QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Virtual SAN Hardware Quick Reference Guide

The purpose of this document is to provide sample server configurations as directional guidelines for use with VMware® Virtual SAN™. Use these guidelines as your first step toward determining the
configuration for Virtual SAN.

How to use this document

1. Determine your workload profile requirement for VDI or Server use case
2. Refer to node profiles to determine the approximate configuration that meets your needs
3. Use Virtual SAN Ready Nodes document to identify pre-configured options from server vendors OR If you choose to build your own node, refer to VSAN Hardware Compatibility Guide

Virtual SAN 6.0 All Flash Hardware Guidance

V DI - N ODE PR OFILES SERV ER PROF IL ES

Linked Clones Full Clones High Medium

Number of VMs per Node* Up to 200 Up to 200 Up to 120 Up to 60

IOPs per Node N/A N/A Up to 80K Up to 50K

Raw Storage Capacity per Node 1.6 TB 9.6 TB 12 TB 8 TB

CPU** 2x12 core 2x12 core 2x12 core 2x12 core

Memory 256 GB 256 GB 384 GB 256 GB

4x400 GB SSD 12x800 GB SSD 12x1 TB SSD 8x1 TB SSD

Capacity Tier Flash Endurance Class A or above Endurance Class A or above Endurance Class A or above Endurance Class A or above
Performance Class C or above Performance Class C or above Performance Class C or above Performance Class C or above

1x400 GB SSD 2x400 GB SSD 2x400 GB SSD 2x200 GB SSD

Caching Tier Flash Endurance Class C or above Endurance Class C or above Endurance Class D or above Endurance Class C or above
Performance Class E Performance Class E Performance Class F or above Performance Class D or above

IO Controller*** Queue Depth >=512 Queue Depth >=512 Queue Depth >= 512 Queue Depth >=512

10 GbE 10 GbE
NIC 10 GbE 10 GbE
(Jumbo Frames Enabled) (Jumbo Frames Enabled)

* VM density can vary based on use case

** Assumes latest generation CPU architecture
*** Pass through mode recommended; additional controller may be required depending on maximum number of drives supported by the controller
 Virtual SAN Hardware Quick Reference Guide

Virtual SAN 6.0 Hybrid Hardware Guidance

VD I - N ODE PR OFILES SERV ER PROF IL ES

Linked Clones Full Clones High Medium Low

Number of VMs per Node* Up to 200 Up to 200 Up to 100 Up to 50 Up to 20

IOPs per Node N/A N/A Up to 40K Up to 20K Up to 4K

Raw Storage Capacity per Node 1.6 TB 9.6 TB 12 TB 8 TB 5 TB

CPU** 2x12 core 2x12 core 2x12 core 2x12 core 1x6 core

Memory 256 GB 256 GB 384 GB 256 GB 64 GB

4x300 GB SAS 12x900 GB SAS 12x1.2 TB SAS 1x8 TB NL-SAS 5x1 TB NL-SAS
Capacity Tier HDD
10K RPM 10K RPM 10K RPM 7.2K RPM 7.2K RPM

1x400 GB SSD 2x400 GB SSD 2x400 GB SSD 2x200 GB SSD 1x200 GB SSD or
Caching Tier Flash Endurance Class >=C Endurance Class >=C Endurance Class >=D Endurance Class >=C Endurance Class >=B
Performance Class >=E Performance Class >=E Performance Class >=E Performance Class >=D Performance Class >=B

IO Controller*** Queue Depth >=512 Queue Depth >=512 Queue Depth >= 512 Queue Depth >=256 Queue Depth >=256

10 GbE 10 GbE
NIC 10 GbE 10 GbE 1 GbE
(Jumbo Frames Enabled) (Jumbo Frames Enabled)

* VM density can vary based on use case

** Assumes latest generation CPU architecture
*** Pass through mode recommended; additional controller may be required depending on maximum number of drives supported by the controller

Sizing Assumptions Used For Virtual SAN Node Profiles

VD I SERV ER

Linked Clones Full Clones High Medium Low

Infrastructure • Average VM Instance Size: • Average VM Instance Size: • Average VM Instance Size: • Average VM Instance Size: • Average VM Instance Size:
Sizing 2 vCPU; 1.5GB vRAM; 20GB vmdk 2 vCPU; 1.5GB vRAM; 40GB vmdk 2 vCPU; 6GB vRAM; 2 vCPU; 6GB vRAM; 2 vCPU; 6GB vRAM;
Assumptions • IOPS Mix assumption: 30% Read, • IOPS Mix assumption: 30% Read, 2x60GB vmdk 2x60GB vmdk 2x60GB vmdk
70% Write 70% Write • IOPS Mix assumption: • IOPS Mix assumption: • IOPS Mix assumption:
• Memory utilization: 70% • Memory utilization: 70% 70% Read, 30% Write; 70% Read, 30% Write; 70% Read, 30% Write;
4K Block Size 4K Block Size 4K Block Size
• Caching Tier to Capacity Tier Ratio • Caching Tier to Capacity Tier Ratio
>= 10% anticipated used capacity >=10% anticipated used capacity • Memory utilization: 70% • Memory utilization: 70% • Memory utilization: 70%

