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Storage Strategies for vSphere

5.5 users SilvertonConsulting,Inc.StorInt™Briefing

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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Introduction VMwarevSphere®isthenumberonehypervisorsolutionintheworldwithmorethan500,000customersworldwide.Withmorethan14,000customers,VMwarevSAN™isprobablythetophyper-convergedinfrastructure(HCI)solutionintheworldtoday.BothvSphereandvSANhavehadmanyreleasesovertheyears,andoccasionallyolderversionsbecomeobsolete.WithmanycustomersstillusingtheolderVMwarevSphere5.5andvSAN5.5releases,theupcomingendofgeneralsupport(EOGS),whichhappensonSeptember19,2018,isprovidingusersaperfectmotivationtorefreshtheirvSphereenvironmentwithHCIpoweredbyvSAN.

VMware vSphere 5.5/vSAN 5.5 EOGS VMwarereleasedvSphere5.5inSeptember2013andvSAN5.5inMarch2014.OnSeptember19,2018,serviceandsupportforthesetwosoftwaresystemswillnolongerbewidelyavailable.Customersrunningthese5.5softwareversionswillneedtoupgradetovSphere6.5,whichwillalsoupgradevSANtoversionvSAN6.5orlater,tocontinuegeneralsupport.TheonlyotherviableoptionistocontractwithVMwareforspecialsupport.VMwarehasextendedvSphere6.5andvSAN6.5generalsupportforfiveyearsupthrough2021.CustomersthatupgradevSpheremayalsoelecttoupgradetheirserverstonewertechnology.Aswediscussbelow,akeyadvantageofvSphere6.7,isthatcustomerscanrunmoreVMsperhostandperclusterthanwithvSphere5.5.BymovingtomorepowerfulserversatthesametimeasupgradingVMwarevSpheresoftware,customerscanachieveconsiderableserverconsolidation,possiblybyafactoroftwoormore.Further,customersthatusetraditionalstoragearrayinfrastructuremaywanttointroducevSphereVirtualVolumes(VVols)intotheirenvironment.VVolsisanewindustry-widecapabilitysupportedbymostifnotallmajorstoragevendors.VVolsprovidesupportforvSpherestoragepolicy-basedmanagement(SPBM)thatsimplifiesVMprovisioning.WithVVolsinplace,vSANstoragecanbeeasilyaddedtoadatacenterenvironment.WithbothvSANandtraditionalstorageVVolsoperatingtogetherinadatacenter,vSphereSPBMcanmatchfunctionalityandcapabilitiesdefinedforeachdatastoreagainstVMstoragerequirementsandselectthebeststoragefornewVMprovisioning.Alternatively,customersmayelecttoreplacetraditionalstoragewithvSANaltogether.WithStoragevMotion,adminscanmoveworkfromoldstoragearraysto

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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vSANandatthesametimeuseSPBMtoprovisionnewVMstovSAN.Storagearrayhardwarecanthenberetiredordevotedtonon-business-criticalactivities.

Upgrading VMware vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.7 Here,wediscusssomeadvantagestoupgradefromVMwarevSphere5.5to6.7.(vSphere6.5offersmanyofthesameconsolidationbenefitsas6.7.However,vSphere6.7,offerssomenewercapabilitiesthatmaybeofinteresttomostvSpherecustomers.)

Tosupportserverconsolidationefforts,vSphere6.7allowsforthefollowing:

• vSphere6.7supportsmorevCPUsperVMthanvSphere5.5;• vSphere6.7supportsmoreVMsperhostthanvSphere5.5;and• vSphere6.7supportsmorehostsperclusterthanvSphere5.5.

Asdiscussedearlier,duringtheirvSphereupgrade,customerscouldusethistimetointroduceVMwarevSANintotheirenvironment.VMwarevSAN6.7supportsvSphereSPBM.WithSPBM,storageadministratorsneedonlyspecifyvSANdatastorecapabilitiesandperformancelevels.andVIadminscanthenidentifynewVMstoragerequirements,allowingSPBMtoautomaticallyselectthebestvSANstoragetoprovisionthatVM.Similarly,VMwarevSphere6.7alsooffersVVolsthatcansimplifyandreduceoperationalrequirementsforVMprovisioningthroughSPBM.However,VVolsupportmayrequireastoragearrayupgrade,andnotallstoragearrayssupportVVols.WhenvSANandtraditionalstorageVVolsoperatetogetherinavSpherecluster,SPBMalwaysselectstheoptimalstoragefromallVVolandvSANstorageavailabletoprovisionVMs.VMwarevSphere6.7APIsprovidefullUIequivalence,enablingITtoautomatemoreadministrationactivitiesthanundervSphere5.5.Asaresult,customers

