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Storage |
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Supported Storage
Details
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=AU65
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DAS, NFS, FC, iSCSI, FCoE (HW&SW), vFRC, SDDC
vSphere 6.5 adds:
- Virtual SAN 6.5
- Virtual Volumes 2.0 (VVOL)
- VMFS 6
Support for 4K Native Drives in 512e mode
SE Sparse Default
Automatic Space Reclamation
Support for 512 devices and 2000 paths (versus 256 and 1024 in the previous versions)
CBRC aka View Storage Accelerator
vSphere 6.0 adds:
- Virtual SAN 6.0
- Virtual Volumes (VVOL)
- NFS 4.1 client
- NFS and iSCSI IPV6 support
- Storage Based Policy Management (SPBM) now available in all vSphere editions
- SIOC IOPS Reservations
- vSphere Replication
- Support for 2000 virtual machines per vCenter Server
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Yes
Support for NAS: Network Attached Storage, FC: Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU66
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Yes (enhanced APD and PDL) PDL AutoRemove
vSphere uses natively integrated multi-path capability or can take advantage of vendor specific capabilities using vStorage APIs for Multipathing.
By default, ESXi provides an extensible multipathing module called the Native Multipathing Plug-In (NMP). Generally, the VMware NMP supports all storage arrays listed on the VMware storage HCL and provides a default path selection algorithm based on the array type. The NMP associates a set of physical paths with a specific storage device, or LUN. The specific details of handling path failover for a given storage array are delegated to a Storage Array Type Plug-In (SATP). The specific details for determining which physical path is used to issue an I/O request to a storage device are handled by a Path Selection Plug-In (PSP). SATPs and PSPs are sub plug-ins within the NMP module. With ESXi, the appropriate SATP for an array you use will be installed automatically. You do not need to obtain or download any SATPs.
PDL AutoRemove: Permanent device loss (PDL) is a situation that can occur when a disk device either fails or is removed from the vSphere host in an uncontrolled fashion. PDL detects if a disk device has been permanently removed. When the device enters this PDL state, the vSphere host can take action to prevent directing any further, unnecessary I/O to this device. With vSphere 5.5, a new feature called PDL AutoRemove is introduced. This feature automatically removes a device from a host when it enters a PDL state.
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Yes
Multipath included. In addition to that Oracle offers the Connect Storage Plug-in to simplify Storage Management via Oracle VM Manager or EM13c Cloud Control. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/ and http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/virtualization/ovm3-storage-connect-459309.pdf
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Shared File System
Details
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=AU67
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Yes (VMFS v6)
NEW
VMwares clustered file system, allowing for concurrent access of multiple hosts for live migration, file based locking (to ensure data consistency), dynamic volume resizing etc.
new in VMFS 6
Support for 4K Native Drives in 512e mode
SE Sparse Default
Automatic Space Reclamation
Support for 512 devices and 2000 paths (versus 256 and 1024 in the previous versions)
CBRC aka View Storage Accelerator
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Yes
OCFS2 included. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU68
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Yes (FC, iSCSI, FCoE and SW FCoE)
Boot from iSCSI, FCoE, and Fibre Channel boot are supported
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Yes
Yes for SAN Boot with FC. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU69
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Yes
Boot from USB is supported
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Yes
Technically is possible but not officialy supported by Oracle. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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Virtual Disk Format
Details
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=AU70
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vmdk, raw disk (RDM)
VMware Virtual Machine Disk Format (vmdk) and RAW Disk Mapping (RDM) - essentially a raw disk mapped to a proxy (making it appear like a VMFS file system)
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Raw Images (*.img files)
If a disk is created from OVM Manager it is created by default as a QCOW image and if it is imported it is converted from the original format to QCOW Images. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU71
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64TB
vSphere is increasing the maximum size of a virtual machine disk file (VMDK) from 2TB - 512 bytes to the new limit of 64TB. The maximum size of a virtual Raw Device Mapping (RDM) is also increasing, from 2TB - 512 bytes to 64TB in physical compatibility and 62TB in virtual compatibility. Virtual machine snapshots also support this new size for delta disks that are created when a snapshot is taken of the virtual machine.
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10 TB (if Virtual Disk on OCFS2), Maximum supported on the Guest OS/Filesystem (if Raw Disks)
For NFS there is no limit specified since it depends on the Backend Local Filesystem of the NFS Server. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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Thin Disk Provisioning
Details
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=AU72
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Yes
Thin provisioning allowing for disk space saving through allocation of space based on usage (not pre-allocation).
VMFS6 - Automatic Space Reclamation
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Yes
Oracle provides the ability to create Sparse Disks and Thin Cloning for efficient disks usage based on the actual usage in addition to Non-Sparse Disks for full space allocation. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU73
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Yes (RDM only)
NPIV requires RDM (Raw Disk Mapping), it is not supported with VMFS volumes. NPIV requires supported switches (not direct storage attach).
