o n
rut
ib
is t
r d
o add an ESXi host to
t i o n
You can
Disk Group Disk Group Disk Group

l ica a running vSAN cluster

ub without disrupting any

Cache Cache Cache

o r p ongoing operations.

o t f
t: N
Add
te n
o n
9 C
2 01 Disk Group

r l d
Cache

w o
VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 38
Maintenance Mode
i o n
r ib ut
is t
r d
o ESXi hosts in vSAN
t i o n
Because

l ica clusters provide storage

pub resources, in addition to

r
compute resources, you

t fo must use appropriate

No maintenance mode options

n t: to maintain data accessibility.

n te
C o In vSAN, you can select the

01 9 maintenance mode for

2
stored data:

orl d • Ensure accessibility

w
• Full data migration

VM • No data migration

©2019 VMware, Inc. 39

 i o n
r ibut
is t
Capacity Management or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 40
About Deduplication and Compression
i o n
r ibut
is t
r d
o features
t i o n
Space-saving

l ica reducing storage

pub consumption.

fo r Disabled by default.

o t
t: N
All-flash only.

te n
o n Per Disk Group.

9 C
01
Negligible performance

d 2 impact.

w orl Write acknowledgement.

VM (Nearline)

4KB to below 2KB.

©2019 VMware, Inc. 41
Capacity Monitoring
i o n
rut
ib
is t
r d
o Client provides
t i o n
The vSphere

l ica an overview of data usage.

pub Capacity history reports help

fo r you anticipate trends and

o t plan future capacity

t: N requirements.

te n
o n Max 64 hosts.

9 C
01
Components movement.

d 2
w orl
VM
©2019 VMware, Inc. 42
Free (Slack) Space Is Critical to a vSAN Environment
vSAN relies on free capacity for ongoing redistribution of object components
i o n
r ib ut
is t
r d
o for free space:
t i on
Two reasons

l ic a Slack space for policy

•

CC u
p b changes & other component

r
CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC movement
f o
C C C C C C C C C C

o t • Hot spare capacity for N+1

t: N or N+2 (beyond slack space

te n needs)

o n
Slack for component movement (~30%)

Consumed
Actions that consume space
9
Hot spare capacity (e.g. N+1)

2 0 1 Capacity for object components • Changing a policy

ld
• Host/disk group

or evacuations
w
Cluster Capacity

VM
• Repairs/rebuilds
• Rebalancing
• On disk format changes
©2019 VMware, Inc. 43
 i o n
r ibut
is t
Resources or d
t i on
Where do we go from here?
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
2 01
orl d
M w
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 44
Resources
i o n
r ibut
Podcasts ist
MyLearn
o r d
VMware Learning Zone
t i on
Languages

l ica
Official documentation
pub Twitter

fo r
Quick tips
o t vExperts vSAN

t: N
Bloggers
te n Books

o n
VxRail
9 C Youtube

Home labs
2 01
orl d
w
HOL’s
M
V
©2019 VMware, Inc. 45
 i o n
r ibut
is t
or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
@FrancisDaly
te n
o n
@JamesDo53857910
9 C
201
orl d
M w
V
 i o n
r ibut
is t
or d
t i on
l ica
pub
fo r
o t
t: N
te n
o n
9 C
201
orl d
M w
V