vSAN! What Is It and What Are My Deployment Options?

IMPRES and VMware just recently hosted a webcast entitled Hybrid Cloud: A New Paradigm for Federal Agencies.  A part of the VMWARE Hybrid Cloud solution is vSAN.  We get a lot of questions around vSAN when it comes to the Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) and I want to give those who are new to vSAN a better understanding of how it can be deployed based on the questions from our Federal Customers.

First, what is vSAN?  Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) that combines compute, storage and management into industry-standard x86 servers that deliver a software-defined building block to IT.  HCI powered by VMware includes xSphere, vSAN and vCenter Server.

One of the first questions I like to ask our customer wanting to implement VSAN into their environment is, “do you want to build or by a solution”?  The bottom line is do you want to spend months going through the build and implementation or would you want to buy a preconfigured, tested and guaranteed solution that would get you into production within weeks?

The several options such as, build your own, purchase a ready node building blocks or buy a total turn-key HCI solution that hits your datacenter floor and is ready to go into production in a matter of days.

Question 1: Can I deploy VSAN on my current infrastructure?  The answer is, “it depends”.  To clarify, there are many requirements to implementing VSAN on an existing set of servers, such as, CPU core, Memory, Capacity Tier, Caching Tier, I/O controller and NIC.  The easiest way to find this out is to contact one of the System Engineers at IMPRES and have a discussion on your current environment and how it is growing.

Question 2:  What do I get with a vSAN Ready Node?  vSAN Ready Nodes from any of the top vendors will provide pre-configured hardware nodes that are guaranteed to run vSAN.  Each node is configured with compute, memory, I/O and NIC to meet the configuration requirements from VMware for vSAN.

Question 3:  How is high availability achieved in a vSAN infrastructure?  High availability is configured by the customer’s primary level of failure to tolerate within a cluster.  At least three (3) fault domains to support a PFTT=1.  Best practice call for four (4) fault domains.  The key is to provide enough fault domains to satisfy the primary level of failure that are configured in your storage policies.

Question 4:  What does an HCI solution look like?  The HCI solution is a true turn-key solution that is build, configured, tested and then shipped to the customer.  There is a lot of pre-order work that goes into this process.  We will work closely with the customer’s IT staff to complete the install, configure and create a planning guide.  This guide enables the HCI solution to ship from the factory ready for customer data.  This by far is the fastest way to get up and running in an HCI environment.  It also has a compelling ROI vs building your own solution.

At IMPRES Technology Solutions, our customer’s requirements drive the solutions we design.  Let’s Start a Conversation! Call us at (562) 298-4030 and let one of our System Engineers listen to your requirement and then design a solution that will meet your needs today and grow as your infrastructure grows.