FS7500 Front-end to Equallogic SAN's - Experience

Hello,

Just curious, why you wouldn't use iSCSI for the VMware servers?    You lose features like MEM or MPIO. NFS traditionally is slower with ESX vs. iSCSI.

Thanks.  With VAAI SCSI reservations are replaced with Atomic Test & Set by the way.  

The question is certainly a valid one.  There are extremely compelling reasons behind having NFS storage supporting one’s vSphere environment - especially with 10gbe.  Performance differences are negligible at worst.  Often times they can be better.  With no worries about VMFS and iSCSI reservations, and iSCSI locking matters, masking, etc, there is improvements not only from a design standpoint, but from manageability as well.  Other vendors have exploited this element quite well.  In a pure NFS environment, what one may lose in some areas, one may gain significantly in others.

Yes, that is correct, and helps reduce that one particular issue.  It certainly doesn't eliminate it though.  www.boche.net/.../vaai-and-the-unlimited-vms-per-datastore-urban-myth

Hi Don,

I would hope nobody ever subscribed to the unlimited vMs per datastore approach.  That would be a fun environment to see (not work).  :-)

My comments go beyond the issues that VAAI helps mitigate.  It was more about the OP's initial question about experiences with a vSphere environment backed by the FS series in particular.  I was assuming the OP wanted to know things like how does it compare to the performance of a NetApp, or perhaps some hybrid NFS like Tintri, etc.  

While I've been a longtime user and big fan of iSCSI, especially on the EqualLogic line, I can understand the reason for the question.  There is a significant amount of messiness with iSCSI on both the design side, and the day to day administration side.  Neither option is perfect of course, but NFS is a legitimate option that as things stand now, many would choose.

Hello,

I wasn't dising NFS, if it came across otherwise, I apologize.  I was just curious.  

Regards,