VMware vSAN File Services is a powerful new feature that enables the consolidation of file and block storage onto a single platform. With support for both NFS and SMB file shares, vSAN File Services provides increased flexibility and simplified storage management. In this blog, we will provide a step-by-step guide to deploying vSAN File Services.
Step 1: Verify the Compatibility
The first step in deploying vSAN File Services is to verify the compatibility of your environment. You will need to ensure that you are running vSphere 7.0 Update 2 or later and that your vSAN cluster is properly configured.
Step 2: Enable vSAN File Services
The next step is to enable vSAN File Services on your vSAN cluster. To do this, navigate to the vSAN cluster settings in the vSphere Client and select the “Services” tab. From here, enable the “vSAN File Service” option and click “OK” to save the changes.
Step 3: Configure the File Services VMkernel Adapter
Once vSAN File Services is enabled, you will need to configure the File Services VMkernel Adapter. This adapter is used for communication between the vSAN File Services NFS or SMB server instances and the clients accessing the file shares.
To configure the adapter, navigate to the “Networking” section of the vSphere Client and select the vSAN network. From here, click “Add” to add a new VMkernel adapter. Configure the adapter settings, including the IP address and subnet mask, and click “OK” to save the changes.
Step 4: Create an NFS or SMB Server Instance
The next step is to create an NFS or SMB server instance on one or more vSAN hosts. This is done using the vSphere Client or the vSphere API.
To create an NFS server instance, navigate to the vSphere Client and select the vSAN cluster. From here, click “Configure” and select the “vSAN File Services” option. Click “Add” to add a new NFS server instance and configure the settings, including the NFS server name, IP address, and export settings.
To create an SMB server instance, follow the same process as above, but select the “SMB” option instead of “NFS”. Configure the SMB server settings, including the server name, IP address, and share settings.
Once the NFS or SMB server instance is created, you can create a file share on the vSAN datastore. To do this, navigate to the “Files” section of the vSphere Client and select the vSAN datastore. From here, click “New Share” to create a new file share.
Configure the file share settings, including the share name, file system type, and access settings. You can also specify the NFS or SMB server instance that will provide the file share.
Step 6: Configure Client Access
The final step in deploying vSAN File Services is to configure client access to the file share. This is done by configuring the NFS or SMB client access settings.
To configure NFS client access, navigate to the vSphere Client and select the vSAN cluster. From here, click “Configure” and select the “vSAN File Services” option. Click “Edit” to edit the NFS client access settings and configure the settings, including the IP addresses of the NFS clients.
To configure SMB client access, follow the same process as above, but select the “SMB” option instead of “NFS”. Configure the SMB client access settings, including the SMB protocol version and the IP addresses of the SMB clients.
Conclusion
Deploying vSAN File Services is a simple and straightforward process that can provide significant benefits to your storage infrastructure. By consolidating file and block storage onto a single platform, vSAN File Services