VMware promises that it's new "Virtual Volumes (aka VVOLs) feature will be revolutionary. Here are 3 tips to help you get up to speed.

#1 - This feature became available with the vSphere 6.0 release. VMware has been promoting this feature since 2011.

#2 - With VVOLs, the primary element of management is the VM rather than the datastore, volume or LUN. VMware describes this as "making the CMKD a first class citizen in the storage world." This is part of their Software Defined Datacenter (SDDC) strategy.

#3 - Storage arrays will become more aware of individual VMDK files. This is an improvement from the popular VAAI technology (vStorage APIs for Array Integration) which was a feature introduced with vSphere 4.1.

Below is a comparison of VAAIvs VVOLs, for reference.

There is more detail to come with VVOLs as storage vendors begin to provide full support. 

Would you ilke to see how vSphere 6 can be leveraged in your organization? The first step is to schedule your free consultation by emailing

Author: Todd Bey

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