VMware vSAN Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Practice Manager - Cloud, Automation & DevOps at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

May 17, 2015

VMware I/O Analyser Fling vs. Iometer

Originally posted at vcdx133.com.

I previously posted about my “Baby Dragon Triplets” VSAN Home Lab that I recently built. One of the design requirements was to meet 5,000 IOPS @ 4K 50/50 R/W, 100% Random, which from the performance testing below has been met.

The performance testing was executed with two tools:

VMware I/O Analyser Fling – Excellent tool that collects esxtop data as well; if you need fast and easy storage performance testing, keep this in your toolkit.
Iometer configured as per the VMware 2M IOPS with VSAN announcement

Iometer – Test configuration

Iometer – Results

VMware I/O Analyser – Test configuration

VMware I/O Analyser – Results

Observations

The realistic Iometer results were significantly lower compared to the same settings with the VMware I/O Analyser results. This is because the Iometer config was with 8 x 8GB disks and the VMware I/O Analyser was testing with the default 100MB disk. If you use VMware I/O Analyser, make sure you extend the 100MB disk to 8GB (as per User Manual that comes with the Fling). You can see the lower latency due to less parallel I/O over the smaller address space.
Due to the small size of workloads, all storage tested was SSD and not SATA. Switching from VSS to VDS with LBT had no improvement on performance. Network Throughput was around 20MB/s for the VSAN VMkernel. The Corsair SSD drive is rated at 85,000 IOPS @ 4K 100% Write 100% Random, so with VM config, CPU, RAM, SSD and Network not being the bottleneck, I suspect it is the Z87 Serial ATA controller (or its ESXi driver) that is the limiting factor (even though it is supposed to support 6Gb/s).
I am considering scrapping my ESXi environment to test a single host with Windows Server 2012 and Iometer and then ESXi with SSD (DAS) and Iometer again, just to see if not having VSAN makes a difference.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user186357

Solutions Architect with 51-200 employees

Feb 26, 2015

VMware Virtual SAN vs. EMC ScaleIO and conventional storage arrays

Software-defined and hyper-converged storage solutions are now a viable alternative to conventional storage arrays so let’s take a quick look at how two of the most popular solutions compare – VMware Virtual SAN (VSAN) and EMC ScaleIO:

Architecture

On vSphere this is an easy win for VMware as VSAN is delivered using kernel modules which provides the shortest path for the IO, has per Virtual Machine policy based management and is tightly integrated with vCenter and Horizon View.

ScaleIO is delivered as Virtual Machines, which is not likely to be as efficient, and is managed separately from the hypervisor – on all other platforms ScaleIO is delivered as lightweight software components not Virtual Machines.

VSAN also has the advantage of being built by the hypervisor vendor, but of course the downside of this is that it is tied to vSphere.

Availability

Win for EMC, since the failure of a single SSD with VSAN disables an entire Disk Group. Although VSAN has the ability to support up to three disks failures where as ScaleIO only one, in reality the capacity and performance overhead of supporting more than one failure means that VSAN will nearly always be used with just RAID 1 mirroring.

If you need double disk failure protection you are almost certainly better off using a storage array.

Performance

Easy win for VMware as VSAN uses SSDs as a write buffer and read cache, ScaleIO does have the ability to utilise a RAM read cache.

Flexibility

Easy win for EMC as with ScaleIO you can:

Utilise physical servers running Windows and Linux
Utilise hypervisors running vSphere, Hyper-V, XenServer and KVM
Utilise any storage supported by the OS or hypervisor
Utilise any combination of HDDs and SSDs as required
Create multiple Protection Domains per system for greater resiliency
Create Storage Pools for each storage tier within a Protection Domain
Mix and match nodes with dissimilar configurations

VSAN has a more rigid architecture of using Disk Groups which consist of one SSD and up to seven HDDs.

Elasticity

Easy win for EMC as ScaleIO supports up to 1,024 nodes, 256 Protection Domains and 1,024 Storage Pools, and auto-rebalances the data when storage is added or removed.

ScaleIO can also throttle the rebuilding and rebalancing process so that it minimises the impact to the applications.

Advanced Services

Easy win for EMC as ScaleIO provides Redirect-on-Write writeable snapshots, QoS (Bandwidth/IOPS limiter), Volume masking and lightweight encryption.

Licensing

This is a tricky one as VSAN has the more customer friendly licensing as it is per CPU therefore as new CPUs, SSDs and HDDs are released you will be able to support more performance and capacity per license.

ScaleIO has a capacity based license which is likely to mean that further licenses are required as your capacity inevitably increases over time. There is also two ScaleIO licences – Basic and Enterprise (adds QoS, Volume masking, Snapshots, RAM caching, Fault Sets and Thin provisioning).

The one downside of VSAN licensing is that you need to licence all the hosts in the cluster even if they are not used to provision or consume VSAN storage.

Conventional storage arrays

What are the advantages of a conventional mid-range array?

