VMware vSAN Reviews & Insights

Score9.1 out of 10

59 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for VMware vSAN are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Cost Savings: Several users have mentioned that using VMware vSAN allowed them to save costs in terms of storage and managed services. They were able to manage all aspects of their workload in one interface, reducing the need for rack space and improving business agility.

Flexibility and Data Accessibility: Users appreciated the ability to write data anywhere and access it anytime, even in the event of hardware failure. This feature provided them with flexibility and uninterrupted access to their data, contributing to a seamless user experience.

Simplified Management: Many users highlighted the ease of managing VMware vSAN from a single management platform, specifically mentioning vCenter. They found it convenient that VMware runs VSAN certification programs to ensure OEMs sell validated nodes, making it easier for customers to select appropriate certified ready nodes. This unified approach simplified infrastructure management and reduced complexity for users.

VMware vSAN Reviews

7 Reviews

Enterprises (1,001+ employees)

VMware vSAN!!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 25, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We recommend VMware vSAN to our customers , especially where the customer does not want to use any external storage. VMware vSAN combines all the storage of servers installed in a cluster and creates a unified storage pool for the applications running on those servers. This is basically a hyper-converged solution, which can be used by many customers efficiently to run their applications.

Pros

Combines hard drives of servers and creates a common storage pool
Storage management
Supports Hyper-Converged Infrastructure

Cons

Management of disks is little tricky.
Compatibility issues with traiditional servers
Not a great use case for critical applications.

Likelihood to Recommend

It is best suited for applications where there is not much data processing, means if customer does not want to go with external box of SAN or NAS, with the help of VMware VSAN the customer can pool all the hard disks of servers virtually which is shared by different VMs running on ESXI hypervisor. There should be 3 servers mainly to run this software.
Scenarios where there is large amount of data that is being processed by the customer applications, additional storage box is recommended,

Vandana Yadav

Presales Executive in Information Technology at Corporate Infotech Pvt Ltd (Information Technology & Services, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

Reseller

4 years of experience

What to expect when deciding about vSAN

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 23, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have used vSAN to store our SQL databases. We have migrated them from an [all-flash] storage vendor and at the same time, we have migrated the SQL servers in active/passive clusters to [Always-On clusters]. Currently[,] we have 6 nodes for all our SQL production databases. We created an isolated cluster in vSAN so we [would] solve two main issues: SQL licenses (associated with hosts' CPUs) and storage [licenses] (associated with a storage box). We have [configured] different kinds of raids [(5, 6, and 10)] [depending] on each VM service.

Pros

Save us costs regarding storage[.]
Save costs regarding managed services[.]
It [allows] us to manage in only one interface all aspects of our load[.]
It reduces rack space[.]

Cons

More granularity in statistics[.]
More detailed graphs about usage[.]
Easier way to find unused/unassigned hard drives[.]

Likelihood to Recommend

I would recommend using vSAN if you are looking for a comprehensive infrastructure solution that you would like to use in order to save costs about licenses and interaction with different vendors. The best time to contemplate a migration to this technology is when your storage box is approaching its end of [the] live cycle and you are starting to look in the market to renovate it. Before you make your decision, run all load simulations beforehand, since a migration project is not quick, so you better calculate your load aiming at a higher number [than] your current one.

Kike Maldonado

Project Manager in Information Technology at Vueling (Airlines/Aviation, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

VMware vSAN--one of the pillars of the HCI

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 30, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our company's infrastructure is fully built on top of VMware's EXSi/VSphere/NSX/VxRail stack, so VMware vSAN is part of this family. We had the HCI, and VMware vSAN is used to manage the storage pool, provisioned from SSD and HDD. Depending on the different use cases and application requirements, those storages are allocated to the VM instances. The integrated vCenter is being used to monitor and manage VMware vSAN together with other resources, and due to the recent adoption of TKG, new features of VMware vSAN 7 will be also embraced.

Pros

Combined with vSphere, VMware vSAN enables us to manage computing and storage with a single, integrated platform
It simplifies storage management and speeds up VM delivery speed from the infrastructure team to the application team
The professional support from VMware is great
Allows the hybrid mode of mixing the SSD and HDD, which is more attractive for low-cost projects
A new feature of VMware vSAN 7 supports file-based persistent volumes for Kubernetes on VMware vSAN data stores. So for TKG , the application team can dynamically create file shares for their applications and have multiple pods share data more easily

Likelihood to Recommend

VMware vSAN is suitable for company that wants to provide better storage as service, and of course it is better when used together with all other VMware components to maximize benefits. Companies with legacy server nodes with storage attached can also consider using VMware vSAN to contribute those servers' storage to the virtual machine, instead of buying the new SAN just for capacity expansion.

Verified User

Strategist in Information Technology (Package/Freight Delivery company, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

VMware vSAN and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 8, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

vSAN is a hyper-converged solution and it is easy to set up and meets various workload requirements with support for all-flash. It is integrated with all VMware products and so it helps to achieve Day0/Day1 operations seamlessly. It scale-out and scale-up very well and would be a good choice for many organizations.