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No
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No
vCloud Director also linked clone capabilities but is not supported with this edition (requires Enterprise Plus)
VMwares virtual image sharing technology (vComposer or linked clones) is supported with VMwares virtual desktop solution (Horizon View).
Both Horizon View and vCD (as part of the vCloud Suites) are fee-based Vendor Add-Ons.
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No
VMwares virtual image sharing technology (vComposer or linked clones) is supported with VMwares virtual desktop solution (Horizon View).
This functionality had been extended to vCloud Director, vRealize Automation, but is not a functionality included in the vSphere editions without vCD.
Both Horizon View and vCD (as part of the vCloud Suites) are fee-based Add-Ons.
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Yes
This technology is named Thin Cloning in Oracle VM provided by OCFS2 filesystem. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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SW Storage Replication
Details
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=AU75
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Yes (vSphere Replication)
vSphere Replication is VMware’s proprietary hypervisor-based replication engine designed to protect running virtual machines from partial or complete site failures by replicating their VMDK disk files.
This version extends support for the 5 minute RPO setting to the following new data stores: VMFS 5, VMFS 6, NFS 4.1, NFS 3, VVOL and VSAN 6.5.
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No
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No
vSphere Flash Read Cache is not enabled with this edition!
vSphere 5.5 introduced the vSphere Flash Read Cache that enables the pooling of multiple Flash-based devices into a single consumable vSphere construct called vSphere Flash Resource.
vSphere hosts can use the vSphere Flash Resource as vSphere Flash Swap Cache, which replaces the Swap to SSD feature previously introduced with vSphere 5.0. It provides a write-through cache mode that enhances virtual machines performance without the modification of applications and OSs.
At its core Flash Cache enables the offload of READ I/O from the shared storage to local SSDs, reducing the overall I/O requirements on your shared storage.
Documented maxima with vSphere 5.5:
- Virtual flash resource per host: 1
- Maximum cache for each virtual disk: 400GB
- Cumulative cache configured per host (for all virtual disks): 2TB
- Virtual disk size: 16TB
- Virtual host swap cache size: 4TB
- Flash devices (disks) per virtual flash resource: 8
There is also the Storage Accelerator (CBRC) feature that can be enabled (only) with VMware Horizon View (VDI).
View Storage Accelerator is an in memory (ESXi Server Memory) cache, caching common image blocks when reading virtual desktop images. It is applicable to stateless (non-persistent) as well as stateful (persistent) desktops and is transparent to the guest virtual machine/desktop. It does not require any special storage array technology and provides additional performance benefits when used in conjunction with Storage Array technologies.
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmware-view-storage-accelerator-host-caching-content-based-read-cache.pdf
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No
vSphere 5.5 introduced the vSphere Flash Read Cache that enables the pooling of multiple Flash-based devices into a single consumable vSphere construct called vSphere Flash Resource.
vSphere hosts can use the vSphere Flash Resource as vSphere Flash Swap Cache, which replaces the Swap to SSD feature previously introduced with vSphere 5.0. It provides a write-through cache mode that enhances virtual machines performance without the modification of applications and OSs.
At its core Flash Cache enables the offload of READ I/O from the shared storage to local SSDs, reducing the overall I/O requirements on your shared storage.
Documented maxima with vSphere 6.5:
- Virtual flash resource per host: 1
- Maximum cache for each virtual disk: 400GB
- Cumulative cache configured per host (for all virtual disks): 2TB
- Virtual disk size: 16TB
- Virtual host swap cache size: 4TB
- Flash devices (disks) per virtual flash resource: 8
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No
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=AU77
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No (native)
Yes (with Vendor Add-On: vSAN 6.5)
VMware vSAN extend virtualization to storage with an integrated hyper-converged solution.
new in vSAN 6.5
Virtual SAN iSCSI Service (MS Cluster support)
2-Node Direct Connect (cross-connect two VSAN hosts with a simple ethernet cable)
512e drive support
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No
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Storage Integration (API)
Details
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=AU78
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No
VMware provides various storage related APIs in order to enhance storage functionality and integration between storage devices and vSphere.
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Yes
Oracle offers the Storace Connect Plug-in (included in Oracle VM subscriptions) that simplify storage management like LUN creation, removal, resize and other features directly by the use of Oracle VM Manager. More info on: http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/virtualization/ovm3-storage-connect-459309.pdf
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Limited (basic, no SIOC)
Storage I/O Control is not enabled with this license but the basic disk shares and limit functionality still allows you to manage basic disk access priority for vm on the same host (not across hosts - so a single host with lower priority vm could congest I/O paths)
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Limited (basic, no SIOC)
In vSphere 6.5 Storage IO Control has been reimplemented by leveraging the VAIO framework. You will now have the ability to specify configuration details in a VM Storage Policy and assign that policy to a VM or VMDK. You can also create a Storage Policy Component yourself and specify custom shares, limits and a reservation.
