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ThatGraemeGuy
Asked: 2012-05-31 02:05:29 +0800 CST

2 new servers: vSphere Storage Appliance vs. dual DC VMs and dual file server VMs with DFS?

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I'm looking to replace 2x aging servers in a small branch office. 1 is a DC and 1 a file server.

I'd like to do high availability on a small budget, and in my mind I have 2 scenarios:

  • Run ESXi on both, with vSphere Storage Appliance. Have 1x DC VM and 1x file server VM.
  • Run ESXi free on both, no vSphere Storage Appliance. Have a DC and file server on each, and use DFS on all file server data for high availability.

VSA seems easy enough, and I have tons of experience with DFS, so from a technical point of view I don't really have strong leanings either way. When you boil it down the difference between these setups is the additional licensing cost to run vSphere Storage Appliance.

My real question is therefore this: is there any compelling technical reason that the solution involving VSA would be better in this instance?

vmware-vsphere

1 Answers

  1. Firstly, note that I'm using the word "protection" because I can't think of a better word to use at the moment.

    You're really talking about two different things, in my opinion. Using a VSA will provide "protection" at the host level but doesn't provide any "protection" at the VM or application level. A VSA protects against a failed host, but doesn't address a failed guest or a failed application or service (DFS). To "protect" the guest at the guest and application level using VMware technology you'd need to implement vSphere FT.

    DFS provides "protection" at the guest and application level (file services), if one file server fails the Shares are available from the other file server.

    My suggestion would be to do both: implement a VSA to protect against a host failure, implement DFS for application/file services protection, and implement two DC's.

    vSphere FT and vSphere Storage Appliance are pretty expensive. You can achieve shared storage and HA by implementing a vSAN for a lot less money than you can implementing VMware HA & FT.

    http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/mid-size-and-enterprise-business/compare-editions.html

    https://www.vmware.com/products/vsan.html

    http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/pricing.html

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