- VMware has implemented telemetry to show a clearer picture
- Turns out vSAN storage and HCI clusters were overspecified
- This change could result in huge cost savings.
VMware has admitted that overly conservative guidance based on synthetic testing caused the company to overspec its storage servers for years.
New telemetry data shows that real-world ESA vSAN clusters actually use significantly less RAM and CPU than the company had previously thought, allowing it to reduce hardware requirements for its vSAN storage clusters and vSAN HCI clusters.
By building to lower specifications, VMware can now make servers cheaper, more energy efficient, and even more compact.
VMware has oversized storage servers for years
Older synthetic tests didn’t reflect real-world behavior, so when VMware deployed telemetry to thousands of production clusters, it found that vSAN uses much less RAM than expected and generally fewer CPU resources as well.
“We are excited to announce that we have dramatically reduced the hardware requirements for certified ReadyNodes for both vSAN storage clusters and vSAN HCI clusters,” wrote product marketing engineer Pete Koehler.
This includes up to a 67% decrease in RAM and 33% decrease in CPU cores for vSAN storage clusters, and a 50% reduction in RAM for vSAN HCI clusters.
The benefits that both VMware and customers could see from these changes are not insignificant. Koehler noted that hardware cost savings per host could be in the five-figure range based on the “current selling price” for RAM and CPU.
Since clusters consist of multiple hosts, customers could realize huge savings. They will 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, meaning it makes even more financial sense for customers already within the ecosystem.
“The latest changes to our vSAN ReadyNodes make storage more affordable, easier to design, and great for even the most cost-conscious environments,” Koehler concluded.
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