Implementing vSphere Metro Storage Cluster using HP LeftHand Multi-Site

Implementing vSphere Metro Storage Cluster using HP LeftHand Multi-Site

KB Article Implementing vSphere Metro Storage Cluster using HP LeftHand Multi-Site

HP LeftHand documentation page.

VMware vSphere 5 Editions for Enterprise

VMware vSphere 5 Enterprise

VMware vSphere Enterprise edition includes capabilities such as
1. High availability
2. Data recovery
3. VMware vSphere vMotion
4. Hot add
5. VMware vSphere vShield Zones
6 Fault tolerance
7. VMware vSphere Storage vMotion, 
8. VMware vShield DRS
9. VMware vSphere DPM
8 Virtual Serial Port Concentrator
9. VMware vSphere Storage APIs for array integration and multipathing.


VMware vSphere 5 Enterprise Plus
VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus includes all the capabilities
of vSphere Enterprise and following additional features

1. Expanded memory entitlement,
2. 32-way VMware vSphere Virtual SMP
3. VMware vSphere Distributed Switch
4. VMware Host Profiles
5. VMware vSphere Auto-Deploy
6. VMware vSphere Storage I/O Control
7. VMware vSphere Network I/O Control
8 VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage
9. VMwarevSphere Storage DRS.

VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V: Which is cheaper?

Here are the few good articles I found on comparing the Price over the features on Hyper-V and vSphere,  which one is better choice

1.  VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V: Which is cheaper?

2. Microsoft, VMware offer deep discounts to gain virtualization market share

3. VMware vs. Microsoft: Cloud management is the new battlefield 

4. Are Hyper-V savings worth the cost of a VMware rip and replace?

VMware vSphere Storage DRS Interoperability technical paper available

A new whitepaper has been published by Frank Denneman titled “VMware vSphere Storage DRS Interoperability”  If you are designing a vSphere 5.0 implementation using the Enterprise Plus license then pay close attention to the capabilities and supportability when introducing datastore clusters and storage DRS.

“This white paper presents an overview of best practices for customers considering the implementation of VMware vSphere Storage DRS in combination with advanced storage device features or other VMware products. This document zooms in on Storage DRS interoperability with array based features, such as Auto-Tiering, Thin provisioning, Depulication but also explains VMware products such as Snapshots.”

FEATURE/PRODUCT	INITIAL PLACEMENT	MIGRATION RECOMMENDATIONS
Array-Based Snapshots	Supported	Manual Mode
Array-Based Deduplication	Supported	Manual Mode
Array-Based Thin Provisioning	Supported	Manual Mode
Array-Based Auto-Tiering	Supported	Manual Mode (only space load balancing)
Array-Based Replication	Supported	Manual Mode
VMware vSphere Raw Disk Mapping	Supported	Fully Automated Mode
VMware vSphere Replication	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware vSphere Snapshots	Supported	Fully Automated Mode
VMware vSphere Thin-Provisioned Disks	Supported	Fully Automated Mode
VMware vSphere Linked Clones	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware vSphere Storage Metro Cluster	Supported	Manual Mode
VMware vSphere (pre-5.0) Hosts	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware® vCenter Site Recovery Manager	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware vCloud® Director	Not Supported	Not Supported