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VMware vSAN 7.0

Licensing Guide
VMware vSAN 7.0

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

License Editions ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

Upgrades ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Remote Office / Branch Office ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

2-node Architecture ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7

When Using vSphere Essentials Bundles ........................................................................................................................ 7

Stretched Cluster with Local Failure Protection ............................................................................................................. 8

VMware HCI Kits............................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Licensing Scenarios .....................................................................................................................................................................10

Summary .....................................................................................................................................................................................13

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VMware vSAN 7.0

Introduction
HCI converges compute and storage resources on industry-standard x86 servers and uses software to abstract and pool
cluster resources with unified management software. Hyperconverged infrastructure transforms data centers by simplifying
operations through automation, lowering TCO by leveraging industry standard servers and scaling incrementally.

VMware’s industry leading HCI software stack consists of vSphere for compute virtualization, vSAN, vSphere integrated
storage, and vCenter for virtual infrastructure management. VMware HCI is configurable, and seamlessly integrates with
VMware NSX™ to provide more secure network virtualization and/or vRealize Suite™ for advanced hybrid cloud
management capabilities. HCI can be extended to the public cloud, as VMware powered HCI has integrated services with
the six of the largest cloud providers, Amazon, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Alibaba, Oracle and IBM. Hundreds of public cloud
providers also offer HCI-as-a-Service, including Rackspace, CenturyLink and OVH.

VMware vSAN enables customers to prime their business for growth through seamless evolution, leading flexibility and
hybrid cloud capabilities. vSAN helps customers seamlessly evolve, as it is integrated to vSphere and requires no new tools.
vSAN’s industry leading ecosystem empowers customers to run HCI on certified solutions with their preferred vendor, and
hybrid cloud capabilities provide customers consistent operations from edge to core to cloud, with intrinsic security
throughout.

VMware provides the broadest choice of consumption options for HCI including VxRail™, a fully integrated HCI appliance
from Dell EMC™ tailored for ease of deployment and over 500 pre-certified vSAN ReadyNodes™ from all major server
vendors for complete flexibility in aligning with customer’s vendor preferences and experiences. VMware also offers a fully
managed infrastructure-as-a-service on-premises with VMware Cloud on Dell EMC; partners also offer infrastructure as-a-
service, such as VMware Cloud Foundation on HPE Synergy with HPE GreenLake.

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VMware vSAN 7.0

License Editions
vSAN license editions include Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus. The following table shows the features
included with each license edition.

Table 1: License Editions and Product Features

Editions Standard Advanced Enterprise Enterprise

Plus

vSAN 7
Storage Policy Based Mgmt. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Virtual Distributed Switch ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Rack Awareness ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Software Checksum ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

All-Flash Hardware ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

iSCSI Target Service ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

QoS - IOPS Limit ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Cloud Native Storage ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Deduplication & Compression ✓ ✓ ✓

RAID-5/6 Erasure Coding ✓ ✓ ✓

vRealize Operations within vCenter ✓ ✓ ✓

Data-at-Rest Encryption ✓ ✓

Stretched Cluster with Local Failure ✓ ✓

Protection
File Services ✓ ✓

vROps 8 Advanced
vSAN-aware WLB (resync, slack space, SPBM) ✓

Customizable Dashboards ✓

Auto Remediation ✓

Troubleshooting Workflows ✓

Automated Intent-Based Workload ✓

Placement ✓
Capacity Planning

Notes:

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VMware vSAN 7.0

• The deduplication & compression and RAID-5/6 erasure coding features require an all-flash vSAN configuration. These
features are not supported with hybrid vSAN configurations.

• vSAN Standard, Advanced, Enterprise editions are licensed per-CPU (socket), per-VDI, or per-VM. Enterprise Plus
edition is licensed per-CPU only. These four vSAN editions are available as standalone licenses and are not included
with VMware vSphere®. Mixed workload—server and desktop—should be run on a vSAN cluster with per CPU vSAN
licensing.

