Users Guide

Overview

VMware vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) is a set of application program interfaces (APIs) that

support Dell PowerVault MD Series iSCSI and Fibre Channel storage arrays. VASA enables vSphere

vCenter to recognize MD storage array features and corresponding datastores, which allows storage

administrators to easily set virtualization and maintenance policies.

Using the VASA provider on an MD storage array enables a vCenter-based storage administrator to:

• Review information about MD-attached expansion storage

• Discover and characterize an attached datastore’s static capabilities, which helps in selecting the

appropriate storage disk for virtual machine (VM) placement

• Receive alert and event notifications from the MD storage arrays

The following figure shows the high-level VASA provider architecture and how it integrates with the

vCenter management environment.

Figure 1. VASA Provider in a vCenter Storage Management Architecture