vSAN 6.7 Training_Chapter 1-Introduction to the Functions of Virtual SAN Versions
October 8, 2019 by He Kunyuan
http://www.bdnetlab.com/?p=996
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Virtual SAN is the implementation of VMware software-defined storage, and it is the enterprise-level storage of VMware hyper-converged software solutions. Virtual SAN is integrated into the VMware vSphere virtualization platform in an embedded way, and can provide virtual machine applications with flash-optimized hyper-convergence. storage. Since the official version of Virtual SAN 5.5 was launched in March 2014, to Virtual SAN 6.7 launched in April 2018, there have been multiple version upgrades in just a few years. At the time of this writing, Virtual SAN version 6.7 Update 1 has been released. This chapter describes how to deploy and use Virtual SAN 6.7 storage in a production environment.
Introduction to the functions of each version of Virtual SAN
From the first version of Virtual SAN storage to the use of Virtual SAN 6.7 in the writing of this book, its version upgrades very quickly. The newly released version not only modifies the bugs of the old version, but also adds a lot of features. Before starting to deploy and use Virtual SAN , You need to understand the features of each Virtual SAN version.
1．Virtual SAN 5.5
Virtual SAN 5.5 is called the first generation of Virtual SAN, integrated in VMware vSphere 5.5 U1 version. This version has the basic functions of software-defined storage, and some advanced features of VMware vSphere cannot be used on Virtual SAN 5.5. From the perspective of production environment use, Virtual SAN 5.5 is basically used for testing.
2．Virtual SAN 6.0
Virtual SAN 6.0 is the second generation of Virtual SAN, integrated in VMware vSphere 6.0 version. This version not only fixes some bugs in Virtual SAN 5.5, but also adds a large number of new features. The main new features are as follows.
Supports hybrid architecture and all-flash architecture.
Support the configuration of fault domains (rack awareness) to solve the Virtual SAN cluster avoiding rack failures.
Supports migration of Virtual SAN data before deleting Virtual SAN storage.
Supports data verification at the hardware level, detects and solves disk problems, thereby providing higher data integrity.
Supports running status service monitoring, which can monitor the status of Virtual SAN, clusters, networks, and physical disks.
3．Virtual SAN 6.1
Virtual SAN 6.1 is the third generation of Virtual SAN, integrated in VMware vSphere 6.0 U1 version. This version adds new features again on the basis of Virtual SAN 6.0. The main new features are as follows.
Stretched clusters are supported, that is, using Virtual SAN to build a live-active data center. Stretched clusters support clusters that span two geographic locations, so that data can be protected to the greatest extent from Virtual SAN site failures or network failures.
It supports ROBO and supports two-node deployment of Virtual SAN. Through the extended cluster function, the witness host can be placed in the headquarters data center to simplify the deployment of Virtual SAN.
Support unified disk group declaration. When creating Virtual SAN, the capacity layer and cache layer of the disk group are declared uniformly.
Support Virtual SAN disk online upgrade, you can upgrade the Virtual SAN disk format to 2.0 online through the management terminal.
4．Virtual SAN 6.2
Virtual SAN 6.2 is the fourth generation of Virtual SAN. This version adds more and more practical features on the basis of Virtual SAN 6.1. The main new features are as follows.
Supports deduplication of all-flash architecture Virtual SAN data, and uses the LZ4 algorithm to compress the capacity layer data.
Supports RAID 5/6 across the network for Virtual SAN data through erasure coding.
Supports setting different IOPS for different virtual machines.
Support pure IPv6 operation mode.
Supports data verification at the software level, detects and solves disk problems, thereby providing higher data integrity.
5．Virtual SAN 6.5
Virtual SAN 6.5 is the fifth generation of Virtual SAN. This version adds new features again on the basis of Virtual SAN 6.2. The main new features are as follows.
It supports configuring Virtual SAN as an iSCSI Target and connecting non-virtualized workloads through iSCSI support.
Eliminate router/switch costs and reduce ROBO costs by directly connecting two nodes with a crossover cable.
Expanded support for containers and CNA, you can use Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, etc. to work at any time.
The standard version of Virtual SAN 6.5 provides support for all-flash hardware, reducing construction costs.