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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shouldmoreeasilybeabletoscaleuptheirdatacenterenvironmenttosupportmoreVMs,hostsandclusterswithoutaddingadmins.VMwarehasmadeanumberofsecurityenhancementstovSpheresince5.5.TheseincludeVMencryption,vMotionencryption,secureVMbootandenhanced/morecomprehensiveauditlogging.AllthiswasimplementedatthevSpherehypervisorleveltoprovidemoreconsistentandcomprehensivesecurityforVMsrunningundervSphere6.5orlater.VMwarealsoimplementedvSphereIntegratedContainers(VIC)tobringnew,cloudnativeapplicationdevelopmentparadigmstothevSphereenvironment.CustomerscanelecttoruntheircontainerappsundernativeVIC,oranumberofstandalonesystemsrangingfromDockerVM,KubernetesVMandallthewayuptothePivotalContainerSystem.VMwarevSphere6.5alsoimplementedanHTML5webclientorvSphereClient.TheHTML5clientsupportsliverefresh,enablingadminstoseereal-timeupdatesofinventorycurrentstatus,includingpowerstatesandtasksforallusers.Inaddition,theHTML5clientoptimizesmanytypicalworkflowstoreduceoperator/admininteraction,especiallyforaddingandmanaginghosts,distributedswitches,VMsandclusters.

Upgrading VMware vSAN 5.5 to vSAN 6.7 CustomersupgradingfromvSAN5.5to6.7shouldalsobeabletoconsolidatetheirstorageenvironment.Here,wediscusssomeadvantagestoupgradefromVMwarevSAN5.5to6.7.

VMwarevSAN6.7enhancementsincludethefollowing:

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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• vSAN6.7supportsmoreVMs/hostthanvSAN5.5;• vSAN6.7supportsmorevirtualdiskcapacityperVMthanvSAN5.5;and• vSAN6.7supportsall-flasharrays(AFAs)withNVMesolid-statedrives

(SSDs),whereasvSAN5.5onlyofferedhybridstorage.EvenwiththesamehybridstoragemediaasVMwarevSAN5.5,vSAN6.7willperformbetterbecauseVMwarehasoptimizedvSANcodepathstosupportfasterstoragelikeNVMeSSDs.FastercodepathsshouldalsospeedupvSANhybridcachingtierIOandso,evenwithoutchangingmedia,hybridcustomerswilllikelyseeanimmediateincreaseincachingtierIOperformancejustbyupgradingtovSAN6.7.VMwareaddeddatadeduplicationandcompressioninvSAN6.2.Deduplicationoccursattheblocklevelduringcache-to-capacitytierdestaging.Compressionalsooccursduringdestagingandreducesredundantdatawithinablock.BothvSANdedupeandcompressionreducecustomereffectivecost($/GB)forflashstoragebyeliminatingtheneedtosaveredundantdatawithinandacrossblocksinthesystem.vSAN6.7supportsstretchedclusters.StretchedclustersextendavSphereclusterbeyondasinglesitetotwositesacrossacampusormetropolitanarea.StretchedclusterscansupportahigherlevelofavailabilityandloadbalancingacrosssitesStretchedclustersenhancedatacenteravailabilityforastorageorsitefailures.VMwarevSAN6.1introducedenhancedsupportforremoteoffice/branchoffice(ROBO)environments.ForROBOcustomers,vSANcanbeconfiguredtouseonlytwoESXihosts,withathirdwitnesshost(VM)runningelsewhere(suchasatacentralsite).Moreover,vSAN6.5introduced2-nodedirectconnect,whichusesacrossovercablebetweentwoROBOvSANnodesratherthanrequiring10GbElinks.WhenusingVMwarevSphereReplication™togetherwithvSAN6.7,vSpheresupportsafive-minuterecoverypointobjective(RPO).CustomersusingvSANandvSpherereplicationcanlimitanydatalossatasecondarysiteto,atmost,fiveminutesofIOactivityduringaprimarysiteoutage.VMwarevSAN6.7alsooffersadaptiveresyncwhenevervSANVMcomponentsneedtoberesynchronized.Non-client,vSANresyncIOnormallytakesresourcesawayfromandpotentiallyslowsdown,applicationIO,whenithastooccur.Withadaptiveresync,vSANlimitsresourcessoastonotharmnormalVMIOperformance.Inaddition,VMwarevSAN6.7hasimplementedhostpinningtomaintainonlyasinglecopyofdatatobettersupportnon-traditionalworkloadslikebigdataanalyticsthatuseHadoop,SparkorNoSQLdatabases.

