5V0-22.23 VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Questions and Answers

The host rebuild reserve is a feature that allows vSAN to reserve space in the cluster for vSAN to be able to repair in case of a single host failure. This reservation is set to one host worth of capacity, which means that if one host in the vSAN cluster fails and no longer contributes storage, there is still sufficient capacity remaining in the cluster to rebuild and re-protect all vSAN objects. This feature prevents the creation of new VMs or powering on VMs if such operations consume the reserved space. By default, the host rebuild reserve is disabled, but it can be enabled in the vSAN Services configuration. The other options are not related to the hostrebuild reserve. References: vSAN Capacity Management in v7.0U1; Configure Reserved Capacity

Adding one more disk group per host with the same configuration and adding an ESXi host with identical device configuration are the two methods that the vSAN administrator should use to meet the goal of increasing capacity and performance with the least amount of impact. Adding one more disk group per host will increase the raw storage capacity by 20% and also improve the performance by distributing the I/O load across more cache devices and disk groups. Adding an ESXi host with identical device configuration will increase the raw storage capacity by 25% and also improve the performance by adding more compute and network resources to the cluster. Both methods can be done without disrupting any ongoing operations or requiring any data evacuation or resynchronization.

The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:

• Replacing all capacity devices with a similar larger device is incorrect because it will not increase the performance and will have a significant impact on the cluster. Replacing the capacity devices requires deleting the disk groups, which will erase all data on them and trigger a resynchronization of the affected objects. This can be disruptive and time-consuming, and also introduce additional network and disk traffic.
• Replacing all cache devices with a larger device is incorrect because it will not increase the capacity and will have a significant impact on the cluster. Replacing the cache devices also requires deleting the disk groups, which will have the same drawbacks as replacing the capacity devices. Moreover, increasing the cache size may not improve the performance significantly, as vSAN OSA uses afixed cache ratio of 70% for write buffer and 30% for read cache, regardless of the cache device size.
• Adding faster cache devices is incorrect because it will not increase the capacity and will have a significant impact on the cluster. Adding faster cache devices also requires deleting the disk groups, which will have the same drawbacks as replacing the cache devices. Furthermore, adding faster cache devices may not improve the performance significantly, as vSAN OSA uses a fixed cache ratio of 70% for write buffer and 30% for read cache, regardless of the cache device speed. References:
• VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 10
• Expanding a vSAN Cluster

Using vSAN ESA and the new Storage pool configuration where all disks contribute to capacity is the correct answer because it allows the organization to take advantage of the new features in vSAN 8.0, such as improved I/O flow, better resiliency, and more efficient disk usage. With vSAN ESA, there is no need to create disk groups or designate cache disks, as all disks are treated as capacity disks and use a new algorithm to distribute data across them. This also simplifies the disk management and reduces the overhead of cache management. References:

• VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 6
• What’s New in VMware vSAN 8.0

When a host in a vSAN stretched cluster goes offline, vSAN will use Adaptive Resync to recalculate the quorum on an object. Quorum is the minimum number of votes that an object needs to be available. For example, a RAID-1 object with two data components and one witness component needs two votes out of three to be available. If one data component goes offline, the object still has quorum and is available. However, if both data components go offline, the object loses quorum and is unavailable. Adaptive Resync will adjust the quorum requirement based on the availability of components and fault domains. For example, if one fault domain goes offline, Adaptive Resync will lower the quorum requirement to one vote out of two, so that the object can remain available with one data component and one witness component. References: VMware vSAN Specialist v2 EXAM 5V0-22.23, page 18

The VMware solution that requires vSAN usage is VMware Cloud Foundation. VMware Cloud Foundation is an integrated software stack that bundles compute virtualization (VMware vSphere), storage virtualization (VMware vSAN), network virtualization (VMware NSX), and cloud management and monitoring (VMware vRealize Suite) into a single platform that can be deployed on premises or as a service within a public cloud. VMware Cloud Foundation relies on vSAN as the primary storage solution for its workload domains, which are logical pools of resources that can be used to run different types of workloads. The other options are not correct. VMware Horizon, VMware Telco Cloud Automation, and VMware Aria Automation are VMware solutions that do not require vSAN usage, although they can benefit from it. VMware Horizon is a platform that delivers virtual desktops and applications across a variety of devices and locations, and it can use any supported storage solution, including vSAN. VMware Telco Cloud Automation is a cloud-native orchestration and automation platform that enables communication service providers to accelerate the deployment and lifecycle management of network functions and services across any network and cloud. It can use any supported storage solution, including vSAN. VMware Aria Automation is not a valid VMware solution name. References: VMware Cloud Foundation Overview; VMware Horizon Overview; VMware Telco Cloud Automation Overview

To create a Kerberos secured NFS v4.1 file share, the administrator needs to provide the following information during the configuration of the File Service:

• Active Directory Domain: The domain name of the Active Directory server that provides Kerberos authentication service for the NFS server and clients. For example, example.com.
• User Account: The user name of the Active Directory account that has permissions to join the NFS server to the domain and create service principal names (SPNs) for the NFS server. For example, administrator@example.com.
• Password: The password of the Active Directory account that is used for authentication. For example, P@ssw0rd.

