VMware vSAN / storage virtualization
VMware vSAN storage virtualization
Assess, build, migrate and hand over a vSAN resource pool around host devices, storage policy and failure domains.
01 / Resource relationship
Make placement explainable before capacity is counted
VM requirements inform policy; policy places objects in a resource pool and failure domains, with reserve tracked separately.
A VM storage requirement informs storage policy. The policy places VM object components into a vSAN resource pool across illustrative failure domains. Operating reserve remains a separate capacity line.
Object placementFailure domains
Failure domain A
VM object componentsPlaced by policy across domains
Failure domain B
VM object componentsPlaced by policy across domains
Operating reserveRebuild, maintenance and growth space
- Hosts and disk groups
- Hosts, disk groups, controllers and device types, node distribution and support scope; disk groups follow the selected vSAN architecture
- VM storage requirement
- Capacity, performance and availability requirements for each VM workload
- Workload placement
- VM, database, file and backup workloads follow policy and available domains
- Storage policy
- Architecture-specific protection, replica or erasure-code choice, performance and space efficiency
- Growth and headroom
- Rebuild, maintenance space and growth are accounted for separately
Build a scalable, verifiable and maintainable storage virtualization model around VMware vSAN, host disks, storage policy, networking, capacity, redundancy and failure domains.
02 / Capacity ledger
Raw device capacity is only the starting line
A useful capacity view keeps protection, metadata, rebuild and maintenance space visible before growth is promised.
Protection level · Performance tier · Space efficiency
01
Raw resources
Record host devices, disk groups and supported usable characteristics before applying a storage policy.
02
Policy overhead
Account for protection, object layout, metadata and the selected performance or space-efficiency policy.
03
Rebuild and maintenance reserve
Keep room for health remediation, resync and planned maintenance instead of committing every raw byte.
04
Growth headroom
Relate current VM, database and file-service demand to expected expansion and a reviewable operating assumption.
03 / Network and fault domains
Keep network paths and failure radius visible together
Storage policy only becomes dependable when the links, traffic boundaries and failure domains around it are understood and testable.
Connectivity and redundancy
Validate bandwidth, latency, MTU and redundant uplinks, including link-failure tests and the traffic required for synchronisation and rebuild.
Traffic isolation
Separate management, storage, migration, backup and business traffic according to the selected design.
Failure radius
Map node, rack, switch and room boundaries to the policy, replacement and rebuild action, and expected recovery evidence.
04 / Build and migration
Move from design to handover in verifiable stages
- 01
Compatibility and design boundary
Check supported hardware, controllers, devices, drivers and firmware as a designed combination.
- 02
Hardware staging and path tests
Confirm supported combinations, storage-network bandwidth, latency, redundant links and the traffic needed for synchronisation and rebuild.
- 03
Health checks and pilot
Validate cluster health, representative VMs, policy behaviour, peak IOPS/latency/throughput and independent backup before broad migration.
- 04
Dependency-based migration waves
Move a pilot first, then sequence waves around application dependencies and a stated maintenance or rollback window.
- 05
Operating handover
Leave capacity trends, node and disk state, resync observations, alerts, policy records and ownership ready for review.
05 / Lifecycle
Keep storage health and responsibility legible after go-live
The operating baseline should make capacity, node health, policy changes, resync work and the next expansion decision traceable.
Capacity trend
Record used and available capacity, protection overhead, operating reserve and growth rate as workloads change.
Nodes and disks
Track host, disk, controller, firmware, rack and switch signals, alert thresholds, health, failures, replacement and rebuild order with an owner for follow-up.
Policy and handover
Record policy changes, maintenance windows, resync observations, alerts, backup and recovery boundaries, and named operating responsibility in the handover baseline.
06 / Before approval
Keep independent recovery outside the storage policy
01
Independent backup
Storage policy and cluster availability do not replace independent backup, retention and recovery validation for the workloads being moved.
Next step
Review the storage requirements already in play
Share the current hosts, devices, VM priorities, network paths or migration window so the resource-pool boundary can be reviewed against real operating conditions.