VMware vSAN pools local drives across your server cluster into shared enterprise-class storage, eliminating the need for external SAN and NAS arrays. Organizations use it to simplify storage operations, reduce costs, and scale storage alongside compute in a hyperconverged architecture.
Best for
Software-Defined Storage for VMware Cloud Foundation
What is VMware vSAN?
VMware vSAN is the software-defined storage layer in VMware Cloud Foundation. It pools local drives (SSDs, NVMe) across cluster hosts into a shared datastore with built-in data protection, encryption, deduplication, and compression. vSAN eliminates external storage arrays and allows compute and storage to scale together in a hyperconverged architecture.
Traditional enterprise storage requires dedicated arrays, fiber channel switches, and specialized storage administrators. This creates procurement bottlenecks, high capital costs, and operational complexity that slows infrastructure delivery.
Traditional storage arrays require large upfront purchases, dedicated fiber channel networking, and ongoing support contracts. When capacity runs low, organizations must buy another array — often over-provisioning to avoid running out.
vSAN uses local drives in each server, eliminating external arrays and FC switches. Add capacity incrementally by adding drives or hosts — no large forklift upgrades required.
Storage arrays have their own management interfaces, firmware update cycles, and specialized skill requirements. Storage provisioning is often a bottleneck — teams wait days for LUNs and volumes to be configured.
vSAN is managed through vCenter alongside compute. Storage policies are applied per-VM. Infrastructure teams manage compute and storage from one console with one set of skills.
Storage arrays scale in fixed increments. When you need more capacity, you often need to buy an entirely new shelf or controller — even if you only need a fraction of the additional capacity.
vSAN scales from 2 nodes to 64 nodes. Add drives to existing hosts (scale up), add new hosts (scale out), or use disaggregated storage to scale compute and storage independently.
Based on customer deployments comparing vSAN hyperconverged storage against traditional SAN/NAS infrastructure.
Faster deployment vs. traditional storage
Reduction in operating expenses
Reduction in capital expenditure
vSAN is the right choice when your organization wants to eliminate external storage arrays and adopt a hyperconverged model where compute and storage scale together.
Run production databases (SQL Server, Oracle) and enterprise applications on vSAN with up to 300,000 IOPS per node and sub-millisecond latency. Express Storage Architecture delivers the performance these workloads require without a dedicated storage array.
Typical scenario: A financial services firm migrates SQL Server from a legacy SAN to vSAN, achieving equivalent performance while eliminating annual SAN maintenance contracts.
vSAN is optimized for the mixed read/write patterns of VDI environments. Deduplication and compression reduce storage requirements for thousands of similar desktop images. Policy-based management ensures consistent performance for each desktop pool.
Typical scenario: A healthcare organization deploys 2,000 Horizon desktops on vSAN, using deduplication to reduce storage footprint by 60% compared to traditional storage.
vSAN supports 2-node configurations (plus a witness) designed for remote and branch office environments where deploying a full storage array is impractical. Manage remote vSAN clusters centrally from the same vCenter as your main data center.
Typical scenario: A retail company deploys 2-node vSAN clusters in 50 store locations, managed centrally from headquarters with consistent storage policies across all sites.
vSAN stretched clusters provide synchronous replication across two sites for zero RPO. vSAN-to-vSAN replication enables asynchronous DR with configurable recovery point objectives. Both integrate with VMware Live Recovery for automated failover.
Typical scenario: An organization configures a vSAN stretched cluster across two data centers 30km apart, providing automatic failover with zero data loss for Tier 1 applications.
This comparison highlights the operational differences between hyperconverged vSAN storage and traditional SAN/NAS infrastructure.
When to consider traditional storage: Some organizations retain external storage for specific workloads with unique requirements (e.g., mainframe connectivity, legacy application dependencies). vSAN supports mixed environments — you can run vSAN alongside external storage in the same cluster.
vSAN is the storage layer in VMware Cloud Foundation. It works alongside vSphere (compute), NSX (networking), and SDDC Manager (lifecycle management) to deliver a complete private cloud platform.
Deploying vSphere and vSAN got rid of the legacy three-tier architecture. We adopted a hyperconverged architecture, helping us reduce TCO by 15%.
— JM Financial
READ CASE STUDY
The focus was on how we could provide better care for patients. In a system that relies on digital applications, that means ensuring no unplanned downtime.
— Michael Miller, Technical Architect, Mary Washington Healthcare
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Using VMware NSX and VMware vSAN has given us the ability to deploy a truly scalable private cloud.
— Airtel
READ CASE STUDYvSAN is a core component of both VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and vSphere Foundation (VVF). It is not sold as a standalone product.
VCF includes vSphere + vSAN + NSX + SDDC Manager. VVF includes vSphere + vSAN without NSX networking.
Organizations migrating from traditional SAN/NAS can run vSAN alongside existing storage during the transition. Storage vMotion enables live migration of VM data from external arrays to the vSAN datastore with zero downtime.
Contact our team to discuss migration planning and hardware sizing for your vSAN deployment.
Broadcom does not publish list pricing publicly. Pricing is based on your core count, support tier, and whether you need VCF or VVF. Your storage requirements (capacity, performance, DR) determine the hardware sizing.
REQUEST A QUOTEFor most workloads, yes. vSAN provides enterprise-class storage with built-in data protection, encryption, and high performance (300K IOPS/node with ESA). Many organizations fully decommission their SAN infrastructure after migrating to vSAN.
Some organizations retain external storage for specific workloads with unique requirements. vSAN supports mixed environments — you can run vSAN alongside external storage in the same cluster during or after migration.
ESA is the next-generation vSAN storage architecture designed for NVMe-only environments. It uses a single storage tier (no separate cache tier), which simplifies configuration and delivers up to 4x better compression ratios and 70% more usable capacity.
ESA provides RAID5/6 storage efficiency with RAID1-level performance. It requires NVMe drives in all hosts. The original storage architecture (OSA) remains supported for mixed SSD/NVMe environments.
vSAN supports configurations from 2 nodes (plus a witness appliance) up to 64 nodes per cluster. The 2-node configuration is designed for remote office and branch office environments.
For VMware Cloud Foundation, the management domain requires a minimum of 4 hosts. Additional workload domains can be configured with different vSAN cluster sizes based on your capacity and performance requirements.
Yes. vSAN provides multiple DR options: stretched clusters for synchronous replication (zero RPO) across two sites, and vSAN-to-vSAN replication for asynchronous DR with configurable recovery point objectives.
Both integrate with VMware Live Recovery for automated failover orchestration. vSAN stretched clusters support automatic failover when a site goes down, with no manual intervention required.
In many cases, yes. Existing vSphere hosts with compatible local drives can be configured for vSAN. VMware publishes a Hardware Compatibility Guide (HCL) that lists validated server and drive configurations.
For new deployments, standard x86 servers from Dell, HPE, Lenovo, and other vendors with local SSDs or NVMe drives are supported. Contact a VirtualizationWorks specialist to validate your existing hardware or size a new deployment.
Datasheets & Guides
VMware vSAN Datasheet vSAN Solution Overview vSAN FAQ Document Why Customers Choose vSAN (Infographic)Customer Stories
JM Financial — HCI Adoption with vSAN Mary Washington Healthcare Case Study Airtel — Scalable Private Cloud with vSANExpert Help
Talk to a Storage Architecture Specialist Request vSAN / VCF PricingRelated Products
VMware Cloud Foundation VMware vSphere VMware NSXVirtualizationWorks is an authorized VMware reseller. Our team helps organizations assess vSAN storage requirements, size deployments, plan SAN-to-vSAN migrations, and compare VVF vs VCF licensing options.