Pros

VMware runs VSAN certification programs to make sure the OEM sells validated nodes. It helps customers to select appropriate certified ready nodes like Lenovo ThinkAgile VX which comes factory configured and easy to set up.
Hyperconverged solutions reduce real estate space and networking costs when compare with shared storage. The host overhead also less.
Supports All-Flash (SATA and NVMe SSDs) and Hybrid vSAN with HDD and SSD. So customers can choose cost-effective solutions appropriate to their workloads.
Supports different storage policies, RAID and duplication, and compression features and it makes a complete storage solution.

Cons

vSAN is a single datastore or volume for the whole cluster and it makes less choice to isolate or group virtual machines.
Deduplication and compression is applied for the complete vSAN in the cluster and it cannot be done virtual machine level.

Likelihood to Recommend

vSAN is well suited for many generic workloads and enterprise applications. The customer can easily start with a 2-3 node cluster and then scale out. Also, vSAN has to be considered along with other products such as VMware VCF and Horizon to get a complete solution from VMware and other benefits. vSAN uses FTT=1 and it requires double the amount of storage when RAID1 is used. Also, RAID5/6, deduplication, and compression have additional overhead and the customer has to exercise appropriately. Since HDD and SSD prices are comparable nowadays, vSAN All-Flash can provide seamless performance to many workloads such as VDI, SQL Server. Cloud, etc.

Chandrakandh Mouleeswaran

Sr. Technical Consultant in Information Technology at Lenovo (Computer Hardware, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile

VMware vSAN is powerful yet simple to use.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

September 14, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use vSAN in the College of Life Sciences at BYU. We have two VMware clusters with multiple hosts. vSAN allows us to utilize the storage of each host to create a virtual storage pool for our virtual machines. It has allowed us to eliminate our previous SAN and the administration that came with having a SAN. We no longer need a storage administrator.

Pros

It is built in vCenter so you don't need to run a virtual controller VM on each host.
Very easy to implement, it is just a matter of purchasing licenses and turning it on.
Simple to monitor within the vSphere console.

Cons

I have not found anything about VSAN that needs improvement. It does what it is supposed to do, and is easy to work with.

Likelihood to Recommend

VMware vSAN is perfect in an environment where you have existing servers with storage and you would like to use them in a VMware environment. Also, for someone looking to build a VMware environment, they could purchase servers with storage and not have to worry about purchasing a separate SAN. vSAN would not be appropriate for someone who already has a SAN.

Brent Runyan

IT Systems Architect in Information Technology at BYU - College of Life Sciences (Higher Education, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Admins agree that vSAN is great!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

July 11, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our vSAN deployment is currently used as the main hyper-converged infrastructure solution at our main headquarters. It houses the bulk of our production virtual servers including a line of business and critical systems. We do not currently use it for SQL due to excessive licensing costs from Microsoft, but that is not VMware's fault. We do not use VDI but do host virtualized applications from it through Citrix presentation servers.

Pros

I have had zero problems with vSAN storage and don't even think about it on a day-to-day basis.
It allows me to throw a bunch of JBODs together and make an enterprise grade SAN out of it.
Allows a single pane of glass for managing our virtual infrastructure.

Cons

Original implementation was not bad, but we ran into some issues that could have been avoided.
Calculating disk space is funky and can be misleading.

Likelihood to Recommend

If you're already a VMware shop, vSAN is a no-brainer, especially if you're looking to upgrade storage already. With the improvements in vSAN 6.7, it's really on par with the best storage solutions out there and can be really cost effective. Depending on your budget you can customize your solution to tailor your own needs whether it's a low-cost hybrid solution or an all-flash with NVMe screamer.

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

vSAN pairs great with branch and remote offices

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 29, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

vSAN is deployed in our branch locations with small vSphere clusters. It allows us to run storage within the same ESXi hosts without an external array required for shared storage. It has allowed us to use the existing drive bays in our ESXi hosts to create a software-defined SAN.

Pros

Creates a software-defined SAN in a hyper-converged form factor.
It's simple to deploy and configure.
It integrates into existing vSphere tools and consoles, decreasing the learning curve.
It allows us external access to storage with iSCSI connectivity.

Cons

An expanded HCL could assist with more compatibility, becoming less of a problem as new versions are released.

Likelihood to Recommend

vSAN works very well in the branch or remote office use case. It is also well suited for smaller data center deployments.

Philip Sellers

Platform Engineering Manager in Information Technology at AmWINS Group (Insurance, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

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VMware vSAN and Lenovo ThinkAgile VX

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 8, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

VMware runs VSAN certification programs to make sure the OEM sells validated nodes. It helps customers to select appropriate certified ready nodes like Lenovo ThinkAgile VX which comes factory configured and easy to set up.
Hyperconverged solutions reduce real estate space and networking costs when compare with shared storage. The host overhead also less.
Supports All-Flash (SATA and NVMe SSDs) and Hybrid vSAN with HDD and SSD. So customers can choose cost-effective solutions appropriate to their workloads.
Supports different storage policies, RAID and duplication, and compression features and it makes a complete storage solution.

Cons

vSAN is a single datastore or volume for the whole cluster and it makes less choice to isolate or group virtual machines.
Deduplication and compression is applied for the complete vSAN in the cluster and it cannot be done virtual machine level.

Likelihood to Recommend

Chandrakandh Mouleeswaran

Sr. Technical Consultant in Information Technology at Lenovo (Computer Hardware, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile