VMware has launched Virtual SAN, an application-centric storage solution for virtualised networks.
The new solution, built into VMware's vSphere kernel, provides hypervisor-converged storage, pooling internal magnetic disks and flash devices from x86 servers to produce a shared datastore for virtual machines.
Virtual SAN can perform 2 million input/output operations per second (IOPS) on a read-only workload on a 32-node cluster, and 640,000 IOPS on a mixed workload on a 32-node cluster.
The hypervisor-converged architecture lets Virtual SAN deliver the most efficient data path, which means its CPU resource consumption is less than 10 per cent.
Scalability and integration
Additional features include elastic and linear scalability, flash performance acceleration through read/write caching, and storage policy based management.
It also boasts integration with other VMware solutions like Horizon View, vCenter Site Recovery Manager, vCenter Operations Management Suite, and vCloud Automation Center.
VMware promises high reliability, with protection against data loss in the event of a hardware failure. The product is aimed at the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, test and development, and disaster recovery sectors.
Virtual SAN costs $2,495 (£1,495, AU$2,750). vSphere Storage Appliance customers can avail of a limited time upgrade discount of 20 per cent. A limited time bundle of Virtual SAN with vSphere Data Protection Advanced will set back users $2,875 (£1,720, AU$3,165).
Via TechWorld
