Storage Area Networks have been an important part of organizations’ IT infrastructure for the past thirty years. Originally consisting of several interconnected disk arrays, tape libraries, hubs and/or switches, this family of network storage devices and software stack pools of block-based storage provides clients and servers with their own file systems.
Ten years ago, VMware introduced a virtual SAN, a software-based distributed storage system. A vSAN was supposed to eliminate the need for expensive, overloaded storage controllers by installing software on the existing servers and using standard server-class storage media. By virtualizing the SAN environment in such a way, organizations can reduce the cost of their storage architectures by taking advantage of the distinct price advantages that vSANs have over other storage architectures.
Since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, many organizations that have deployed vSANs have looked to other alternatives that can provide enterprise-grade performance, scalability and resiliency while delivering on the original promise of cost savings. With the increasing uncertainty VMware users face, plus the historic challenge of not delivering on the original promise, there has to be a better way to build a vSAN.
If you were to design a new, modern virtualized storage area network, what critical components would you want to integrate? An integrated hypervisor? Better data efficiency? Supported special arrays? Protection against disk failure? Snapshots acting as clones?
Let’s take a look at how a well-designed vSAN eliminates the need for expensive, overloaded storage controllers and the exorbitant 5X to 10X markup that storage vendors place on storage media.
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vSAN with an integrated hypervisor
Rather than having separate software for each infrastructure layer, including hypervisors, management GUIs, and networking functionality, integrating all these layers into a single, efficient code base results in a measurable increase in VM density and performance for both compute and storage -IO. By integrating the vSAN rather than turning it into a subordinate VM, an integrated approach enables marked performance improvements over other vSAN technologies and even dedicated all-flash arrays.
With a tightly integrated vSAN, the hypervisor can run on virtually any modern X86 server. Organizations can select their preferred server and media, while leaving open the option of using different hardware in the future. This flexibility allows the use of virtually any type of media from virtually any vendor.
vSAN with deduplication at its core
By integrating all infrastructure software into a single code base, the vSAN can economically use CPU and RAM resources to perform low-level deduplication operations to effectively acquire free capacity. Deduplication of hundreds of remote locations into a single location also minimizes replication times and capacity requirements to store all the data.
A vSAN with FC-SAN support
When a vSAN environment is deployed in conjunction with an FC SAN, VM data can be centralized on the FC storage array, with each server node contributing to the storage. These virtual disks are consolidated into a unified storage pool that can be accessed by VMs, increasing data storage capabilities.
The scalability of storage capacity within this environment offers multiple options to explore. IT can expand the existing FC array. Or it can integrate NVMe SSDs and server-class HDDs to achieve 10x cost savings. Additionally, with this new approach to vSAN, implementing emerging storage technologies will be much faster than updating legacy storage vendors’ systems.
A vSAN with intelligent protection against data errors
The efficiency gains from deduplication technology are making vSANs more intelligent in deploying disk failure protection. Because the vSAN is integrated into the same code as deduplication, multiple copies of each unique segment are stored for ultimate protection. Because data is stored on different disks and different nodes, VMs can continue to access data if a disk or even an entire node fails. When a VM needs to access data on a failed disk, the redundant copy of that segment can be accessed without impacting application performance.
A vSAN with snapshots that act as clones
Unlike vSAN snapshot technologies offered by vendors like VMware, integrating snapshot functionality into the same code as deduplication capabilities can provide a clone-like capability.
This approach to snapshot technology essentially creates a complete copy of the source, which can be a virtual machine, a virtual data center, or the entire instance. A single metadata instance is created to manage the unique state of each snapshot taken. This approach is relatively flat and much less complex than older snapshot methods.
Customers could keep an unlimited number of snapshots indefinitely without impacting performance. Because the snapshots are designed to be read-only, they are also protected against cyber threats such as ransomware attacks.
Conclusion
Addressing performance and cost issues, ensuring data availability against failures, and increasing data resiliency to protect against loss or theft can help build a better vSAN than VMware offers.
The integration of the hypervisor with storage software represents a significant leap forward. Consolidating functions into one efficient code base and deploying advanced features such as built-in deduplication and intelligent data error protection should become industry standard. These developments, combined with the ability to use commodity hardware, mean that next-generation vSANs are capable of delivering the unparalleled performance, scalability and cost savings that organizations of all sizes need today.
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