SoftNAS® System Requirements
Listed below is a table to assist with the setup decisions during the configuration required to accomplish various tasks and goals.
Always specify the CPU and Memory reservations for the SoftNAS® VMs to prevent over-commitment of vSphere Server resources.
Note: Over-committing vSphere Server resources without specifying CPU and Memory reservations will cause unwanted HA failovers.
| 1 | Recommended | Configuration Note | |
| 2 | VMware Version Supported |
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| 3 | Compute |
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| 4 | Light Use | 4 vCPU | minimum |
| 5 | General Use | 8+ vCPU | recommended, based on use of compression |
| 6 | Heavy Use | 16+ vCPU | large-scale use with compression and deduplication |
| 7 | Memory |
| |
| 8 | Base RAM - Light | 8 GB | minimum |
| 9 | System RAM - Medium | 16 GB | medium-scale use |
| 10 | System RAM - Heavy | 32+ GB | large-scale use with increased caching |
| 11 | Additional RAM | 1 GB per 1 TB of deduplicated storage. | required for best performance |
| 12 | e.g.: 50 TB deduplicated storage = 50 additional GB for deduplication tables. | ||
| 13 | Storage | ||
| 14 | Boot Disk | 64-bit Linux CentOS 4/5/6 (64-bit) | 100 GB, Thin-provisioned |
| 15 | Data Disks | Virtual Hard Disks (VMDK) for data storage will support any VMware-supported datastore. | |
| 16 | Hardware RAID | If the local disk controller supports hardware RAID, hardware RAID can be used to create VMware host datastores. | |
| 17 | Software RAID | If SoftNAS® is preferred to handle RAID, add VMDKs to the SoftNAS® VM and configure RAID in the SoftNAS® product. | |
| 18 | iSCSI SAN | SoftNAS® can mount and support all VMware-supported disk configurations, including iSCSI SAN via software or hardware HBA. | |
| 19 | Networking | ||
| 20 | Up to 120 MB/sec | 1 GbE | minimum |
| 21 | Up to 750 MB/sec | 10 GbE | Other VMware-supported networks, such as Infiniband, are also available. |
| 22 | HA Networking | Active/Active or Active/Passive vSwitch | Required setting for VMware vSphere to tolerate a NIC or switch failure. |
| 23 | Use of "full mesh" HA switch configurations are also recommended to prevent switch failures from interrupting storage access. | ||
| 24 | HA Host Failover | Ensure that, for each host operating with SoftNAS®, the Data Disks are accessible. Preferred method: dual-path disks or iSCSI or fiber-attached disks with VMware drivers. | |
Listed below is a table representing the capabilities of the SoftNAS® for VMware vSphere.
SoftNAS® Capacity | Configuration Note | |||
Editions | ||||
SoftNAS® Essentials | 1 TB | 20 TB | 50 TB | |
SoftNAS® Enterprise | 1 TB | 20 TB | 50 TB | |
SoftNAS® Platinum | 1 TB | 20 TB | 50 TB | See SoftNAS® Platinum for more information about specific requirements and capacities for Platinum features. |
Memory | ||||
RAM Cache | 1 GB to 100 GB | Defaults to 50% total RAM for read cache | ||
SSD Cache | low-speed level 2 cache | Optional | ||
Ephemeral Cache | low-speed level 2 cache | Optional for read cache | ||
Storage | ||||
Maximum Storage | 16 PB | Maximum usable storage capacity with SoftNAS®, contingent on license. | ||
Number of Storage Pools | Unlimited | |||
Number of Volumes | Unlimited | |||
Number of Snapshots | Unlimited | |||
Numberof Snapshot Clones | Unlimited | |||
SnapReplicate | Unlimited Pools & Volumes | |||
SnapReplicate Throttle | 56Kb/sec to Unlimited bandwidth | |||
Active Directory | Kerberos Integration | |||
Files and Directories | Unlimited | |||
Network | ||||
Schedules | Unlimited | |||
NFS Exports: | Linux Default | |||
iSCSI Targets | Linux Default | |||
CIFS Shares | Linux Default | |||
Firewall Ports: | 22 (ssh), 443 (https) | Plus NFS, iSCSI, and CIFS as required by network | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
IP Tables Firewall | Off by default | May be configured, but is not required. Use an alternative method to set Security Groups unless added firewall protection on a SoftNAS® instance is required. | ||