A storage provider is a software component that is offered by VMware or developed by a third party through vSphere APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA). The storage provider can also be called VASA provider. The storage providers integrate with various storage entities that include external physical storage and storage abstractions, such as vSAN and Virtual Volumes . Storage providers can also support software solutions, for example, I/O filters.
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About Storage Providers vCenter Server and ESXi use the storage providers to obtain information about storage configuration, status, and storage data services offered in your environment. This information appears in the vSphere Client . The information helps you to make appropriate decisions about virtual machine placement, to set storage requirements, and to monitor your storage environment. Storage Providers and Data Representation vCenter Server and ESXi communicate with the storage provider to obtain information that the storage provider collects from underlying physical and software-defined storage, or from available I/O filters. vCenter Server can then display the storage data in the vSphere Client. Storage Provider Requirements and Considerations Register Storage Providers vCenter Server and a storage provider, you must register the storage provider. Use the vSphere Client to register a separate storage provider for each host in a cluster. View Storage Provider Information vCenter Server , the storage provider appears on the storage providers list. Certain storage providers are self-registered and automatically appear on the list after you set up the entity they represent, for example, vSAN or I/O filters. Manage Storage Providers vSphere Client to perform several management operations on the registered storage providers.
