What is VMware vSAN: Cluster Types, Encryption and More – BizTech Magazine

vSAN Cluster Types: 2 Node Clusters vs. Stretched Clusters

A regular vSAN cluster will reside at one site and requires at least two nodes (although three or more is common). Meanwhile, a vSAN stretched cluster divides nodes among multiple sites, which may reside just down the hallway from one another, or may be located in separate buildings on a campus or across a city. Schulz likens a stretched cluster to taking a 12-egg carton and cutting it in half.

Its all about availability, Schulz says. If theres a power outage or a hardware problem, if something happens to those eggs in one refrigerator, you can keep running.

Schulz notes that organizations may also opt to connect multiple clusters across more distant locations for instance, connecting clusters in Chicago and New York. While these sites are too distant to accommodate a single stretched cluster, infrastructure at far-flung sites can be set up to replicate to each other, providing a greater level of redundancy.

When organizations enable encryption, vSAN encrypts everything in the vSAN data store. Because all files are encrypted, all virtual machines (as well as their corresponding data) are protected, and only an administrator with encryption privileges can perform encryption and decryption tasks. Because theyre part of the VMware environment, the nodes themselves have that protection, where its difficult to get in there and tinker with the node and the encryption mechanism, Schulz says. Its multiple layers of protection.

MORE FROM BIZTECH:Learn about using VMware as a service on Microsoft Azure.

Data center operators can take advantage of vSANs features in an all-flash environment or a hybrid configuration. In an all-flash vSAN, flash storage is used throughout the entire solution. A hybrid vSAN, by contrast, uses flash only at the caching layer, with spinning disk storage used throughout the rest of the environment. An all-flash vSAN will, of course, offer an overall higher level of performance, and data center operators should understand that the cost of flash storage has dropped steeply in recent years, making all-flash a realistic option for many use cases. Still, hybrid solutions remain even more affordable, and the decision will ultimately come down to each individual organizations performance requirements and budget.

Theres plenty of demand for all-flash, and plenty of people also use hybrid, says Sheppard. You absolutely have to have both [as options]. What were seeing is that hyperconverged infrastructure has matured to a point where it cant be a single type of product. It has to be a little broader in terms of how it can be configured by the user.

Get as much flash as you can afford, Schulz advises. The price of flash is always coming down, but so is the price of spinning disk. If you cant afford all the flash you need for your capacity, hybrid is a home run. Its all about budget.

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What is VMware vSAN: Cluster Types, Encryption and More - BizTech Magazine