• A vSphere host that is not contributing local storage to a vSAN datastore can be a member of the vSAN cluster and
utilize the vSAN datastore. Even though a host is not contributing storage, the host must be licensed for vSAN.
• Customers can upgrade license keys in My VMware portal by following the instructions posted on VMware Knowledge
Base article on “How to upgrade license keys in My VMware” (https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2006974).

• Customers can downgrade license keys in My VMware portal by following the instructions posted on VMware
Knowledge Base article on “How to downgrade license keys in My VMware”
(https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2006975).

Please find the complete list of features contained in vSAN version in Storage Hub.

vSAN 7.0 introduced File Services. vSAN File Service is a layer that sits on top of vSAN to provide file shares. It currently
supports NFSv3 and NFSv4.1 file shares. vSAN File Service comprises of vSAN Distributed File System (vDFS) which provides
the underlying scalable filesystem by aggregating vSAN objects, a Storage Services Platform which provides
resilient file server end points and a control plane for deployment, management, and monitoring. File shares are integrated
into the existing vSAN Storage Policy Based Management, and on a per-share basis. vSAN file service brings in capability to
host NFS file shares directly on the vSAN cluster.

vSAN 6.7 U3 release includes 2 major changes in vSAN licensing model. vSAN added a 4th edition vSAN Enterprise Plus which
is a hard bundle of vSAN ENT and vROPs ADV features. This release also added Cloud Native Storage feature which is
included in all the vSAN editions.

vSAN 6,6 introduced vSAN data-at-rest encryption requires an external Key Management Server (referred as KMS), which
provides the primary encryption key. This key is used to encrypt other keys in the cluster. While VMware does not provide a
KMS solution, vSAN encryption is certified to work with enterprise grade key management servers. Please note, KMS
vendors may have an additional licensing requirement. Different KMS vendors offer different license options, please check
with the KMS vendor for further details. For a list of certified KMS vendors, refer to the VMware compatibility guide.

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VMware vSAN 7.0

Upgrades
Customers that would like to upgrade an existing vSAN license edition to a higher edition to enable additional functionality
can purchase upgrades. For example, an organization that utilizes vSAN Advanced edition can purchase an upgrade to the
Enterprise edition to enable a stretched cluster architecture. Consult with your preferred reseller to get the current list of
available upgrades and pricing.

Horizon Advanced and Enterprise customers who wish to upgrade to vSAN Enterprise can do so via an add-on vSAN for
Desktop Enterprise SKU.

Note: Availability, pricing, and packaging can change at any time without warning. It is always best to consult with your
preferred reseller to get current pricing and packaging options for any VMware solution.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

vSAN for Desktop licensing is available for customers using vSAN exclusively for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This
includes third-party VDI solutions in addition to VMware Horizon®. While this license option limits the use of vSAN to VDI
workloads only, vSAN for Desktop provides unique pricing and packaging options to help further reduce the cost of VDI
while enabling the benefits and performance of a distributed storage platform. vSAN for Desktop is available in Standard,
Advanced, and Enterprise editions. It is priced per-concurrent user (CCU) in a virtual desktop environment and sold in packs
of 10 and 100 licenses.

In addition to being available standalone, vSAN for Desktop Advanced licenses are also included with VMware Horizon
Advanced and Enterprise editions.

Remote Office / Branch Office

vSAN is an excellent solution for remote office and branch office (ROBO) implementations, as described in this solution brief:
VMware vSAN Remote Office/Branch Office Deployment. vSAN for ROBO licenses are priced per-virtual machine (per-VM)
and sold in packages of 25 licenses. A 25-pack of licenses can be shared across multiple locations—for example, five remotes
offices each running five virtual machines. This approach provides deployment flexibility and helps minimize the cost of
smaller infrastructures commonly found at remote offices.

Each remote office is limited to a maximum of 25 virtual machines under the vSAN for ROBO licensing model. If more than
25 virtual machines are running at a remote office, vSAN Standard or Advanced, or Enterprise per CPU licensing must be
used. Any number of hosts can be licensed with vSAN for ROBO Standard or Advanced or Enterprise as long as the number
of virtual machines running on a vSAN cluster at a single location is 25 or less.

It is possible to start with vSAN for ROBO licenses and then switch to vSAN Standard, Advanced, or Enterprise per CPU
licenses without disruption when a remote office grows beyond 25 virtual machines. The definition of a remote office or
branch office is any remote physical location other than a primary data center. It is important to note there is no
upgrade/conversion path from vSAN for ROBO per-VM licenses to vSAN Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus
per-CPU licenses.

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VMware vSAN 7.0

2-node Architecture
Another important item to discuss is the deployment of a 2-host architecture at the same location, which is supported and
common in remote office implementations. A 2-host or “2-node” architecture consists of two physical vSphere hosts in a
cluster in the same building running vSAN. More details on 2-node vSAN architecture can be found on storage hub. The
example below shows a main data center and three remote offices. Each remote office has a 2-node vSAN cluster and a

witness host for each cluster runs at the main data center.

Figure 1: vSAN ROBO Deployment

The vSAN Witness Appliance is deployed from an OVA file and includes an embedded license. There is no need to purchase a
vSphere license for the vSAN Witness Host when a vSAN Witness Appliance used. If the vSAN Witness host is a physical
machine, a vSphere license for this host is required. The diagram below shows the selection of the vSphere license for the

witness host virtual appliance.

Figure 2: vSAN Witness License

When Using vSphere Essentials Bundles

vSphere Essentials Kit or vSphere Essentials Plus Kit licensing limits the number of hosts managed by vCenter Server
Essentials to three.
• When using a physical host as the vSAN Witness Host, it is considered a host by the Essentials licensing bundle.
• When using the vSAN Witness Appliance as the vSAN Witness Host, it is not considered a host by the Essentials
licensing bundle.
o This is because virtual machine workloads are not supported nor allowed to run on the vSAN Witness Appliance

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VMware vSAN 7.0

Here is an example of a supported configuration:

• One physical host at the main data center managed by vCenter Server that is licensed with vCenter Server Essentials
• Two physical hosts at a remote office running a 2-node vSAN configuration managed by the same vCenter Server
• The vSAN Witness Appliance deployed at the main data center is used as a vSAN Witness Host for the 2-node vSAN
configuration

Note: The order of operation is important – vCenter does not recognize the vSAN Witness Appliance as a virtual host until
after it is added to vCenter
• The vSAN Witness Appliance must be added to vCenter prior to the 3rd physical host being added to vCenter
• A warning message will be generated when attempting to add the vSAN Witness Appliance as a vSAN Witness Host
after the 3 physical hosts have been added

Stretched Cluster with Local Failure Protection

The Stretched Cluster feature with local failure protection is available with the Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions of
vSAN. More details on 2-node vSAN architecture can be found on Storage Hub.

vSAN Stretched Cluster feature in vSAN Enterprise for ROBO is allowed for the below configurations:
• Stretched Cluster within a ROBO site may be used when no more than 25 total powered on VMs are running on the
vSAN Stretched Cluster.
• Stretched Cluster across 2 ROBO sites may be used when no more than 25 total powered on VMs are running across
the 2 ROBO sites and ensure that in case of a site failure, the surviving ROBO site will have no more than 25 total
powered on VMs.
vSAN Stretched Cluster feature in vSAN Enterprise for ROBO is not allowed for the below configurations:

• Stretched Cluster configuration may not be stretched between a ROBO site and a site such as a primary data center.
This scenario would require a traditional vSAN Enterprise license. Mixing ROBO and per CPU traditional licensing is not
possible because:
a. A ROBO license may not be used in a site that is not categorized as ROBO. Stretching a vSAN Cluster using a ROBO
license might lead to ROBO licensed VMs migrating to non-ROBO site which is not compliant
b. A vSAN cluster may not use mixed licensing because a single vSAN license is applied to each vSAN cluster.
Stretching between Datacenter and ROBO site would require mixing per CPU licenses in the datacenter with per
VM licenses in the ROBO site
Therefore, it is recommended that customers use traditional per-CPU vSAN Enterprise licensing for this scenario.

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VMware vSAN 7.0

VMware HCI Kits

New licensing and packaging options were introduced with vSAN. VMware HCI Kit bundles simplify the purchase of vSphere
and vSAN licenses. There are five data center kits with per-CPU licensing and two remote office branch office kits with per-
VM licensing:

• VMware HCI Kit Essentials (per-6 CPUs) that includes vSphere Essentials plus and vSAN Standard
• VMware HCI Kit Standard (per-CPU) that includes vSphere Standard and vSAN Standard
• VMware HCI Kit Advanced (per-CPU) that includes vSphere Enterprise Plus and vSAN Advanced
• VMware HCI Kit Enterprise (per-CPU) that includes vSphere Enterprise Plus and vSAN Enterprise
• VMware HCI Kit with Operations Management (per-CPU) that includes vSphere Enterprise Plus and vSAN Enterprise
Plus
• VMware HCI Kit ROBO Standard (per-25 VMs) that includes vSphere ROBO Enterprise and vSAN ROBO Standard
• VMware HCI Kit ROBO Advanced (per-25 VMs) that includes vSphere ROBO Enterprise and vSAN ROBO Advanced
Note: A maximum of one ROBO pack can be deployed per remote office site. A ROBO license pack can be split across sites—
for example, five remote office sites with five virtual machines each would require only one ROBO license pack. HCI kit
Essentials is the only HCI kit which comes with vCenter Essentials (vSphere Essentials Plus kit contains vCenter Essentials).

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VMware vSAN 7.0

Licensing Scenarios
This section contains several example vSAN implementation scenarios and vSAN licensing for these scenarios. All scenarios
utilize hosts that have two populated CPU sockets unless otherwise noted.

Scenario 1: 16-host all-flash vSAN cluster for server workloads requiring data-at-rest encryption.

32 vSAN Enterprise licenses are needed. Data-at-rest encryption is a feature included only in the Enterprise edition of vSAN.

Scenario 2: 8-host all-flash vSAN cluster virtual desktops with 180 concurrent users.

vSAN for Desktop Advanced or Enterprise licenses (two CCU 100-packs) would likely be the best choice although it is
possible to license this cluster with vSAN for Desktop Standard licenses. Standard license editions also support the use of all-
flash hardware. However, Advanced and Enterprise licenses enable the use of deduplication, compression, and erasure
coding. These vSAN space efficiency features typically provide a considerable reduction in the cost per usable gigabyte of
capacity.

Note: vSAN for Desktop Advanced licenses are included with Horizon Advanced and Enterprise licenses. The virtual servers
that support virtual desktops such as Horizon View Connection Server can also run on this cluster when vSAN for Desktop
licenses are used. Horizon customers can upgrade from the bundled vSAN for Desktop Advanced licenses to vSAN for
Desktop Enterprise licenses using an add-on SKU.

Scenario 3: 20-host hybrid vSAN configuration running a combination of desktop workloads and server workloads other than
the servers supporting virtual desktops in a primary data center.

40 vSAN Standard per-CPU licenses are required to properly license this cluster. Even though there are some virtual
desktops running in this cluster, vSAN for Desktop licensing cannot be used, as there are also non-desktop workloads
present.

Note: While it is possible to mix server and virtual desktop workloads in a vSAN cluster, VMware recommends a dedicated
cluster for larger virtual desktop deployments.

Scenario 4: 2-host all-flash vSAN cluster running 10 virtual machines in a remote office.

There are less than 25 virtual machines running at this office, which means vSAN for ROBO Standard licenses can be used.
vSAN for ROBO Advanced licenses would enable deduplication, compression, and erasure coding features. vSAN for ROBO
Enterprise licenses would enable data at rest encryption and stretched cluster with local failure protection features.

Scenario 5: 3-host all-flash vSAN cluster at a remote office running 30 virtual machines.

vSAN for ROBO licenses cannot be used in this scenario because the number of virtual machines is more than 25. Six vSAN
Standard per-CPU licenses are needed as there are three hosts each with two CPUs. vSAN Advanced licenses would enable
deduplication, compression, and erasure coding since this is an all-flash configuration. However, a minimum of four hosts
are required for erasure coding.

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VMware vSAN 7.0

Scenario 6: Three remotes offices each with a 2-host hybrid vSAN cluster. The first remote office is running 10 virtual
machines. The second remote office is running 12 virtual machines. The third remote office is running 28 virtual machines.

