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Preparing for the deployment

Prepare for the vSAN deployment by reviewing security considerations, disk considerations, filling in the deployment worksheet, installing the ThinkAgile VX appliances in a rack, cabling the appliances to the network, and adding entries to the DNS server.

  • Security considerations
    Review the following best practices to ensure that the VX cluster deployment environment is secured and that any potential security exposures are avoided.
  • Minimum vCenter user permissions
    If you are adding a new vSAN cluster to a vCenter instance, or if you are adding a node to an existing vSAN cluster, the VX Deployer requires that the user account used to authenticate with the vCenter instance has the minimum permission levels.
  • Implementing a vSAN storage architecture
    Beginning with VMware vSAN 8, VMware introduced a new storage architecture called Express Storage Architecture (ESA), which is optimized for newer hardware.
  • Disk configuration considerations (vSAN OSA)
    Each node in a vSAN Original Storage Architecture (OSA) cluster contributes one or more disk groups to the cluster. A disk group contains one cache disk and one or more capacity disks. Best practice is to include a minimum of two capacity disks per disk group for performance and data availability. Review the disk details before configuring the disks using the VX Deployer.
  • Deployment configuration worksheet
    Use this worksheet to record values for the settings that you will need to deploy the vSAN cluster.
  • Installing hardware into rack
    Install the ThinkAgile VX appliances in a rack. See the following table for instructions on installing the appliances.
  • Cabling the network
    Review the following information to understand how to cable the ThinkAgile VX appliances to the network.
  • Configuring DNS entries
    Make sure that you have configured the hostnames and IP addresses for the nodes in the cluster with the DNS server.