• Storage utilization: 90% • Storage utilization: 70% • Caching Tier to Capacity Tier Ratio • Caching Tier to Capacity Tier Ratio • Caching Tier to Capacity Tier Ratio
>=10% anticipated used capacity >=10% anticipated used capacity >=10% anticipated used capacity
• Disk group ratio: 1 SSD, 3 to 7 HDD’s • Disk group ratio: 1 SSD, 4 to 7 HDD’s
• Storage utilization: 70% • Storage utilization: 70% • Storage utilization: 70%
• Minimum 2 disk groups/node • Minimum 2 disk groups/node
• Disk group ratio: 1 SSD, 1 to • Disk group ratio: 1 SSD, 1 to • Disk group ratio: 1 SSD, 1 to
• ESXi Boot: >= 4GB USB/SD card or • ESXi Boot: >= 4GB USB/SD card or 7 HDD’s 7 HDD’s 7 HDD’s
1 dedicated HDD or >=16GB SLC 1 dedicated HDD or >=16GB SLC
SATADOM SATADOM • Minimum 2 disk groups/node • Minimum 2 disk groups/node • 1 disk groups/node

• Vmdk size assumes non-persistent • Vmdk size assumes persistent • ESXi Boot: >= 4GB USB/SD card or • ESXi Boot: >= 4GB USB/SD card or • ESXi Boot: >= 4GB USB/SD card or
desktops desktops 1 dedicated HDD or >=16GB SLC 1 dedicated HDD or >=16GB SLC 1 dedicated HDD or >=16GB SLC
SATADOM SATADOM SATADOM
• Minimum two server side network • Minimum two server side network
adapter uplinks (eg; Dual port NIC) adapter uplinks (eg; Dual port NIC) • Minimum two server side network • Minimum two server side network • Minimum two server side network
recommended for redundancy recommended for redundancy adapter uplinks (eg; Dual port NIC) adapter uplinks (eg; Dual port NIC) adapter uplinks (eg; Dual port NIC)
recommended for redundancy recommended for redundancy recommended for redundancy
 Virtual SAN Hardware Quick Reference Guide

Design Considerations Used For Virtual SAN Node Profiles

Controller Queue Depth Controller queue depth impacts the rebuild/resync times. A low controller queue depth may impact the availability of your production VMs
during rebuild/resync. A minimum queue depth of 256 is required in Virtual SAN. Some profiles require minimum queue depth of 512 as
noted above.

Number of disk groups The number of disk groups impacts fault isolation as well as rebuild/resync times.
• Fault isolation: Configuring more than 1 disk group allows better tolerance against SSD failures since data is spread across more disk groups.
• Rebuild/resync times: Configuring more than 1 disk group allows faster rebuilds/resyncs.

Number of capacity drives (HDDs in Hybrid config / The number of capacity tier drives in a disk group has an impact of the performance of Virtual SAN. While a single capacity tier drive is the
SSD in All Flash Configs) in a disk group minimum requirement for a disk group, for better performance when there are more VMs, and better handling of rebuild/resync activities,
we recommend configuring more than 1 capacity tier drive per caching tier SSD per our guidance above.

Class of SSDs The class of SSD you choose has a direct impact on the performance of your overall system.

Balanced vs Unbalanced cluster An unbalanced cluster can impact Virtual SAN performance as well as the rebuild/resync times. A balanced cluster delivers more predictable
performance even during hardware failures. In addition, performance impact during resync/rebuild is minimal when the cluster is balanced.

1G vs 10G Ethernet The choice of 1G vs 10G Ethernet has an impact of the Virtual SAN performance. Both 1G and 10G networks are supported. For larger, higher
performing workloads, 10G interconnect is recommended.

Performance Classes for SSDs Endurance Classes for SSDs

SSD SSD
WR ITES PER SECON D SSD T IER T B W RIT ES IN 5 Y EA RS
P E R FO R M ANC E CLASS EN DU R AN CE CLASS

B 5,000 - 10,000 A VSAN All Flash - Capacity 365

C 10,000 - 20,000 B VSAN Hybrid - Caching 1825

D 20,000 - 30,000 VSAN All Flash – Caching for

C 3650
Medium workloads
E 30,000 - 100,000
VSAN All Flash – Caching for
D 7300
F 100,000+ High workloads

Additional Resources
For more detail on Virtual SAN Design guidance, see 1. Virtual SAN Hardware Guidance 2. Virtual SAN Design and Sizing Guide 3. Virtual SAN Sizing Calculator

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trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Item No: VMW6051-QRG-VSAN-USLET-107 03/15