In layman’s thinking, VSAN must be an improved or advanced version of SAN. Technically, VSAN has a significant attachment with SAN, where one is virtual and the other physical. However, what is VSAN? The abbreviation means Virtual Storage area Network. It’s a unique logical abstraction in the physical Storage area network (SAN). The software distracts storage-related operations from linking to a particular part of SAN.
VSAN helps separate various operations from interfering with the physical storage layer. It offers protection to the SAN system, meaning if one section fails, it won’t affect the whole network. This eases maintenance, deployment, and problem tracing. IT technicians can implement multiple isolated VSANs to help curb potential problems. It’s an easy way to configure and scale out the storage system. New components can be added, removed, or relocated without major physical changes.
How does VSAN work?
VSAN’s primary task is catering to storage access; it allows unused storage capacity on virtual servers to be merged and used as required. Businesses can access VSAN by downloading it as a software program from a virtual machine. However, tech development has allowed storage hardware vendors to install Virtual SAN appliances on their firmware. Each vendor incorporates their specific VSAN, some calling it software-defined-storage (SDS) appliance.
Types of VSAN vendors and features
The tech industry is flourishing, with software and hardware vendors seeking to offer the best services and gain clients. The Virtual SAN software has been publicized through different names and spellings. The name is sometimes spelled out in capital letters, thus associating with Cisco systems in collaboration With Zoning. This separates physical SN in various isolated sub-networks.
The system allows hard disk drive storage to be collected from the clustered host. Each vendor comes up with unique ways to define and spell their Virtual SAN software for easy recognition.
Advantages of Virtual SAN
VSAN is the backbone of modern business; many enterprises are investing in systems to increase productivity.
- Easy data migration
VSAN provides a seamless data migration process between drives without any disruptions.
- Safe information management
IT departments and administrators can safely retrieve data using VSAN software. They can trace frequently accessed data and place it in high-performance storage systems and rarely accessed data to a less expensive data software. This helps categorize data making it easy to access and manage.
- Better management
VSAN is easy to manage, install, and maintain; it doesn’t require a business to outsource the workforce to implement the system. The majority of traditional storage systems need different experts to install and maintain.
- Simple to implement and cost-friendly
The virtual system is easy to utilize compared to traditional storage software. VSAN is built within a hypervisor, thus allowing for easy installation and configuration.
It’s also cost-friendly as no extra workforce is required or regular IT maintenance. The software doesn’t call for high deployment costs making it easy for small and medium businesses to avail the system.
What are the uses of Virtual SAN?
There are various cases that require VSAN, as follows:
- Cloud automation
- Server virtualization
- Demilitarized zones and test environments
- Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments.
- In support edge network sites
- When converting localized storage to virtual storage.