vSAN is the preferred principal storage type for VMware Cloud Foundation. It is an enterprise-class storage integrated with vSphere and managed by a single platform. vSAN is optimized for flash storage and can non-disruptively expand capacity and performance by adding hosts to a cluster (scale-out) or by adding disks to a host (scale-up).

vSAN is typically used as principal storage, however it can be used as supplemental storage in a cluster when HCI Mesh is implemented.

Storage Type

Consolidated Workload Domain

Management Domain

VI Workload Domain

Principal

Yes

Yes

Yes

Supplemental

No

No

Yes

Prerequisites for vSAN Storage

In order to create a VI workload domain that uses vSAN as principal storage you must ensure the following:
  • A minimum of three ESXi hosts that meet the vSAN hardware, cluster, software, networking and license requirements. For information, see the vSAN Planning and Deployment Guide.
  • Perform a VxRail first run specifying the vSAN configuration settings. For information on the VxRail first run, contact Dell EMC Support.
  • A valid vSAN license. See License Management.

In some instances SDDC Manager may be unable to automatically mark the host disks as capacity. Follow the Mark Flash Devices as Capacity Using ESXCLI procedure in the vSAN Planning and Deployment Guide.

Procedures for vSAN Storage