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No
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Networking |
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Advanced Network Switch
Details
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No
vNetwork Distributed Switch functionality is not enabled with this license
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No
vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) spans multiple vSphere hosts and aggregates networking to a centralized datacenter-wide level, simplifying overall network management (rather than managing switches on individual host level) allowing e.g. the port state/setting to follow the vm during a vMotion (Network vMotion) and facilitates various other advanced networking functions - including 3rd party virtual switch integration.
Each vCenter Server instance can support up to 128 VDSs, each VDS can manage up to 2000 hosts.
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Yes
Support for Centralized vSwitch included. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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Yes (no LACP Support)
Note: no distributed switch included with this license - so no LACP support - only standard NIC teaming;
vSphere has integrated NIC teaming capabilities. To utilize NIC teaming, two or more network adapters must be uplinked to a virtual switch (standard or distributed).
The key advantages of NIC teaming are:
- Increased network capacity for the virtual switch hosting the team.
- Passive failover in the event one of the adapters in the team goes down
There are various NIC load balancing (e.g. based on originating port, source MAC or IP hash) and failover detection algorithms (link status, Beacon probing) in vSphere, for details refer to: http://bit.ly/16Sm1ll
The maximum number of supported (and teamed) adapters per host varies by vendors and speed (max 32 for 1Gb and 8 for 10Gb)
New in vSphere 5.5. is the enhancement of the LACP capabilities.
The enhanced link aggregation feature provides choice in hashing algorithms and also increases the limit on number of link aggregation groups (22 new hashing algorithm options, 64 LAGs per host and 64 LAGs per VMware vSphere VDS, new workflows to configure LACP across a large number of hosts via templates)
Added in 5.1 was the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) support - which is a standards-based method to control the bundling of several physical network links together to form a logical channel for increased bandwidth and redundancy purposes.
LACP enables a network device to negotiate an automatic bundling of links by sending LACP packets to the peer. As part of the vSphere 5.1 release, VMware now supports this standards-based link aggregation protocol.
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Yes (no LACP Support)
vSphere has integrated NIC teaming capabilities. To utilize NIC teaming, two or more network adapters must be uplinked to a virtual switch (standard or distributed).
The key advantages of NIC teaming are:
- Increased network capacity for the virtual switch hosting the team.
- Passive failover in the event one of the adapters in the team goes down
There are various NIC load balancing (e.g. based on originating port, source MAC or IP hash) and failover detection algorithms (link status, Beacon probing).
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Yes
Support for Active/Backup Bonding, Load Balancer Bonding, LACP Bonding. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU82
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Yes
Support for VLANs, VLAN tagging with distributed or standard switch. Private VLANs (sub-VLANs) are supported with the virtual distributed switch only
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Yes
Support for VLAN Interfaces included. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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No
Private VLANs (sub-VLANs) are only supported with the virtual distributed switch.
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No
Private VLANs (sub-VLANs) are supported with the virtual distributed switch.
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No
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=AU84
|
Yes
vSphere supports IPv6 for all major traffic types.
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Yes
Supported. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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VMDirectPath (No SR-IOV)
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VMDirectPath (No SR-IOV)
vSphere 6.5 SR-IOV support for 1024 Virtual Functions.
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Yes
Supported. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU86
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Yes
vSphere supports jumbo frames for network traffic including iSCSI, NFS, vMotion and FT
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Yes
Supported. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/
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=AU87
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Yes (TSO, NetQueue, iSCSI)
Supports TCP Segment Offloading, NetQueue (VMwares implementation of Intels VMDq and iSCSI HW offload (for a limited number of HBAs).
No TOE support (you can use TOE capable adapters in vSphere but the TOE function itself will not be used)
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Yes
Supported. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E50245_01/index.html
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Limited (no NetIOC)
VMware Network I/O control requires a virtual distributed switch (vDS) which is not enabled with this license. You can still use basic traffic shaping (hard using average/peak bandwidth and burst) on the port group level of the standard switch
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Limited (no NetIOC)
vSphere 6.x Network I/O Control (NIOC) Version 3
- Ability to reserve bandwidth at a VMNIC
- Ability to reserve bandwidth at a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) Portgroup
Network I/O control enables you to specify quality of service (QoS) for network traffic in your virtualized environment. NetIOC requires the use of a virtual distributed switch (vDS). It allows to prioritize network by traffic type and the creation of custom network resource pools.
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No
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Traffic Monitoring
Details
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No
Port Mirroring is only available with the virtual distributed switch
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No
Port mirroring is the capability on a network switch to send a copy of network packets seen on a switch port to a network-monitoring device connected to another switch port. Port mirroring is also referred to as Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) on Cisco switches. Distributed Switch provides a similar port mirroring capability that is available on a physical network switch. After a port mirror session is configured with a destination -a virtual machine, a vmknic or an uplink port-the Distributed Switch copies packets to the destination.
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Yes
Supported. More info on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E64076_01/ and http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E73210_01/EMLCM/GUID-2256CB37-5A22-4DDE-A3E3-9C87EC08FD81.htm#EMLCM93821
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