These information are required to enable Kerberos security for NFS 4.1 and allow the NFS server to obtain a Kerberos ticket from the Active Directory server. The administrator also needs to specify the NFS share name, path, and access permissions1 References: 1: VMware vSphere Storage Guide, page 118

To enable vSAN ESA, two requirements that need to be met are: vSAN Standard license or higher, and vSAN ReadyNodes configuration. vSAN Standard license or higher is required to use vSAN ESA, as it is a feature that is only available in vSAN 8.0 or later versions. vSAN ESA is an optional, alternative architecture to vSAN OSA that is designed to process and store data with higher efficiency, scalability, and performance. vSAN ReadyNodes configuration is required to use vSAN ESA, as it is a hardware configuration that is pre-configured, tested, and certified for VMware Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Software. Each vSAN ReadyNode is optimally configured for vSAN ESA with the required amount of CPU, memory, network, and storage NVMe devices. The other options are not correct. vSAN Build Your Own configuration is not supported for vSAN ESA, as it might not meet the hardware requirements or compatibility for vSAN ESA. vSAN Witness Appliance is not required to use vSAN ESA, as it is only needed for stretched cluster or two-node cluster configurations. References: vSAN Express Storage Architecture; vSAN ReadyNode Hardware Guidance

The correct order to perform the update from vSAN version 7.0.2 to version 8.0 is to upgrade the vCenter Server first, then upgrade the ESXi hosts, and finally upgrade the vSAN on-disk format. This order follows the general vSphere upgrade order, which ensures compatibility and interoperability between different components. Upgrading the vCenter Server first allows it to manage and monitor the ESXi hosts and the vSAN cluster during the upgrade process. Upgrading the ESXi hosts second ensures that they have the latest software patches and drivers for vSAN. Upgrading the vSAN on-disk format last enables the new features and functionality of vSAN 8.0. The other options are not correct, as they do not follow the recommended upgrade order.

To upgrade the complete vSAN cluster as a single task, including firmware and drivers for its hardware, the vSAN administrator should select Remediate All through vLCM to upgrade all hosts in the cluster. This option allows the administrator to apply the image created by vLCM to all hosts in the cluster in a single operation, without having to manually remediate each host individually. The other options are not correct, as they do not perform the upgrade of the vSAN cluster as a single task. Placing all hosts in the vSAN cluster into Maintenance Mode is not necessary, as vLCM will automatically place each host into Maintenance Mode before applying the image. Staging the upgrade of the vSAN cluster through vLCM is only a preparatory step that downloads the image components to each host, but does not apply them. Manually remediating one host at a time in the vSAN cluster is not efficient, as it requires more user intervention and time. References: vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) on HPE; Lifecycle Management with vLCM in vSAN 7 Update 1

To ensure that a single rack failure is not going to affect the data availability, while minimizing the number of racks used, the administrator has to do the following:

• Distribute servers across at least three different racks. This is because vSAN supports up to three fault domains per cluster, which can be used to tolerate one or two failures. If only two racks are used, then only one failure can be tolerated4
• Configure three fault domains. A fault domain is a logical grouping of hosts that share a common failure point, such as a rack or a power supply. By configuring fault domains, vSAN can place replicas of an object across different fault domains, so that a failure within one fault domain does not result in data loss orunavailability4 References: 4: VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 13

The minimum required number of hosts to provide data redundancy for a vSAN stretched cluster using dual-site mirroring and local protection with 1 failure - RAID-1 (Mirroring) is six hosts. This is because a vSAN stretched cluster requires at least three hosts per site, and each site must have enough hosts to tolerate one host failure. Therefore, the minimum configuration is three hosts per site, plus one witness host at a third site, for a total of six hosts. References: [VMware vSAN Specialist v2 EXAM 5V0-22.23], page 14

To build a vSAN ESA cluster with RAID-5/FTT 1 adaptive storage policy, the absolute minimum number of hosts that need to be part of that vSAN ESA cluster is 3. This is because the vSAN ESA supports a new RAID-5 erasure coding scheme in a 2+1 configuration, which writes the data in a VM as a stripe consisting of 2 data bits and 1 parity bit, across a minimum of 3 hosts. This scheme can tolerate a single host failure (FTT=1) while consuming 1.5x the capacity of the primary data. This scheme is suitable for smaller vSAN clusters that want to reduce capacity usage without compromising performance12 References: 1: VMware vSAN Specialist v2 ExamPreparation Guide, page 15 2: Adaptive RAID-5 Erasure Coding with the Express Storage Architecture in vSAN 8 3