6．Virtual SAN 6.6
Virtual SAN 6.6 is the sixth generation of Virtual SAN. This version is the industry's first native HCI security function, highly available stretched cluster, and at the same time improves the performance of all-flash memory for critical business and next-generation workloads by 50%. The main new features are as follows.
The native HCI encryption solution for data at rest can protect critical data from unfavorable access. Virtual SAN encryption is hardware-independent and simplifies key management, thereby reducing costs and increasing flexibility. There is no longer a requirement to deploy a specific self-encrypting drive (SED). Virtual SAN encryption also supports two-factor authentication (SecurID and CAC), thus ensuring compliance. In addition, it is the first HCI solution using DISA approved STIG.
Unicast network connection is supported to help simplify the initial Virtual SAN setup. Unicast can be used for the Virtual SAN network connection and there is no need to set up multicast. This allows Virtual SAN to be deployed in a wider range of local and cloud environments without changing the network.
Optimized data services further expand the performance advantages of Virtual SAN. Specifically, compared with the previous version of Virtual SAN, it can increase the IOPS of each all-flash host by as much as 50%, so that the IOPS of each host exceeds 150K . Improved performance helps speed up mission-critical applications and provide a higher workload consolidation rate.
With out-of-the-box support for the latest flash technology, including solutions such as the new Intel Optane 3D XPoint NVMe SSD, customers can accelerate the adoption of new hardware. In addition, Virtual SAN now provides more cache drive options (including 1.6 TB flash memory) to facilitate customers to use the latest flash memory with larger capacity.
The proven new architecture provides an effective way to deploy new-generation applications such as Splunk, Big Data and Citrix XenApp. In addition, now Photon Platform 1.1 provides Virtual SAN for Photon, and the new Docker Volume Driver provides support for multi-tenancy, policy-based management, snapshots and clones.
With the newly added non-stop protection function, Virtual SAN can ensure the normal operation and use of users' applications without being affected by potential hardware problems. The new Degraded Equipment Handling (DDH) function can intelligently monitor the operating status of the drive and actively withdraw data before failure occurs. The new intelligent drive reconstruction and partial reconstruction functions provide faster recovery in the event of hardware failure and reduce cluster traffic to improve performance.
7．Virtual SAN 6.7
Virtual SAN 6.7 is the seventh generation of Virtual SAN, VMware vSphere 6.7 can be said to be released for Virtual SAN 6.7, which shows the importance of the Virtual SAN 6.7 product. The main new functions are as follows.
The new guided cluster creation and expansion workflow provides comprehensive wizards to assist administrators in completing initial and subsequent operations and maintenance. This workflow ensures that all steps are completed in the correct order, allowing administrators to construct clusters with confidence, including stretched clusters.
VUM allows administrators to perform consistent lifecycle management for the entire cluster. This update automates the firmware and driver patching of Dell, Fujitsu, SuperMicro, and Lenovo ReadyNode host IO controllers. The health check can now alert customers that new patches are available. VUM can provide automated patch management for HCI clusters, as well as manage the computing and storage firmware of vCenter.
Intelligent maintenance mode can ensure consistent application performance and resilience during maintenance operations. Virtual SAN will remind users that a host entering maintenance mode will affect performance; if maintenance is predicted to be unsuccessful, it can also be actively stopped to provide some protection.
New advanced cluster settings have been added to the Virtual SAN UI, and some new cmdlets have been added to its Power CLI. In addition, in scenarios such as replacing vCenter Server or restoring vCenter Server from a failure, Virtual SAN can automatically back up and restore SPBM strategies.
UNMAP can automatically perform space reclamation, reducing the capacity used by the application. Virtual SAN integrates with SCSI UMAP requests initiated by the guest operating system to free up space after deleting or truncating the guest operating system files. In addition, this feature can avoid dumping unused data in the capacity tier.
Realize flexible network topology in stretched cluster scenarios. In this way, Witness can use a lower MTU than Virtual SAN data traffic, thereby helping companies protect their investment in network infrastructure.
Health service enhancements speed up the speed of self-service, allowing customers to solve problems faster. Updates in this version include: proactive network performance testing, the ability to perform silent health checks through the UI, reduced false positives of some health checks, and health check summary (the status of all health checks can be displayed in one place, each Each record contains a short description and recommended actions).