Regarding the existence of the “naa” folder and slot files within the data store.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Datastores contain multiple folders starting with the prefix "naa" (Network Address Authority). These folders contain files named "slotsfile".

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi
VMware vCenter Server

Cause

These directories and the associated slotsfile are automatically created and utilized by the Storage I/O Control (SIOC) feature. They are used to track I/O statistics and manage congestion metrics for the datastore.

Resolution

No action is required as this is expected behavior.
These folders are system-managed and should not be manually deleted while SIOC is active.

Additional Information

vCenter events are spammed with "Duplicate name 'slotsfile' entry in cache"
Manage Storage I/O Resources with vSphere
Japanese KB: データストア内に作成される"naa..."フォルダおよび slotsfile について