Enabling and disabling Storage DRS (SDRS) in the vSphere Web Client

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
This article provides steps to enable and disable Storage DRS (SDRS) using the vSphere Web Client.

Note: For more information, see the vSphere Resource Management Guide. This guide contains definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the guide and the article, assume the guide is correct.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0 U1
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0 U2
VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.0
VMware vCenter Server 8.0 U1
VMware vCenter Server 8.0 U2

Resolution

Storage DRS allows you to manage the aggregated resources of a datastore cluster. When Storage DRS is enabled, it provides recommendations for virtual machine disk placement and migration to balance space and I/O resources across the datastores in the datastore cluster.

When you enable Storage DRS, you enable these functions:

• Space load balancing among datastores within a datastore cluster
• I/O load balancing among datastores within a datastore cluster
• Initial placement for virtual disks based on space and I/O workload

The Enable Storage DRS option in the Datastore Cluster Settings dialog enables or disables all of these components at once. If necessary, you can disable I/O-related functions of Storage DRS independently of space balancing functions.

When you disable Storage DRS on a datastore cluster, Storage DRS settings are preserved. When you enable Storage DRS, the settings for the datastore cluster are restored to the point where Storage DRS was disabled.

Enabling SDRS in the vSphere Web Client

To enable SDRS in the vSphere Web Client:

1. Browse to the datastore cluster in the vSphere Web Client navigator.
2. In the Manage tab, click Settings.
3. Under Services, select Storage DRS and click Edit.
4. Select Turn ON vSphere DRS and click OK.
   
5. To disable only I/O-related functions of SDRS, leaving space-related controls enabled:
   
   a. Under Storage DRS, click Edit.
   b. Deselect the Enable I/O metric for Storage DRS option and click OK.
   
   Note: This step is optional.

Disabling SDRS in the vSphere Web Client

To disable SDRS in the vSphere Web Client.

1. Browse to the datastore cluster in the vSphere Web Client navigator.
2. In the Manage tab, click Settings.
3. Under Services, select Storage DRS and click Edit.
4. Deselect the Turn ON vSphere DRS option and click OK.

Additional Information

For information on modifying the Storage DRS configuration using the vSphere PowerCLI, see vSphere PowerCLI Reference - Set-DatastoreCluster