Support for deployment of a fresh 2-node vSAN cluster within VMware Cloud Foundation

Products

• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

• VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9 supports a variety of storage types as principal storage (see Storage Models in the product documentation for more details). Typically, principal storage is configured during creation of the management or workload domains or when adding new clusters to an existing workload domain. These scenarios are referred to as greenfield deployments.
• However, 2 node vSAN  which is not currently available in greenfield/brownfield VCF workflows can be configured for VCF 9 using the methods listed in this KB article

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x
• VMware vSAN

Resolution

Deploy new 2-Node vSAN into an existing WLD:

1. New Cluster - In the vCenter Server, create a new vSphere Cluster.
2. Add Hosts - In vCenter Server add the hosts to the new cluster.
3. Configure vSAN using Quickstart in the vCenter Server
4. Configure Network (NSX). Using the vCenter UI > Cluster > Configure > Network Configuration
5. Deploy the Witness node and add it to the vCenter Server
6. Configure Fault Domains/Stretched Cluster in the vCenter Server
7. Wait 15 minutes for sync to complete or sync manually

Note: Further day-n operation like add host, remove host, should be done on VC and use sync functionality to get the VCF inventory updated.

Deploy a new 2-Node vSAN into a new WLD:

1. Create New Workload Domain with Infrastructure only
2. Create a new vSphere Cluster in the vCenter server
3. In vCenter add the hosts to the new cluster.
4. Configure vSAN using Quickstart in the vCenter Server
5. Configure Network (NSX). Using the vCenter UI > Cluster > Configure > Network Configuration
6. Deploy the Witness node and add it to the vCenter Server
7. Configure Fault Domains/Stretched Cluster in the vCenter Server
8. Wait 15 minutes for sync to complete or sync manually

Note: Further day-n operation like add host, remove host, should be done on VC and use sync functionality to get the VCF inventory updated.

Additional Information

Pros:

• LCM (upgrades) of all the vCenter and cluster can be done from one place - VCF OPs.
• Password and certification management is supported.

Drawbacks:

• Further day-n operations, such as adding or removing hosts, should be done in vCenter, and the sync functionality must be used to update the VCF inventory.