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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InvSAN6.6,VMwareintroducedConfigurationAssist,whichsimplifiesvSANsetupandupdates.WhenusingVMware’svSANSetupWizardtherewerealwaysothertasksneededtocompletevSANdeployment.AdminscannowusevSANConfigurationAssisttoperformtheseotherfunctions.IncombinationwithVMwarevRealize®Operations™,vSAN6.7nowoffersmoreintelligentoperations.Moreover,vSAN6.6introducedCloudAnalyticsforcustomersenrolledintheCustomerExperienceImprovementProgram(CEIP).CloudAnalyticscustomersbenefitfromVMware’sserviceexperienceacrossawiderangeofvSANcustomerdeployments.Asaresult,thosecustomersshouldseeimprovedsupportandlessservicedowntime.

Using traditional storage with VMware vSAN 6.7 Asdiscussedearlier,customerscaneasilyusebothVVolsandvSANintheirenvironment.WithVMwarevSphere,adminsneedonlyspecifyVMstorageservice-levelprerequisites,andSPBMautomaticallyprovisionsthestoragethatbestmeetsthoserequirementswithoutfurtherVIorstorageadminactivity.WithbothtraditionalandvSANstoragedeployed,customerscanreadilyuseStoragevMotiontomovecurrentVMworkfromtraditionalarraystovSANstorageorviceversawithoutapplicationdowntime.Moreover,customersthatuseStoragevMotioncanrelegateolder,traditionalstoragearraystonon-criticalwork,reservingnewervSANstorageformorebusiness-criticalapplications.UsingvSphereSPBMautomation,vSANandVVolstoragetogetherwithvMotion,customerscansculpttheirapplicationstorageenvironmenttooptimizestorageeconomicsandIOperformance.

Replacing traditional storage with VMware vSAN 6.7 ManycustomersrunningvSphere5.5usetraditionalstoragearraystohostVMs.WhenvSphere5.5firstcameout,vSANwasnotavailable.Later,whenvSAN5.5cameoutinvSphere5.5Update1,vSAN,orVirtualSANasitwascalledthen,lackedthesophisticatedfunctionalityithastoday.Runningtraditionalstoragemadesensethen.It’shardertounderstanditsusenow,however,especiallywithvSAN6.7advancedstoragefunctionality.Comparedtotraditionalstorage,Hyper-convergedinfrastructure(HCI)customerscanleverageallthecomputecapabilityandstoragefunctionalitythatalreadyexistsintheirserverstoruntheirapplicationstack.HCIeliminatestheneedtopurchase,deployorupgradetraditionalstoragearrays,SANfabricsorhostbusadapters(HBAs).WithHCI,allvSANstoragefunctionalityexecutesonservers,sostorageandserverhardwareareupdatedatthesametime.Similarly,withHCIvSANsoftwarecanbeupdatedatthesametimeasvSpheresoftwareandautomatically

