- VMware implemented telemetry to paint a clearer picture
- It turns out that vSAN storage and HCI clusters were over-specified
- This change could result in huge savings
VMware admitted that overly conservative guidelines based on synthetic testing caused the company to over-specify its storage servers for years.
New telemetry data shows that actual ESA vSAN clusters actually use significantly less RAM and CPU than the company previously thought, allowing it to reduce hardware requirements for its vSAN storage clusters and vSAN HCI clusters.
By building to lower specifications, VMware is now able to make servers cheaper, more energy efficient and even more compact.
VMware has over-engineered storage servers for years
Older synthetic tests did not reflect real-world behavior. So when VMware implemented telemetry on thousands of production clusters, it found that vSAN uses significantly less RAM than expected, and typically fewer CPU resources as well.
“We are excited to announce that we have significantly reduced the hardware requirements for ReadyNodes certified for vSAN storage clusters and vSAN HCI clusters,” wrote product marketing engineer Pete Koehler.
This includes up to 67% reduction in RAM and 33% reduction in CPU cores for vSAN storage clusters, as well as a 50% reduction in RAM for vSAN HCI clusters.
The benefits that VMware and its customers could gain from these changes are not insignificant. Koehler noted that the savings in per-host hardware costs could be in the five-figure range, based on current “list prices” for RAM and CPUs.
Since clusters are made up of multiple hosts, customers could realize huge savings. They might also be able to use fewer hosts than before, based on new telemetry data, as well as reduce power, cooling and rack space.
Note that vSAN is also part of the VCF license, which means it makes even more financial sense for customers already in the ecosystem.
“The latest changes to our vSAN ReadyNodes make storage more affordable, easier to design, and ideal for even the most cost-conscious environments,” concluded Koehler.
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