Although the management domain requires vSAN as its principal storage, vSAN is not required for VI workload domains or vSphere clusters.
For a VI workload domain, the initial storage type can be one of the following:
- vSAN Original Storage Archituecture (vSAN OSA) or vSAN Express Storage Architecture (vSAN ESA)
Note: After the workload domain is created, you cannot convert vSAN OSA to vSAN ESA or vice versa.For more information on vSAN ESA, see https://core.vmware.com/blog/introduction-vsan-express-storage-architecture and vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
- Fibre Channel (FC)
- Network File System (NFS) protocol version 3
- VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols)
Note: vVols supports FC, NFS, and iSCSI storage protocol types.
This initial shared storage type is known as principal storage. Principal storage is configured when creating a new VI workload domain or a cluster in SDDC Manager. Once created, the principal storage type for a cluster cannot be changed. However, a VI workload domain can include multiple clusters with unique principal storage types.
Additional shared storage types can be added to a cluster in the management domain or a VI workload domain after it has been created. The additional supported shared storage options include:
- vSAN OSA or vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA)
- Fibre Channel (FC)
- iSCSI Network File System
- Network File System (NFS) protocol version 3 or 4.1
- VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols)
Note: vVols supports FC, NFS, and iSCSI storage protocol types.
Additional shared storage types are known as supplemental storage. All supplemental storage must be listed in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Supplemental storage can be manually added or removed after a cluster has been created using the vSphere Client. Multiple supplemental storage types can be presented to a cluster in the management domain or any VI workload domain.