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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retainscompatibilityacrossreleases.Assuch,updatingvSANstorageismuchsimplerwhenitoperatestogetherinserversratherthanasseparate,distinctunits.ScalingvSANstorageuporoutismucheasierthantraditionalstoragearrays.First,inordertoscaleupvSANstorage,customersneedonlyaddasingleSSD/diskdrivetoacurrentvSANnoderatherthanpurchasinganewstorageshelforawholestoragearray.Second,ifvSANcustomersneedmoreperformance,theycaneasilyaddoneormorecompute-storagenodestotheirclusterratherthanbeingbuyinganothertraditionalstoragearrayAswithotherstoragearraysoftware,VMwarevSANsoftwarecomesatanaddedcost.However,anotherbenefitofvSANstoragemediaisthatitissoldatcustomerservervendorpricingratherthanatstoragevendormarkups.Moreover,vSANpurchasesinvolvelessCapexthantraditionalarrays,becausevSANcostsaresplitbetweenlicensingandstoragemediaratherthanatraditionalstoragearraythathasstoragesoftware,compute,racksandstorageallbundledtogetherintoonecapitalpurchase.Finally,vSANstorageistheplatformofchoiceforfuturevSphereenvironments.Below,wediscussvSphereinthepubliccloudwherevSANistheonlystorageoffered.ButfutureversionsofvSpherethatoperateoutsidethedatacenter,willalsolikelyfeaturevSANasthelonestorageoption.

Investment protection for hybrid cloud WithvSphere6.5,VMwareintroducedVMwareCloud(VMC)onAWS.VMCisafullyfunctionalvSphere/vSAN/NSXsoftwarestackthatworksexactlythesameonpremasitdoesinlargepublicclouds(AWSandIBMpubliccloud)andinmanyprivatecloudenvironments.

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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VMCcustomerscaneasilyvMotiontheirdatacenterVMworktothecloud.Iftheylaterdeterminethattheclouddoesn’tfitwellforthatworkload,theycansimplyvMotionitbackagain.

VMCalsoeliminatestheneedtore-implementorrefactorcurrententerpriseapplicationsforcloudexecution.Instead,customerscanliftandshifttheirapplicationsbyusingVMCvMotiontorunthoseapplicationsinthepubliccloudwithoutcoding,scriptingormakinganyoperationalchangeswhatsoever.Inthisfashion,VMCcustomersarenotlockedintoon-premorpubliccloudsolutions,enablingthemtoexperimentwiththecloudusingasmanyorasfewoftheirapplicationsasdesired.Adminscanreadilymoveworkfromoneenvironmenttoanother,allwithinthestandardVMwaresoftwareandoperationalstack.

Summary ForcustomersupgradingtovSphere6.5andbeyond:,

• ConsiderintroducingvSANforSPBMbenefits• AddVVolSupporttotraditionalstorage• LeverageSPBMtoanticipatethecloud.

CustomersrunningVMwarevSphere5.5andvSAN5.5mustupgradetheirsoftwaretoversion6.5orlaterbySeptember19,2018,inordertoretaingeneralsupport.Manycustomerswilltaketheopportunitytoupgradetheirserverhardwareatthe

EOGS FOR VMWARE VSPHERE 5.5 AND VSAN 5.5

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sametime.MorepowerfulserversandnewVMwaresoftwarewillgivecustomersanopportunitytoconsolidatedowntolargerVMs,fewerhostsandlargerclusters.ITstaffmayalsoconsiderreplacingtraditionalstoragewithVMwarevSANHCI.HCIenvironmentsareeasiertodeploy,manageandupgradethannon-HCI,traditionalarraystoragedatacenters.Forcustomerswhowanttocontinuewithtraditionalstorage,upgradingthatstoragetoVVolsisthefirststeptoasoftware-defineddatacenterwithvSphereSPBMautomatedVMprovisioning.BecausevSANandVVol-managedstorageofferacommonoperationalmodel,introducingvSANintoaVVolenvironmentissimpletotapintothestorageflexibilitybeyondtraditionalarrayVVolsalone.Finally,VMCprovidesanexcellentopportunitytoadoptthecloudwithminimalapplicationsoroperationsdisruption.Indeed,withthevSphere/vSAN/NSXstackoperatingasVMCundermultiplepublicandprivateclouds,adminscantryouttheirapplicationsacrossmultiplecloudoptions.Inthisway,ITstaffcanseewhichcloudoptionworksbestorusealloftheminconjunctionwithdatacenterresources.WithVMCandVMwarevSphere,thechoiceisleftuptothecustomer.Insum,giventheneedtoupdatetoretainsupport,customeroptionsincludeupgradingVMwaresoftware,updatingtraditionalstoragetoVVols,addingvSANstorageandupgradingoldservers.Doingallthisincombinationshouldresultinasignificantlyconsolidateddatacenterenvironment.

Silverton Consulting, Inc., is a U.S.-based Storage, Strategy & Systems consulting firm offering products and services to the data storage community.