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Acceptable supported configurations for vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA) clusters (2043783)

Purpose

This article clarifies acceptable supported configurations for vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA) clusters.

Resolution

SMB (small and medium sized business) deployments

Two node cluster

Option 1:
- Two ESXi 5.x hosts, and
- A third standalone ESXi 5.x host, running a virtual vCenter Server, on which vCenter Server and VSA Manager are installed.
Option 2:
- Two ESXi 5.x hosts, and

A physical vCenter Server, on which vCenter Server and VSA Manager are installed.

Option 3:
- Two ESXi hosts
- A physical Windows of Linux machine capable of running the VSA Cluster Service
- vCenter Server and VSA Manager installed and running on a virtual machine inside one of the two ESXi hosts

Note: During the initial installation, the vCenter Server / VSA Manager virtual machine must be stored on the local storage of the host. After installation, the vCenter Server can be cold migrated into the VSA's NFS storage. If you have a Storage vMotion license, this can be done without downtime.

Three node cluster

Option 1:
- Three ESXi 5.x hosts, and
- An additional, standalone ESXi 5.x host, running a virtual vCenter Server, on which vCenter Server and VSA Manager are installed.
Option 2:
- Three ESXi 5.x hosts, and
- A physical vCenter Server, on which vCenter Server and VSA Manager are installed.
Option 3:

Note: Technically, this is a two node VSA Cluster, contained within a three node HA Cluster.
- Create a two host VSA Cluster on two hosts, and
- A third host that has been added to the HA Cluster that was created by the VSA Cluster creation,
- On which a virtual vCenter Server is running on the third host, on that host's local storage, with VSA Manager installed,
- With manually configured HA and vMotion features on the third host.

ROBO (Remote Office / Branch Office) deployments

Two node cluster

Option 1:
- In the Cluster Location, two ESXi 5.x hosts, and
- A separate virtual Windows or Linux machine, running the VSA Cluster Service, hosted on a third ESXi host that is not part of the cluster,
- All managed by a vCenter Server located in the Head Office.
Option 2:
- In the Cluster Location, two ESXi 5.x hosts, and
- A separate physical Windows or Linux machine, running the VSA Cluster Service,
- All managed by a vCenter Server located in the Head Office.

Three node cluster

Only option:
- Three ESXi 5.x hosts

IMPORTANT: Regarding host, raid controller, and raid configuration acceptability

As with all VMware products, consult the Hardware Compatibility Guide to validate that ESXi hosts are supported with the software.

However, it is also critical to validate that the RAID Controllers are supported.

Finally, there are a number of considerations which will determine if RAID5, RAID6, or RAID10 is supported for the hosts, depending on factors such as (for each host):

Number of disks
Size of each disk
SATA, SAS, or Nearline SAS (if in doubt, obtain the Make and Model and check with VMware Support)
Rotational speed of the disks

For more information, see the Release Notes under RAID Settings and Requirements and Hardware and RAID requirements when deploying VMware vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA) (2038275).

If you have any questions after reviewing this information, please file a support request with VMware Technical Support and note this Knowledge Base article ID (2043783) and ask that it be directed to the VSA team in the problem description. For more information, see Filing a Support Request in My VMware (2006985).

Update History

03/21/2013 - Added additional bullet under Option 3 of SMB (small and medium sized business) deployments

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