Hidden in Plain Sight: How a TAM Helped a Customer Build a High-Performance vSAN Cluster Using Existing Hardware

A large part of my day-to-day job as a VMware Cloud Foundation TAM (VCF TAM) is keeping my customers moving forward by following a defined success plan and helping them navigate roadblocks.

Recently, I worked with a customer that needed a new storage solution but couldn’t afford a massive hardware bill. I suggested that they could utilize VMware vSAN to take advantage of a software-defined approach—creating shared storage for VMs rather than relying on traditional methods. vSAN would allow them to virtualize their storage resources into pools that can be divided and assigned to applications based on need, ultimately reducing their physical storage arrays and increasing efficiency.

The roadblock

There was a catch: they didn’t have a budget for new hardware. Their existing VMware ESX servers were relatively modern servers with years left before the hardware would be unsupported. The path forward needed to include their existing hardware. The good news is that our data shows that customers utilizing ESX servers often have approximately 70% of their available drive slots sitting empty. This customer was no exception.

Repurposing existing hardware is one of the most cost-effective ways to modernize your data center. If you currently have a fleet of ESX servers, you might be sitting on the foundation of a high-performance vSAN cluster without even knowing it.

Can you really use existing servers for vSAN?

Absolutely! While many organizations purchase vSAN ReadyNodes (pre-certified, “plug-and-play” servers), you can also build a cluster using your current ESX hosts. This is known as a “Build-Your-Own” (BYO) deployment. As long as your hardware matches the Broadcom Compatibility Guide (BCG), it receives the same validation and support as a certified ReadyNode.

But, as with any enterprise-grade transition, details can make all the difference. To help you on your journey, I’ve put together this quick checklist to determine if your ESX servers are ready for the vSAN transition. As a VCF TAM, I guide my customers through an in-depth version of this checklist. This ensures their readiness not only for the immediate day-one technology changes, but also for effectively operationalizing and optimizing their environment for day-two operations and beyond.

The repurposing checklist

Take the following three critical steps to ensure you end up with a performant, resilient, and supported vSAN platform.

1. Platform certification: Verify that your server platform is listed in the vSAN Certified Servers list.
2. Minimum hardware thresholds: Confirm that your target ESX servers meet these minimums:
   • 16 CPU cores
   • 128GB of RAM
   • 10 GbE networking
3. Drive compatibility: Once the server platform is verified, you must add certified NVMe drives to the server.

Pro tip: Beyond the absolute minimum hardware requirements, you’ll want to use the vSAN ReadyNode Sizer to understand the capacity provided and overhead required for your specific configuration.

Implementation

After completing these checks and adding the new NVMe drives, you can enable vSAN via the VMware vSphere Client to create a vSAN HCI cluster. From there, use Storage vMotion to seamlessly migrate workloads from your existing storage to vSAN. Once the migration is complete, you can retire your old external storage arrays.

Pro tip: Make sure you’re using vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) to simplify your workflows around keeping firmware and drivers in sync with the ESX version, which is critical for vSAN stability.

Is it worth it?

Repurposing your ESX hosts for vSAN is one of the smartest ways to bridge the gap between your current infrastructure and a fully software-defined data center. It allows you to leverage existing capital expenditures while gaining the benefits of highly performant, automated, policy-based storage management.

As our customer’s advisor and advocate, this is just one example of the many ways VCF TAMs help customers strategize new ways to utilize their existing VCF investment. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the compatibility checks or the migration planning, reach out to your VCF TAM. We have tools like the vSAN Assessment and TAM Insights that can provide a deep dive into your current environment’s readiness. If you do not currently have a VCF TAM, reach out to your account director to learn more. 

Are you ready to consider repurposing your servers to support vSAN? Check your server specs against the vSAN ReadyNode Sizer to see how your current gear stacks up against modern standards.