Adding disk to vSAN Disk Group fails with 'General system error'

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

Operation of adding disk to a vSAN Disk Group may fail with 'General system error'.
Additionally, vmkernel log of relevant ESXi node returns 0x74 0x79 Sense Data: 

naa.################ failed H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x74 0x79
Failed read for naa.################: I/O error

Environment

VMware vSAN 7.x OSA
VMware vSAN 8.x OSA

Cause

74h/79h pair translates to: SECURITY CONFLICT IN TRANSLATED DEVICE (Reference: 'SCSI ASC/ASCQ Assignments' https://www.t10.org/lists/asc-num.htm#ASC_74) and indicates use of SED (Self Encrypting Drive). 

Resolution

vSAN does not support the use of SED drives with hardware encryption enabled.

NOTE: Some vendors may certify SED drives for vSAN with hardware encryption functionality turned off ('vSAN with Self Encrypting Drive (SED)' section of https://dl.dell.com/manuals/common/vmware_esxi_6x_7x_whitepaper7_en_us.pdf).

 

Additional Information

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/337796/interpreting-scsi-sense-codes-in-vmware.html