#073 - What was announced for vSAN in the last month? Featuring Pete Koehler!

Unexplored Territory

In episode 073 Duncan and Pete discuss various updates and changes related to vSAN, including ReadyNode configurations, licensing, vSAN Max, capacity reporting, and compression ratios. They highlight the improvements in compression ratios with vSAN ESA, which can result in significant space efficiency gains. They also discuss the use cases for vSAN Max and vSAN HCI, as well as the flexibility in making changes to ReadyNode configurations. Overall, they emphasize the ongoing development and exciting future of vSAN and VMware Cloud Foundation.

Takeaways

• vSAN ESA offers improved compression ratios, with an average of 1.5x and some customers achieving 1.7x or better.
• vSAN Max is a centralized shared storage solution for vSphere clusters, providing storage services to multiple vSphere clusters.
• Customers can choose between vSAN Max and vSAN HCI based on their needs, such as independent scaling of storage and compute, separate lifecycle management, extending the life of existing vSphere clusters, or specific application requirements.
• Changes in ReadyNode configurations for vSAN Max have reduced the minimum number of hosts required and lowered the hardware requirements, making it more accessible for smaller enterprises.
• Capacity reporting in vSAN has been improved with the introduction of L0FS overhead, providing more accurate information on capacity usage.
• vSAN ESA's improved compression ratios, combined with RAID 5 or RAID 6 erasure coding, can result in significant space efficiency gains compared to the original storage architecture.
• Ongoing development and updates are expected in vSAN and VMware Cloud Foundation, with exciting new capabilities on the horizon.

Links

• https://core.vmware.com/blog/smaller-vsan-esa-readynodes-accommodate-vmware-vsphere-foundations-trial-capacity-capability
• https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/8.0/rn/vsphere-esxi-80u2b-release-notes/index.html
• https://core.vmware.com/blog/improved-capacity-reporting-vmware-cloud-foundation-51-and-vsan-8-u2
• https://core.vmware.com/blog/greater-flexibility-vsan-max-through-lower-hardware-and-cluster-requirements

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Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions shared in this podcast are our own/guest(s), and not necessarily those of Broadcom or VMware by Broadcom.