Rich data services – most storage arrays include de-duplication, compression and tiering along with many other advanced features
Unified storage – many storage arrays support both block and NAS protocols
Replication – many storage arrays support synchronous and metrocluster solutions
Integrated data protection – some storage arrays do not require a separate backup solution
Usable capacity – most storage arrays support parity RAID which can achieve usable capacity ratios of up to 80%
Double disk protection – whilst this is supported on VSAN it is almost certainly not practical at scale
Turnkey solution – with a single contact for support of all hardware and software

What are the advantages of hyper-converged software-defined solutions?

Multi node failure – can tolerate the failure of more than one node
Rapid rebuilds – as they take place in parallel across multiple drives
Bring your own hardware – take advantage of commodity prices
Built-in “IT Deflation” – as over time hardware unit costs drop
Independent – the software lives on beyond the life of the hardware
Elasticity – non-disruptively grow and shrink as required
Low ongoing costs – perpetual license followed by annual maintenance
Gain new features – just by upgrading the software
Simplified management – compute and storage managed together

So which is best?

As always each vendor will build a strong case that their solution is the best, in reality each solution has strengths and weaknesses, and it really depends on your requirements, budget and preferences as to which is right for you.

For me the storage array is not going away, but it is under pressure from software-defined and cloud based solutions, therefore it will need to deliver more innovation and value moving forward. The choice between VSAN and ScaleIO really comes down to your commitment to vSphere – if there is little chance that your organisation will be moving away, then VSAN has to be the way to go, otherwise the cross-platform capabilities of ScaleIO are very compelling.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are Partners with VMware and EMC.

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Omar_Samir

Public Sector Sales Manager and DBA at Diverse

Mar 25, 2022

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Very easy to implement in any existing environment

Pros and Cons

"Very easy to implement in any existing environment."

"Lacks sufficient storage terabytes."

What is our primary use case?

The use case is mainly for greenfields deployment. I'm a senior solutions architect and we are system integrators. Our company is a partner with VMware.

What is most valuable?

Very easy to implement in any existing environment.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see more storage terabytes available after excluding the management.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward and it's very easy to implement in any X86 server so anyone can use it in their existing environment.

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution nine out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1269042

Account Executive at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Feb 8, 2022

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Storage solution that's easy to manage, use, deploy, and upgrade; offers good technical support

Pros and Cons

"VMware vSAN is an easy to use and easy to manage storage solution. Deploying and upgrading are easy. Technical support is very good."

"As no product is 100% perfect, the price for VMware vSAN could still be improved, though it is good when compared to some of its competitors."

What is our primary use case?

Our customers who use VMware vSAN are in these industries: government, healthcare, education, and supply.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of VMware vSAN is that it's easy to manage and it's also comfortable to use. Another unique feature is its hardware upgrade, but I'm unsure if this is also present in other players in the market. Upgrade and authorization for this product is very easy. Deployment of VMware vSAN is also easy. Everything in this product is perfect.

What needs improvement?

As no product is 100% perfect, the price for VMware vSAN could still be improved, though it is good when compared to some of its competitors.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been working with VMware vSAN for seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product is stable and comfortable to use.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support for VMware vSAN is very good.

How was the initial setup?

This product is easy to set up. It is easy to deploy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

If you compare the price of VMware vSAN with other players like Nutanix and Cisco, its price is good, but could still have some improvement.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Nutanix and Cisco.

What other advice do I have?

We are a partner of different vendors, e.g. Dell, VMware, Microsoft, AWS, Azure, etc. As we are a partner, we don't use the technology. It's our customers who use it. We've been working with the newest model of VMware vSAN.

There are four engineers who handle the deployment and maintenance of this product.

I strongly recommend VMware vSAN to others because it is easy to manage, especially if you compare it with traditional server and network storage solutions. It's also easy to deploy. Upgrade and authorization for this product is also very easy. These are the reasons why I strongly recommend VMware vSAN to people looking into using it.

I'm giving VMware vSAN a score of ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

reviewer929742

System support engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Nov 27, 2021

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Stable, easy to set up and quick to deploy

Pros and Cons

"The scalability has been quite good."

"We would like to see even more storage capacity."

What is our primary use case?

We have a backup server using this technology. We move data in real-time.

What is most valuable?

The solution is very stable.

The scalability has been quite good.

The initial setup is pretty quick and easy.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see even more storage capacity.

Technical support could be more knowledgeable.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two to three years. It's been a while.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. The solution doesn't have bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's very reliable and the performance has been great.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. We have already upgraded to extend it. We do plan to extend it again and we are going to expand.

How are customer service and support?

We've dealt with technical support previously. It would be helpful if they were more knowledgeable. We had a bottleneck with the technical support team. We required a part and we just couldn't get it and it was delayed. It caused an issue around storage for us.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did previously use internal storage solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It's so simple you don't need any technical assistance or anything like that.

The deployment is pretty fast and only takes one to three hours or so. It's not a long process at all.

What about the implementation team?

