vSAN Storage with VMware Cloud Foundation

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

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.
• The hosts must be in the SDDC Manager inventory. See Commission Hosts.
• A network pool that includes details for the vMotion and vSAN networks that will be used for the cluster. See Network Pool Management.
• A valid vSAN license. See Managing License Keys in VMware Cloud Foundation. You cannot use vSAN ESA without a qualifying license.

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

• To use vSAN as principal storage for a new VI workload domain, see Deploy a VI Workload Domain Using the SDDC Manager UI.
• To use vSAN as principal storage for a new cluster, see Add a vSphere Cluster to a Workload Domain Using the SDDC Manager UI.

vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA)

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).

To use vSAN ESA, you need:

• A direct or proxy internet connection OR vSAN HCL JSON file downloaded onto Cloud Builder
  Note: SDDC Manger will keep the HCL file updated if it has direct or proxy internet connection.
• ESXi host disks to support vSAN ESA

• To enable vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA), you must have a vLCM image to manage clusters.
  • If you need to create a new cluster image, go to the management domain's vCenter to create the image.
  • If there are no vLCM images available, go to Image Management (Lifecycle Management > Image Management > Import Image) to extract or import a cluster image. See Extract a vSphere Lifecycle Manager Image and Import a vSphere Lifecycle Manager Image for more information.
  • See the vSAN ESA VCG for information about compatible hardware.