Another VMware ready Virtual Appliance leveraging DAS (direct attached storage).
SvSAN leverages the local disks of each of ESX/ESXi server to create a shared storage pool which is presented to each of those ESX(i) server hosts. This basically makes a creation of a HA cluster much cheaper then one would normally do with a dedicated SAN/NAS device.
SvSAN was already compatible vSphere 4 and 4.1 and I already reported on that. Now the VMware Certification was achieved for the latest vSphere 5 too.
SvSAN uses a local attached disks (DAS – direct attached storage) and creates a mirrored volume. By using the local disks, the costs of small HA cluster can be taken really down.
Those ESX(i) hosts connects to the iSCSI target created by SvSAN and uses this shared storage for VM placing. Those VM by laying on the shared storage will be protected by HA in the cluster environment – in vSphere HA enabled cluster.
Stormagic's SvSAn integrates itself directly into the vCenter as a Plugin. You can see the new tab in vCenter which enables you to manage the shared storage centrally.
What's different comparing to VMware's similar product – vSphere Storage Appliance?
– With SvSAN you're not limited to 3 nodes only, but the number of nodes is unlimited. (Up to 8 Initiator sessions can connect to an iSCSI target on the SvSAN).
– The management of SvSAN is possible not only through the vCenter plugin but also through web GUI interface.
– The SvSAN product is sold with 2 nodes – that's the minimum. VMware sells vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA) per instance. Each instance supports up to three nodes.
– vCenter must be standalone VM or physical host in the VMware VSA (Install vCenter Server on a physical host or as a virtual machine on an ESXi host that does not participate in a VSA cluster). On the other hand the SvSAN product does not seems to require the vCenter VM being run outside of the storage cluster ( SvSAN can be configured with a virtual vCenter on the HA cluster or a Physical vSphere host separate from the cluster.)
You can read the whole PDF FAQ here, where you'll find all the comparisons.
A quick quote from the product's page:
“SvSAN can be configured to present individual/multiple servers as a single mirrored datastore which enables the use of High Availability for constant data accessibility.
SvSAN unlocks the resources of your VMware Server and provides you with a virtual storage appliance in just minutes. Designed for VMware environments, SvSAN creates shared datastores that reside on your existing servers or other forms of direct attached storage (DAS). “
Here are some screenshots from the vCenter View:
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Source: Stormagic
