My Journey from Infrastructure Admin to Cloud Architect: The Power of vSAN in Data Evacuation
As an infrastructure admin, I have always been focused on ensuring the smooth operation of my company’s IT infrastructure. However, as I transitioned into a cloud architect role, I realized that there was so much more to consider when it comes to data evacuation and vSAN. In this blog post, I will share my journey from an infrastructure admin to a cloud architect and how vSAN helped me along the way.
The Challenge of Data Evacuation
One of the biggest challenges in data evacuation is determining how quickly data can be evacuated from a disk. The answer, as you might expect, is “it depends.” The performance of the disk, network, and current I/O load of the cluster all play a role in determining how quickly data can be evacuated. As an infrastructure admin, I had always been focused on ensuring that my company’s IT infrastructure was running smoothly, but as a cloud architect, I needed to consider a much broader range of factors when it comes to data evacuation.
vSAN to the Rescue
That’s where vSAN comes in. With vSAN, I can easily evacuate data from my disk and ensure that my company’s IT infrastructure is running smoothly. vSAN provides a range of tools to help me with this process, including resync dashboards, resync throttling, fairness scheduler, performance dashboards, pre-checks, and esxtop.
Resync Dashboards
One of the most valuable features of vSAN is its resync dashboards. These dashboards provide me with a clear view of the status of my data evacuation process, including the current state of each object, the progress of each object, and any errors or issues that may arise during the evacuation process.
Resync Throttling
Another useful feature of vSAN is resync throttling. This feature allows me to manually control the bandwidth used for data evacuation, ensuring that my company’s IT infrastructure remains stable and responsive even during periods of high usage.
Fairness Scheduler
One of the most important factors in data evacuation is ensuring that frontend I/O (VM I/O) and backend I/O (policy changes, evacuations, rebalancing, repairs) are balanced. vSAN’s fairness scheduler helps me to achieve this goal by keeping a healthy balance between these two types of I/O traffic. This ensures that my company’s IT infrastructure remains stable and responsive even during periods of high usage.
Performance Dashboards
In addition to resync dashboards, vSAN also provides performance dashboards that allow me to monitor the status of my data evacuation process in real-time. These dashboards provide a detailed view of frontend and backend traffic, allowing me to quickly identify any issues or bottlenecks that may arise during the evacuation process.
Pre-Checks
Another useful feature of vSAN is pre-checks. This feature allows me to determine which components of an object can be potentially affected by the disk evacuation process. By selecting the preferred ‘vSAN data migration’ option, I can ensure that my company’s IT infrastructure remains accessible even during periods of high usage.
Esxtop
Finally, vSAN provides esxtop, a powerful tool that allows me to monitor near real-time vSAN stats per host. This feature is particularly useful when it comes to observing rebuild traffic, as it allows me to quickly identify any issues or bottlenecks that may arise during the evacuation process.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my journey from infrastructure admin to cloud architect has taught me the importance of considering a range of factors when it comes to data evacuation. vSAN has been an invaluable tool in this process, providing a range of features and tools that allow me to easily evacuate data from my disk and ensure that my company’s IT infrastructure remains stable and responsive even during periods of high usage. Whether you’re an infrastructure admin or a cloud architect, vSAN is an essential tool for anyone involved in data evacuation.