Is there benefit to specifying a datastore cluster in bosh config instead of just a list of datastores?

Products

• VMware Tanzu Platform - Cloud Foundry

Issue/Introduction

A customer recently added their datastores to a datastore cluster to get the benefits of DRS. Is there any additional benefit to changing the bosh config to use the datastore cluster instead of using the list of datastores? Is it required in order to get all the benefits of DRS?

 

If you list all the datastores in the bosh config, any time you add or remove datastores on the clusters, you would have to modify the bosh config. Are there additional considerations to be aware of?

Cause

One benefit to configuring the datastore cluster: we use it when deciding where to put stemcell disk images.

But even in that case, the bosh CPI is just asking vSphere for placement advice. Then it places the image directly in a datastore. 

Resolution

Using the datastore cluster in the bosh config is simpler and shorter. However, it is not necessary to configure the database cluster name into your bosh config in order to take full advantage of DRS.