Introduction

VSAN can only be as good as the hardware on which it runs. VSAN has special requirements for its hardware, and so elements of your VSAN hardware will need to be selected against a stricter subset of the overall VMware Compatibility Guide. Each element of your future VSAN node will need to be compliant with the vSphere and VSAN Compatibility Guides to be production-ready and ensure that the configuration will be supported by VMware.

Depending on your specific needs, you may find that the VSAN Ready Node will better fit your needs. VSAN Ready Nodes are preconfigured systems built by the VMware hardware partners to be VSAN ready, so the machines can simply be purchased and deployed.

You will need to decide whether specifying your own system configuration, or selecting a VSAN Ready Node, is the best choice for your infrastructure. This chapter will prepare you for either choice. VSAN Ready Nodes are covered in the last recipe in this chapter.