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Quick Tip - How to check if vSAN TRIM/UNMAP is enabled in VMware Cloud on AWS Cluster?

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While the original question was for checking whether a specific VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC-A) cluster has the vSAN TRIIM/UNMAP feature enabled, the solutions below is applicable to any recent vSAN 7.x or 8.x deployment. There are two ways you check, either using the vSphere UI by selecting the cluster and navigating to Configure->vSAN->Services and expanding the Advanced Options tile or simply leveraging PowerCLI and the vSAN API to retrieve the exact same information.

vSphere UI

vSAN API using PowerCLI

$clusterName = "Cluster-1"
$vsanConfigSystem = Get-VsanView -Id VsanVcClusterConfigSystem-vsan-cluster-config-system
$clusterMoRef = (Get-Cluster $clusterName).ExtensionData.MoRef
$vsanConfigSystem.VsanClusterGetConfig($clusterMoRef).unmapConfig

 

Enabling vSAN 8 Express Storage Architecture (ESA) using Nested ESXi

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To get the full benefits and support of the new vSAN 8 Express Storage Architecture (ESA), you will need modern hardware from the official vSAN ESA Ready Node HCL. However, from an education and learning point of view, you may want to explore some of the VSAN ESA workflows and easiest way to do that, well you probably know the answer .... it is using Nested ESXi of course!

With my recently published vSphere and vSAN 8 Lab Deployment Script, you can use that as the base and the Nested ESXi 8.0 IA Virtual Appliance to setup vSAN 8 ESA using virtual hardware 😀


There are only a couple of things to be aware of prior to setting up vSAN ESA using Nested ESXi.

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A first look at the new vSphere+ & vSAN+ Cloud Service

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vSphere+ and vSAN+ was just announced this week and if you have not heard the news, I recommend checking out this blog post (includes a nice video with testimonials from early customers and partners) that goes into greater details for the new vSphere+ and vSAN+ offering (hint, it is more than just a subscription). If you prefer audio, the Unexplored Territory crew also covered the vSphere+ and vSAN+ news in their latest podcast Episode #20.

I was also curious about how this new VMware Cloud service would work and rather than reading about it, I had the opportunity to kick the tires and I figure I might as well try it out on my own personal vSphere homelab!

Although I was using our Staging/Development environment for my setup as the new VMware Cloud service has not officially GA'ed, it should give folks an idea of what to expect. I also wanted to share some additional insights and considerations that I had came across for this upcoming new service.

UPDATE (07/25/22) - The free trial for the new vSphere+/vSAN+ service is now available, you can sign up for a 15 day trial at https://vmc.vmware.com/infrastructure/vsphere-plus/overview

Here is your 1st look at the new VMware Cloud vSphere+ and vSAN+ Service!

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