We do have an integrator that can assist with the implementation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We do have to pay a yearly licensing fee. It's a subscription for the hardware.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. We are very satisfied with its capabilities.

I would recommend the solution to others.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1351098

IT Infrastructure Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Dec 5, 2020

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Good unified administration, very stable, and easy to set up

Pros and Cons

"The solution's unified administration is its most valuable aspect."

"The solution could maybe improve failure protection."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for remote offices as well as medium-sized businesses.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution works well to help businesses simplify their administration. They unify the technology in boxes like vSAN. You see the performance improvements in the configuration with All-Flash.

What is most valuable?

The solution's unified administration is its most valuable aspect.

Our customers like the HCI functionality, and tiering. My customers enjoy the portion of the solution that can improve the performance of virtual machines

There isn't too much learning involved when picking up the system.

What needs improvement?

The solution could maybe improve failure protection. The failure protection for vSAN is very expensive sometimes within the clients. The customers want to be able to tolerate two or three nodes in failure. However, sometimes, the budget is limited. Implementing hyper-converged solutions sometimes are very expensive with the dozens of tolerance of failure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for at least the last 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of vSAN functionality for stability, I haven't had any client complaints. It seems to work as it is supposed to. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze at all. Our customers are happy.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Sometimes our clients find the scalability to be lacking and it affects performance. They're not sure, if they scale up, how much performance they will have left afterward.

Our clients are small to medium-sized businesses typically. They aren't to big.

I'm not sure if any of our clients plan to increase usage. It's hard to predict, due to the pandemic situation. The majority of my customers don't have plans to upgrade or acquire some additional equipment.

How are customer service and technical support?

I'm usually in pre-sales and therefore don't have any experience with VMware support. I've never personally reached out to them.

The company does, however, offer good documentation.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We also sell other solutions. We aren't exclusively using VMware. We also, for example, sell HP solutions. We also work with UHCI with Nimble and SimpliVity and with Cisco, with Nexus, Huawei, or hyper-convergence solutions like Cisco HyperFlex.

My customers typically choose VMware as it is a known platform. The main deciding factor seems to be knowledge of the product itself.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't too complex. It's pretty straightforward. The entire implementation process, in fact, is very simple.

If I have an infrastructure already in place then deploy it, the configuration of vSAN will take less than an hour. If the implementation is happening from the scratch, with new equipment, then it will take four hours approximately.

What other advice do I have?

We are a partner of VMware.

Customers considering the solution should be aware that the principal benefits they will get from the solution include integration with HCI, NSX, and cloud solutions.

Overall, I would rate the solution nine ut of ten. We've had a good experience overall and our clients are happy with the product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

reviewer1325607

Trainer in information and communication technologies at a educational organization with 51-200 employees

Nov 9, 2020

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Excellent automated performance and agility; good integration with deployment tools

Pros and Cons

"Provides good performance as well as integration with deployment tools."

"Troubleshooting tools could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of this solution is for performance storage and management, we are a training center. I'm the information and communication technology trainer and we have a partnership with VMware vSan.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution allows our technicians to deploy multiple lab environments for different classes at any time, without requiring any manual installation.

What is most valuable?

This solution has provided us with good performance, something we were looking for as well as integration with deployment tools. One of our main aims is to be able to deploy lab environments in an automated fashion and the product enables us to do that, providing more agility in regards to a virtual machine. We can respond to different needs, but every virtual machine will use the same storage.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see improvement in the troubleshooting tools, specifically the troubleshooting mechanism. We like the product, but once in a while there are problems that require us to reboot the host to fix things, and that creates an impact on production.

For additional features, I'd like to see a better monitoring tool.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for 14 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's pretty stable most of the time, but you need to make sure your hardware is supported and is compatible.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability of the solution is easy, you simply have a new host and provide a few contributions and then compute. We only have a few people using this product.

How are customer service and technical support?

We don't use the technical support, we troubleshoot problems ourselves.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

Make sure your hardware is up to date and make sure you test beforehand. It's a good idea to try and combine the solution with some third party products, such as products for automation.

I would rate this solution an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

reviewer1420677

Systems Operations Manager at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Nov 5, 2020

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Creates shared storage for virtual machines

Pros and Cons

"It's completely hyper-converged, so it's very convenient."

"It should be easier to use."

What is our primary use case?

Within our organization, there are many people using VMware vSAN.

What is most valuable?

It's completely hyper-converged, so it's very convenient. We get everything in a bundle.

What needs improvement?

It should be easier to use. Only trained people can properly use it. For untrained, system administrators, it's tough to get a firm understanding of the basics, that's why I'm still studying it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSAN is both scalable and stable.

How are customer service and technical support?

If I have an issue, their technical support team helps me.

How was the initial setup?

For me personally, the initial setup was not straightforward; I struggled quite a bit.

In preparation, I had to study a lot about the documentation, etc. It took at least one week to complete that.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend this solution, but be sure to study or complete part of the VMware documentation before you start implementing it.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.