VMware Virtual SAN: Deploy & Manage 6.2

Course Description

In this five-day 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.

Audience Profile

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

Prerequisite(s) Recommended

This class requires completion of one of the following courses:

• Storage administration experience on block or file storage devices.
• Understanding of concepts presented in the VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] course.
• Experience with working at the command line is helpful.

The course material presumes that a student can perform the following tasks with no assistance or guidance before enrolling in this course:

• Use VMware vSphere® Web Client.
• Create and manage VMware vCenter Server® objects, such as data centers, clusters, hosts, and virtual machines.
• Create and modify a standard switch.
• Connect an ESXi host to NAS, iSCSI, or Fibre Channel storage.
• Create a VMware vSphere® VMFS datastore.
• Use a wizard or a template to create a virtual machine.
• Migrate a virtual machine with VMware vSphere® vMotion®.
• Migrate a virtual machine with VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion®.

If you cannot complete all of these tasks, VMware recommends that you complete the VMware vSphere:

• Install, Configure, Manage [V6] course before enrolling in VMware Virtual SAN: Deploy and Manage.

Learning 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.

Module 1: Course Introduction
Lessons
• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives
• Describe the software-defined data center

Module 2: Storage Fundamentals
Lessons
• 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

Module 3: Introduction to Virtual SAN
Lessons
• 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

Module 4: Virtual SAN Configuration
Lessons
• Identify physical network configuration requirements
• Configure Virtual SAN networking
• Configure a Virtual SAN cluster
• Test and validate the Virtual SAN configuration and functionality

Module 5: Virtual SAN Policies and Virtual Machines
Lessons
• 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

Module 6: Managing and Operating Virtual SAN
Lessons
• 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

Module 7: Monitoring and Troubleshooting Virtual SAN
Lessons
• 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

Module 8: Stretched Clusters and Two-Node Clusters
Lessons
• 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

Module 9: Interoperability with vSphere Features
Lessons
• Identify vSphere features and VMware products that interoperate with Virtual SAN
• Describe how Virtual SAN interoperates with third-party products and solutions

Module 10: Designing a Virtual SAN Deployment
Lessons
• 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