As we bid farewell to 2023, let’s reflect on VMware vSAN achievements that have continued to solidify its position as a market leader in the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution. The past 12 months showcased innovative updates and accolades, highlighting VMware vSAN’s commitment to simplifying infrastructure, optimizing performance, and driving cost efficiencies for modern data centers.
VMware vSAN 8 Update 1
In March 2023, vSAN 8 Update 1 was announced, building upon vSAN 8 and the pioneering vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA). This updated extended capabilities offering support for stretched clusters within the vSAN ESA framework. This enhancement enables the efficient sharing of vSAN datastores across clusters, optimizing resource utilization and streamlining storage management.
The update also featured a host of enhancements in performance and data durability mechanisms. Additionally, the integration of new functionalities catered specifically to cloud-native applications showcased VMware’s commitment to staying at the forefront of HCI technology. Read more
VMware vSAN 8 Update 2 and vSAN Max
During the VMware Explore 2023 event in Las Vegas, the spotlight was on the unveiling of vSAN 8 Update 2, featuring a revolutionary capability named VMware vSAN Max. Fueled by vSAN ESA, vSAN Max introduces a groundbreaking disaggregated storage deployment model, enabling petabyte-scale storage independently of compute resources. This innovation provides exceptional flexibility for a variety of workloads, allowing scaling out to over 8.5 petabytes in a cluster, boasting a remarkable 7x density compared to traditional HCI nodes.
vSAN 8 Update 2 brings several enhancements to the core platform, delivering unprecedented levels of performance, data durability, and resilience in the vSAN ESA. In terms of management, the release introduces default policy intelligence, enhanced capacity reporting, disk claim capabilities, and heightened security measures. The overall aim of this release is to streamline operations, provide greater clarity, and offer intuitive tools for administrators overseeing VMware environments. Read more
VMware vSAN Max: Disaggregated Storage Unleashed
The year concluded with the official general availability of vSAN Max —a revolutionary disaggregated storage solution. Offering petabyte-scale storage to vSphere clusters, vSAN Max allowed users to independently scale storage and compute resources, catering to diverse workload needs. With compatibility with VMware Cloud Foundation or VMware vSphere Foundation, vSAN Max empowered organizations to efficiently manage mission-critical applications while achieving lower TCO. Read more.
Unlocking Performance and Agility: Running Mission Critical Workloads on VMware vSAN 8 with Express Storage Architecture
In the ever-demanding business landscape, where the efficiency and availability of applications are paramount, VMware vSAN ESA emerges as a game-changer. This solution addresses operational inefficiencies associated with traditional storage by leveraging vSAN’s software-defined storage capabilities, eliminating the need for specialized hardware, and offering significant cost savings. With its flexibility and scalability, vSAN empowers organizations to optimize storage resources and seamlessly adapt to dynamic workloads, providing an efficient and responsive infrastructure.
HCI plays a pivotal role in achieving high performance, agility, and cost savings across diverse environments. Notably, VMware vSAN ESA, as the only vSphere-native HCI solution, brings cloud-like capabilities to storage, delivering unmatched performance, availability, and data protection for mission-critical applications. With benefits such as up to 4x performance boosts, rapid data protection, enhanced compression, and accelerated storage operations, vSAN ESA becomes the ideal platform for managing traditional and next-generation workloads, offering a comprehensive storage solution for businesses across various verticals. Read more.
Supporting Applications at the Edge with VMware vSAN Express Architecture
A published infographic outlines how vSAN supports apps at the edge. In the digital era, businesses are embracing edge computing for enhanced performance, leading to increased local workload deployments. However, edge infrastructure poses challenges such as complexity and scalability issues.
VMware’s vSAN ESA, addresses these challenges by offering unparalleled performance, rapid data protection, cost-effective storage, and efficient resource utilization. With vSAN 8 ESA, organizations can benefit from edge computing, overcoming infrastructure complexities, and ensuring optimized performance and lower storage costs. Read more.
Whitepaper: How VMwavSAN Express Storage Architecture Reduces TCO and Improves Performance
A white paper delved into the cost-saving potential of vSAN ESA, highlighting a remarkable up to 40% reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The single-tier architecture, RAID-6 Efficiency, improved compression, and optimizations showcased how vSAN ESA outperformed the original storage architecture. Practical deployment examples underscored its superiority in both edge clusters and core datacenter OLTP database clusters. Read more.
Reference Architecture: Microsoft SQL Server on VMware vSAN Express Storage Architecture
A collaborative whitepaper unveiled the powerful synergy between VMware vSAN ESA and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX Series, specifically tailored for running Microsoft SQL Server workloads. Testing on an 8-node vSAN ESA cluster on Lenovo Agile VX Series demonstrated impressive scalability and reliability, reaching 720,000 aggregated IOPS as the number of SQL Server VMs grew from a single VM to eight total. Further, our results showcase consistent scalability and reliable performance for SQL Server workloads. In the solution validation, you’ll find various VM sizing options tailored to achieve the best performance, scalability, and capability for SQL Server workloads running on vSAN ESA. The reference architecture provides a roadmap for unlocking the full potential of SQL Server in the data-driven era. Read more
VMware vSAN named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Hyperconverged Infrastructure, Q4 2023.
In a stellar recognition, VMware vSAN was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Hyperconverged Infrastructure, Q4 2023. Scoring highest in the Market Presence category and among the highest in the Current Offering category, vSAN stood out for its security, operations, scalability, and cloud functionality. This recognition affirmed VMware’s position as an industry leader, delivering optimal solutions for managing complex environments across diverse workloads. Read more
Unveiling the Future with Confidence
In conclusion, VMware vSAN’s journey throughout 2023 signifies not just a year of accomplishments but a testament to its pivotal role in shaping the future of HCI. For enterprises seeking a competitive edge in 2024, investing in vSAN is not merely a choice; it’s a strategic decision to propel your organization into a realm of unparalleled efficiency, scalability, and innovation.
Learn more about VMware vSAN 8 Update 2 and vSAN Max:
Visit the vSAN page
Visit the What’s New with vSAN page
Take a Technical Deep Dive at TechZone
Explore the supreme flexibility, capacity, and scalability of vSAN Max
Test Drive for free vSAN Hands-on Lab and vSAN Advanced Hands-on Lab
View vSAN videos
Download: vSAN 8 Update 2