In a vSAN stretched cluster configuration, both data sites are active sites, but one site must be designated as the preferred site and the other site as the secondary or nonpreferred site. This configuration helps to ensure that data remains on a given site in case of a network partition between the sites. If the network connection between the two active sites is lost, vSAN continues operation with the preferred site, unless it is resyncing or has another issue. The site that leads to maximum data availability is the one that remains in operation. The other options are not relevant to this scenario. References: Introduction to Stretched Clusters; vSAN Stretched Cluster Guide

The correct answer is A, the disk group must be deleted on each physical host in the vSAN OSA cluster to use the NVMe device. This is because vSAN OSA uses a disk group configuration where one disk is designated as a cache disk and the rest are capacity disks. To replace the cache disk with a different type or size, the disk group must be deleted first, which will erase all data on the disks and trigger a resynchronization of the affected objects. The administrator should put the host in maintenance mode and choose the option to evacuate all data before deleting the disk group. After replacing the cache disk with the NVMe device, the administrator should recreate the disk group and exit maintenance mode. The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:

• B, the disk group does not need to be removed before adding new cache, is incorrect because adding a new cache disk to an existing disk group is not supported in vSAN OSA. The cache disk can only be replaced by deleting and recreating the disk group.
• C, the host must be removed from vSAN OSA cluster before changing cache devices, is incorrect because removing the host from the cluster is not necessary and will cause more disruption and data loss than putting the host in maintenance mode. Removing the host will also delete its disk groups and require re-adding them after rejoining the cluster.
• D, the cache disk drives must have a larger capacity, is incorrect because there is no requirement for the cache disk to have a larger capacity than the existing one. The cache disk size should be determined by the workload characteristics and performance requirements, not by the expansion process. References:
• VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 10

The updated policy is serially applied to the virtual machines is the correct answer because changing the rule in the assigned policy will trigger a policy compliance check and a resynchronization of the affected objects. The policy change will not be rejected, queued, or ignored, as it is a valid and supported operation. However, the policy change will not be applied in parallel, as that would cause too much network and disk traffic. Instead, the policy change will be applied one virtual machine at a time, starting with the most critical ones, until all virtual machines are compliant with the new policy. References:

• VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide, page 9

The purpose of using the Operations Reserve option in the vSAN ReadyNode Sizer is to provide space for internal operations such as deduplication, compression, encryption, snapshots, clones, and rebalancing. The Operations Reserve is calculated as a percentage of the total usable capacity of the vSAN cluster. The default value is 30%, but it can be adjusted based on the expected workload characteristics and data services requirements. The other options are not correct, as they do not describe the Operations Reserve option. Configuring space for external operations, reserving space for tolerating failures, and allocating space for vSAN upgrades are not part of the Operations Reserve option. References: 2, section 2; , section 3

Deploying the application on a new cluster with vSAN 8.0 ESA using a new hardware design is the correct answer because it will satisfy the customer’s requirement for low latency. vSAN 8.0 ESA is a new architecture that uses a storage pool configuration where all disks are treated as capacity disks and use a new algorithm to distribute data across them. This improves the I/O flow, reduces the write amplification, and eliminates the cache tier bottleneck. Using a new hardware design with all-flash disks or NVMe disks will further enhance the performance and latency of the application, as these disks have faster read and write speeds than hybrid disks. Deploying the new applications on the existing cluster with a RAID-6 VM storage policy and an additionalstripe width of 4, deploying the application on a new cluster with vSAN 8.0 OSA using the existing hybrid configuration, and performing an in-place upgrade from vSAN 7.0 U2 OSA to vSAN 8.0 ESA are not valid or optimal solutions for this scenario. Deploying the new applications on the existing cluster with a RAID-6 VM storage policy and an additional stripe width of 4 will increase the resiliency and availability of the data, but it will also increase the network traffic, disk space consumption, and parity calculation overhead, which will negatively affect the latency and performance of the application. Deploying the application on a new cluster with vSAN 8.0 OSA using the existing hybrid configuration will not improve the latency significantly, as vSAN 8.0 OSA still uses the same disk group configuration as vSAN 7.0 U2 OSA, where one disk is designated as a cache disk and the rest are capacity disks. The cache disk can still become a bottleneck for high-performance applications, especially if it is not an SSD or NVMe disk. Performing an in-place upgrade from vSAN 7.0 U2 OSA to vSAN 8.0 ESA is not possible, as vSAN ESA requires a different hardware design than vSAN OSA. The existing disk groups need to be deleted and all disks need to be erased before switching to vSAN ESA. References:

• [VMware vSAN Specialist v2 Exam Preparation Guide], page 6
• What’s New in VMware vSAN 8.0