VMware vSphere System Requirements
SoftNAS Cloud® System Requirements
Listed below is a table to assist with the setup decisions during the configuration required to accomplish various tasks and goals.
Specifying Memory and CPU Reservations
Always specify the CPU and Memory reservations for the SoftNAS Cloud® VMs to prevent over-commitment of vSphere Server resources.
Note: Overcommitting vSphere Server resources without specifying CPU and Memory reservations will cause unwanted HA failovers.
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Recommended
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Configuration Note
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Compute
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Set a compute reservation for all of the CPU assigned to the SoftNAS Cloud® VM.
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Light Use
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2 vCPU
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minimum
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General Use
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4+ vCPU
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recommended, based on use of compression
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Heavy Use
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8+ vCPU
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large-scale use with compression and deduplication
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Memory
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Set a memory reservation for all of the memory assigned for the SoftNAS Cloud® VM.
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Base RAM - General
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2 GB
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minimum
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System RAM - Medium
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8 GB
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medium-scale use
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System RAM - Heavy
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32+ GB
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large-scale use with increased caching
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Additional RAM
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1 GB per 1 TB of deduplicated storage.
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required for best performance
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e.g.: 50 TB deduplicated storage = 50 additional GB for deduplication tables.
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Storage
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Boot Disk
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64-bit Linux CentOS 4/5/6 (64-bit)
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30GB, Thin-provisioned
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Data Disks
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Virtual Hard Disks (VMDK) for data storage will support any VMware-supported datastore.
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Hardware RAID
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If the local disk controller supports hardware RAID, hardware RAID can be used to create VMware host datastores.
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Software RAID
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If SoftNAS Cloud® is preferred to handle RAID, add VMDKs to the SoftNAS Cloud® VM and configure RAID in the SoftNAS Cloud® product.
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iSCSI SAN
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SoftNAS Cloud® can mount and support all VMware-supported disk configurations, including iSCSI SAN via software or hardware HBA.
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Networking
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Up to 120 MB/sec
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1 GbE
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minimum
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Up to 750 MB/sec
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10 GbE
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Other VMware-supported networks, such as Infiniband, are also available.
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HA Networking
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Active/Active or Active/Passive vSwitch
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Required setting for VMware vSphere to tolerate a NIC or switch failure.
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Use of "full mesh" HA switch configurations are also recommended to prevent switch failures from interrupting storage access.
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HA Host Failover
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Ensure that, for each host operating with SoftNAS Cloud®, the Data Disks are accessible. Preferred method: dual-path disks or iSCSI or fiber-attached disks with VMware drivers.
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SoftNAS Cloud® System Capacities
Listed below is a table representing the capabilities of the SoftNAS Cloud® for VMware vSphere.
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SoftNAS Cloud® Capacity
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Configuration Note
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Editions
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SoftNAS Cloud® Express
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1 TB
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SoftNAS Cloud® Standard
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20 TB
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SoftNAS Cloud® Enterprise
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16 PB
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Free Tier
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Small-scale use case & evaluation
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micro instance limits performance; not recommended for production use cases.
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Memory
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RAM Cache
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1 GB to 100 GB
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Defaults to 50% total RAM for read cache
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SSD Cache
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low-speed level 2 cache
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Optional
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Ephemeral Cache
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low-speed level 2 cache
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Optional for read cache
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Storage
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Maximum Storage
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16 PB
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Maximum usable storage capacity with SoftNAS Cloud®, contingent on license.
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# of Storage Pools
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Unlimited
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# of Volumes
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Unlimited
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# of Snapshots
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Unlimited
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# of Snapshot Clones
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Unlimited
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SnapReplicate
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Unlimited Pools & Volumes
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SnapReplicate Throttle
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56Kb/sec to Unlimited bandwidth
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Active Directory
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Kerberos Integration
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Files and Directories
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Unlimited
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Network
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Schedules
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Unlimited
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NFS Exports:
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Linux Default
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iSCSI Targets
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Linux Default
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CIFS Shares
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Linux Default
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Firewall Ports:
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22 (ssh), 443 (https)
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Plus NFS, iSCSI, and CIFS as required by network
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IP Tables Firewall
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Off by default
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May be configured, but is not required. Use an alternative method to set Security Groups unless added firewall protection on a SoftNAS Cloud® instance is required.
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