The VMware Hardware Compatability List (HCL) has been dramatically relaxed for the vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA). VMware now simply requires that the RAID controller used by the hosts participating in the VSA cluster be certified – there is no longer a requirement to seperately certify the server. So long as the Raid Controller is certified for VSA, and the server is on the standard VMware HCL, you are good to go.

This significantly increases the number of hosts on which the VSA can be deployed. To check compatability, go to the HCL, in the ‘What are you looking for:’ section select IO Devices, and in the Features section select VSA. Then Update Views and Results.

There are currently 11 different Raid Controllers on the HCL, from vendors like DELL, HP, Intel & LSI. As mentioned, this should now open up the VSA to customers who were previously unable to use it due to the requirement to have the server certified. Now you just need a certified Raid Controller.

Note that an entry for the VSA still appears as a Feature on the Systems/Server page – we are in the process of transitioning this.

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