VMware View is supported by the VMware vSphere, and therefore supports multiple storage protocols for storing data. VMware vSphere is capable of using fiber channel, iSCSI, Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and NFS.
The main considerations for protocol choice for VMware View are maximum throughput, VMDK behavior, and the cost of reusing existing versus acquiring new storage infrastructure. These considerations affect network design and performance.
The intention of this section is not to cover each protocol or how they perform in a VDI environment. The numbers in the following table are based on VMware View 5.3 and vSphere 5 and are intended to help with the decision on the storage protocol to be used:
|
Fiber channel |
iSCSI |
FCoE |
NFS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Type |
Block |
Block |
Block |
File |
|
VAAI |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Transmission rate |
4, 8, or 16 Gbps |
Multiple 10 Gbps |
Multiple 10 Gbps |
Multiple 10 Gbps |
|
Maximum number of hosts |
32 |
32 |
32 |
32 |
|
LUNs/Exports per host |
256 |
256 |
256 |
256 |
|
Clones... |