Course Overview

In this course, you will focus on deploying and managing a software-defined storage solution with VMware Virtual SAN™ 6.2. You will learn how Virtual SAN functions as an important component in the VMware software-defined data center. You will gain practical experience with Virtual SAN concepts through the completion of hands-on lab exercises.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, you should be able to meet the following objectives:

• Describe the Virtual SAN architecture
• Identify Virtual SAN features and use cases
• Configure Virtual SAN networking components
• Configure a Virtual SAN cluster
• Deploy virtual machines on a Virtual SAN datastore
• Configure virtual machine storage policies
• Perform ongoing Virtual SAN management tasks
• Outline the tasks for upgrading to Virtual SAN 6.2
• Use the Virtual SAN health service to monitor health and performance
• Monitor Virtual SAN with VMware ESXi™ commands and the Ruby vSphere Console
• Configure a stretched cluster and observe failover scenarios
• Describe Virtual SAN interoperability with VMware vSphere® and other products
• Plan and design a Virtual SAN cluster

Target Audience

• Storage and virtual infrastructure administrators who want to use software-defined storage with Virtual SAN

Course Modules

1. Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives
• Describe the software-defined data center

2. Storage Fundamentals

• Define common storage technologies
• Identify characteristics of storage devices: magnetic and flash-based devices
• Identify and explain various types of storage architectures
• Identify SAN performance factors

3. Introduction to Virtual SAN

• Describe the Virtual SAN architecture and components
• Describe the differences between the Virtual SAN hybrid and all-flash architectures
• Describe the space-efficiency features of Virtual SAN

4. Virtual SAN Configuration

• Identify physical network configuration requirements
• Configure Virtual SAN networking
• Configure a Virtual SAN cluster
• Test and validate the Virtual SAN configuration and functionality

5. Virtual SAN Policies and Virtual Machines

• Explain how storage policies work with Virtual SAN
• Define and create a virtual machine storage policy
• Apply and modify virtual machine storage policies
• Discuss the vsanSparse snapshot format
• Explain the considerations for vsanSparse snapshots

6. Managing and Operating Virtual SAN

• Manage hardware storage devices
• Manage hardware device failures
• Identify vCenter Server alarms for Virtual SAN events
• Configure fault domains
• Upgrade to Virtual SAN 6.2

7. Monitoring and Troubleshooting Virtual SAN

• Use vSphere Web Client to detect issues
• Use the Virtual SAN health service to monitor health and performance
• Monitor Virtual SAN with VMware vRealize® Operations Manager™
• Use ESXi commands to monitor the Virtual SAN environment
• Monitor Virtual SAN with Ruby vSphere Console and Virtual SAN Observer

8. Stretched Clusters and Two-Node Clusters

• Describe the architecture for stretched clusters and two-node clusters
• Create a stretched cluster using a two-node configuration
• Configure VMware vSphere® High Availability and VMware vSphere® Distributed Resource Scheduler™ for a stretched cluster
• Demonstrate stretched cluster failover scenarios

9. Interoperability with vSphere Features

• Identify vSphere features and VMware products that interoperate with Virtual SAN
• Describe how Virtual SAN interoperates with third-party products and solutions

10. Designing a Virtual SAN Deployment

• Understand Virtual SAN design considerations
• Plan and design Virtual SAN clusters
• Identify the design and sizing tools for Virtual SAN
• Describe Virtual SAN use cases