Fibre Channel is the Recommended Storage Technology for the Brownfield vSphere Deployment
Given the constraints of the brownfield site, the existing infrastructure, and the approved budget, the architect should recommend leveraging the existing Fibre Channel storage technology.
Here's the reasoning based on the provided requirements:
Utilize Existing Storage Array:The crucial constraint is that the budget is only for new server and network hardware, explicitly excluding the purchase of a new storage array. The solutionmustutilize the existing storage array.
Existing Fibre Channel Connectivity:The current storage array is already connected via Fibre Channel with a dedicated SAN fabric (2 x 8 Gbps interfaces). This existing infrastructure can be directly leveraged with new servers equipped with Fibre Channel HBAs.
Budget Alignment:Reusing the existing Fibre Channel SAN aligns with the budget approval for only new server and network hardware (to connect the servers to the existing SAN). Introducing a different storage technology like iSCSI or NFS as the primary method would likely require significant network infrastructure changes or additions beyond standard server networking, which may not be covered by the approved budget for "new server and network hardware only." While the arraycansupport NFS, the existing high-speed, dedicated storage connectivity is Fibre Channel.
Incompatibility with vVols:The existing storage array does not support vSphere API for Storage Awareness (VASA), which is a mandatory requirement for implementing vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols). Therefore, vVols is not a viable option with the current storage hardware.
vSAN Not Applicable to Existing Array:VMware vSAN is a software-defined storage solution that pools local storage from ESXi hosts. It does not directly utilize external Fibre Channel SAN arrays as its primary storage pool in the standard configuration. Implementing vSAN would require a significant investment in server local storage, which falls outside the scope of using theexisting storage array.
Manageability:The existing vSphere administration team is responsible for operational management. Fibre Channel storage is a mature and commonly used storage technology in vSphere environments, meaning the existing team is likely to have the necessary skills to manage it.
While the existing arraycanbe configured for NFS, leveraging the existing Fibre Channel connectivity is the most direct and budget-aligned approach given that the SAN fabric and FC interfaces are already in place and the budget is restricted to server and network hardware for connectivity.
