Release Notes

4 VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes on Dell PS Series | 2028-N-WP-V
Executive summary
The VMware
®
vSphere
®
6.0 Virtual Volumes™ (vVols) feature is a significant change from a volume-centric approach of
providing services in a virtual environment to one where SANs are VM-aware. This alters how shared storage is utilized
in virtualized environments, and therefore how virtualized environments are designed. vVol SAN based services are
enabled for a more granular application at a per-virtual-machine basis, and in some cases at a per-virtual-disk basis.
The result is a faster, more efficient, better-protected virtual environment, and ultimately a more scalable
environment.
Virtual Volumes enable data protection for each virtual machine using SAN-based snapshots, more granular end-to-end
monitoring of virtual machines and their virtual disks, more granular storage profiles, and faster deployment of virtual
machines.
With support for Virtual Volumes, a SAN providing block storage to vSphere becomes aware of the individual virtual
machine and the virtual disks associated with that virtual machine, enabling the storage to:
• Provide data protection in the form of hardware-based SAN snapshots
• Track detailed per-virtual-disk storage metrics from the perspective of the SAN
• Leverage the SAN existing volume clone capabilities to rapidly deploy new virtual machines