A 25-pack of vSAN for ROBO Standard licenses would cover the first and second remote offices. The third remote office
would require four vSAN Standard licenses as there are more than 25 virtual machines running at this location.

Scenario 7: Remote office licensed with vSAN for ROBO Standard (per-VM 25-pack) originally running 20 server VMs on
three physical hosts. The number of VMs has grown to 30.

vSAN for ROBO licenses enable up to 25 VMs to be licensed at a single remote office location. In this scenario, the number of
VMs at the remote office has grown beyond the 25 VMs limit. The vSAN for ROBO licenses must be replaced with per-CPU
licenses (vSAN Standard, Advanced, or Enterprise). There is no upgrade path or conversion from vSAN for ROBO to vSAN
per-CPU licenses. The vSAN for ROBO licenses can be repurposed for another remote office location with 25 VMs or less.

Scenario 8: 12-host vSAN stretched cluster with six hosts at a primary location and six hosts at a secondary location. A vSAN
witness host (virtual appliance) is deployed at a third location.

This scenario requires 24 vSAN Enterprise per-CPU licenses. The witness virtual appliance includes a vSAN license.

Scenario 9: 1 host + 1 host+ witness (2-node cluster) across 3 rooms in the same building with maximum 25 VMs

This scenario requires either 1 vSAN STD for ROBO (per-VM 25-pack) or 4 vSAN STD per CPU licenses.

Scenario 10: 1 host + 1 host + witness (2-node cluster) across physical sites with maximum 25 VMs

This scenario requires either 1 vSAN STD for ROBO (per-VM 25-pack) or 4 vSAN STD per CPU licenses. Customer does not
require ENT licenses for a 2-node cluster stretched across 2 physical site.

Scenario 11: 3 host + 3 host + witness (stretched cluster) across 3 rooms in the same building with maximum 25 VMs

This scenario requires either 1 vSAN ENT for ROBO (per-VM 25-pack) or 12 vSAN ENT per CPU licenses. Stretched cluster
feature is only available in ENT edition of vSAN. Learn more about the vSAN Stretched Cluster feature in vSAN ENT for ROBO
in the Stretched Cluster section of the guide.

Scenario 12: 3 host + 3 host + witness (stretched cluster) across physical sites with maximum 25 VMs

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VMware vSAN 7.0

This scenario requires either 1 vSAN ENT for ROBO (per-VM 25-pack) or 12 vSAN ENT per CPU licenses. Stretched Cluster
feature is only available in ENT edition of vSAN. Learn more about the vSAN Stretched Cluster feature in vSAN ENT for ROBO
in the Stretched Cluster section of the guide.

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VMware vSAN 7.0

Summary
• vSAN works with any edition of vSphere (Main editions, Acceleration Kit, Essentials Kits, Scale Out, ROBO, Desktop)
• vSAN Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus licenses are per-CPU (socket) licenses. All hosts in the
cluster must be licensed.
• All-flash vSAN configurations are supported with the Standard license. Deduplication, compression, and erasure
coding require Advanced, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus licenses.
• Stretched cluster configurations and data-at-rest encryption require Enterprise and Enterprise Plus licenses.
• vSphere and vSphere with Operations Management licenses do not include vSAN.
• vSAN for Desktop are concurrent user (CCU) licenses available in a pack of 10 and 100.
• vSAN for ROBO are per-VM licenses available in a pack of 25.
• vSAN for ROBO licenses can be spread across multiple remote offices.
• Only one vSAN for ROBO Standard or Advanced 25-pack of licenses can be used at a remote office. Running more than
25 virtual machines at a single remote office location disqualifies the use of vSAN for ROBO licensing at that location.
• vSAN for Desktop licenses can only be used to run virtual desktop workloads.
• VMware Horizon Advanced and Enterprise licensing includes vSAN Advanced licenses to run virtual desktops
workloads only.
• A 2-host vSAN cluster with a witness host can be deployed with any license edition.
• Any cluster with three or more physical hosts plus a witness host is a stretched cluster, which requires vSAN
Enterprise or Enterprise Plus licensing.

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