Overview vSphere Storage API for Storage Awareness (VASA)

[#1]

 By Calvin Zito, @HPStorageGuy

I have too much content to wait until tomorrow to go deeper on the VMware announcement today so I want to give you more on the new vSphere Storage API - Storage Awareness (VASA).  I was navigating the VMware virtual event site and found a link to a document titled "What's new in VMware vSphere 5.0 - Storage" and it includes a description of VASA.  Here's what it says:

vSphere Storage APIs - Storage Awareness is a new set of APIs that will enable VMware vCenter Server to detect the capabilities of the storage array LUNs/datastores, making it much easier to select the appropriate disk for virtual machine placement or the creation of datastore clusters. vSphere Storage APIs – Storage Awareness can also provide help in facilitating, for example, the troubleshooting process or conversations between vSphere and storage administrators. Storage capabilities, such as RAID level, thin or thick provisioned, replication state and much more, can now be made visible within VMware vCenter Server either via “system-defined capabilities,” which are per-datastore descriptors, or via attributes that are exposed via Storage Views and SMS API. vSphere Storage APIs – Storage Awareness aims to eliminate the need for maintaining massive spreadsheets detailing the storage capabilities of each LUN that are needed to guarantee the correct SLA to virtual machines.

My next podcast is with Angelo Cavaliere.  Angelo is a Senior Manager and has responsibility for all of the management integration we have with VMware and HP Storage.  In the podcast, Angelo talks more about VASA and our HP Insight Control Storage Module for vCenter.  

You can see the new player I just added has a "Save Podcast" icon.  You can download it by clicking it. 

Here are a few more related resources for you:

• Check out our HP Storage for VMware page at www.hp.com/go/storage/vmware
• You can download the Insight Control Storage Module for vCenter on the HP Software Depot.  Here's a direct link to the current version.  As Angelo and I discussed, this is a free download.
• While we didn't talk about it today, there's a complete HP Insight Control for vCenter that is a very powerful suite that is worth looking at.  You can find it at www.hp.com/go/ICvCenter

Tomorrow I should have another podcast on the VMware announcement talking about the latest VAAI primitives. 

(Editor's note: I updated the embedded player on 27 July 2011) 

[#2]

I wrote up an article about the VMware VSA, and some advantages the HP P4000 VSA has.

http://derek858.blogspot.com/2011/07/vsphere-50-virtual-storage-appliance.html

[#3]

When can we expect 3PAR and the P4xxx series to fully support all these new storage integration features?

[#4]

Hey Derek - thanks for sharing your blog post here.  I'm not sure I know what the list of "all there storage integration features" are but I'm pretty certain both arrays will be.  I'll confirm and if I hear otherwise, will leave another comment.

[#5]

Hi Calvin, 

I was wondering if you managed to find out about any possible or planned support of VASA for the HP P4000 VSA specifically? I am trialling out the VSA in my lab environment and was curious to see if the storage capabilities would be passed through to my Storage Capabilities for use against VM Storage Profiles. (vSphere 5 of course)

Thanks,

Sean

[#6]

Hi Sean - VSA has all the same features as a P4000 hardware-based array. As soon as the P4000 has support for VASA, so will the VSA.  I'm not able to share dates of future products but I think it's in the near future.  Thanks!