Fibre Channel (FC) is a storage protocol that the SAN uses to transfer data traffic from ESXi hosts to shared storage. The protocol packages SCSI commands into FC frames. To connect to the FC SAN, the ESXi host uses Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs).
Fibre Channel can only be used as supplemental storage for the initial cluster in the management domain and consolidated workload domain, however it can be used as principal storage for subsequent clusters in these domains or in any VI workload domain.
| Storage Type |
Consolidated Workload Domain |
Management Domain |
VI Workload Domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Supplemental |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Prerequisites for FC Storage
- A minimum of three ESXi hosts. Review the ESXi Fibre Channel SAN Requirements in the vSphere Storage Guide.
- The hosts must be in the SDDC Manager inventory. See Commission Hosts.
- A network pool that includes details for the vMotion network that will be used for the cluster. See Network Pool Management.
- A pre-created VMFS datastore.
Procedures for FC Storage
- To use Fibre Channel as principal storage for a new VI workload domain, see Deploy a VI Workload Domain Using the SDDC Manager UI.
- To use Fibre Channel as principal storage for a new cluster, see Add a vSphere Cluster to a Workload Domain Using the SDDC Manager UI.
- To use Fibre Channel as supplemental storage follow the Create an NFS Datastore procedure in the vSphere Storage Guide.
