6.5.1

Figure 2‑1. Local Storage
ESXi Host
vmdk
SCSI Device
VMFS
In this example of a local storage topology, the ESXi host uses a single connection to a storage device.
On that device, you can create a VMFS datastore, which you use to store virtual machine disk files.
Although this storage configuration is possible, it is not a best practice. Using single connections between
storage devices and hosts creates single points of failure (SPOF) that can cause interruptions when a
connection becomes unreliable or fails. However, because most of local storage devices do not support
multiple connections, you cannot use multiple paths to access local storage.
ESXi supports various local storage devices, including SCSI, IDE, SATA, USB, and SAS storage systems.
Regardless of the type of storage you use, your host hides a physical storage layer from virtual machines.
Note You cannot use IDE/ATA or USB drives to store virtual machines.
Local storage does not support sharing across multiple hosts. Only one host has access to a datastore on
a local storage device. As a result, although you can use local storage to create VMs, you cannot use
VMware features that require shared storage, such as HA and vMotion.
However, if you use a cluster of hosts that have just local storage devices, you can implement vSAN.
vSAN transforms local storage resources into software-defined shared storage. With vSAN, you can use
features that require shared storage. For details, see the Administering VMware vSAN documentation.
Networked Storage
Networked storage consists of external storage systems that your ESXi host uses to store virtual machine
files remotely. Typically, the host accesses these systems over a high-speed storage network.
Networked storage devices are shared. Datastores on networked storage devices can be accessed by
multiple hosts concurrently. ESXi supports multiple networked storage technologies.
vSphere Storage
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