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VMware vSAN 8 Hardware Requirements and Compatibility: Best Dell, HPE, and Lenovo Servers

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  • 6 hours ago
  • 5 min read

Modern vSAN clusters demand the latest server platforms to maximize throughput and reliability. 15th Gen Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant Gen11, and Lenovo ThinkSystem V3 servers stand out with strong hardware – DDR5 memory, PCIe Gen5 I/O, blazing NVMe SSDs, and 25–100Gb networking – all pre-certified as vSAN-ready.


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These features translate to huge gains in VM storage performance and cluster resilience.


VMware vSAN 8 hardware compatibility chart showing recommended Dell PowerEdge 15th Gen, HPE ProLiant Gen11, and Lenovo ThinkSystem V3 servers with support for DDR5 memory, PCIe Gen5 I/O, NVMe SSDs, and 25–100Gb Ethernet networking, all certified as vSAN Ready Nodes and available from server-parts.eu for enterprise data centers, SMBs, edge deployments, and lab environments.

Note: VMware is now owned by Broadcom (as of late 2023), and while core products like vSAN and vSphere remain, Broadcom has shifted to subscription-based licensing and is focusing more on large enterprise customers.


✅ VMware vSAN 8 Hardware Requirements and Compatibility Matrix + Recommended Servers


Component

Minimum Requirement

Recommended for ESA

Dell PowerEdge

HPE ProLiant

Lenovo ThinkSystem

CPU

Intel Xeon Scalable (3rd Gen or newer)

4th or 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable

Xeon 5th Gen (R650, R750)

Xeon 4th/5th Gen (DL380 G11)

Xeon 4th/5th Gen (SR650 V3)

Memory (RAM)

Min 512 GB per host for ESA

1–2 TB DDR5 per host optimal

Up to 8 TB DDR5

Up to 8 TB DDR5

Up to 8 TB DDR5

Storage Type

SAS/SATA SSDs (OSA)

NVMe SSDs only (ESA)

PCIe 5.0 NVMe supported

EDSFF/U.2 NVMe supported

PCIe 5.0 NVMe (36x)

Storage Devices

1x Cache + 1x Capacity per Disk Group

All devices must be NVMe (no disk groups in ESA)

Up to 24x NVMe

Up to 20x EDSFF NVMe

Up to 36x NVMe

PCIe Version

PCIe Gen3 (min), Gen4 (common)

PCIe Gen5 (essential for performance scaling)

PCIe Gen5

PCIe Gen5

PCIe Gen5

Network Speed

Min 25GbE

25–100GbE recommended (RDMA or offloads preferred)

Up to 100GbE (Intel E810)

25/100GbE (OCP 3.0 NICs)

100/200GbE (BlueField/Mellanox)

vSAN Ready Node

Required

ESA requires certified vSAN Ready Node

Yes

Yes

Yes

Form Factor

1U or 2U rackmount

2U preferred for NVMe capacity & airflow

R650 (1U), R750 (2U)

DL360 (1U), DL380 (2U)

SR630 (1U), SR650 (2U)

vSphere/vSAN Ver.

vSphere 8.0+, vSAN 8.0+

vSAN 8.0 U1+ for ESA

Compatible

Compatible

Compatible


💡 Notes:

  • ESA = Express Storage Architecture (requires all-NVMe, no disk groups)

  • OSA = Original Storage Architecture (supports hybrid setups)

  • Only vSAN Ready Nodes from VMware's HCL are supported for production deployments

  • DDR5 and PCIe Gen5 are strongly recommended for ESA, optional for OSA



Hardware Requirements and Compatibility for VMware vSAN 8 Performance Gains


Upgrading from older servers to new Xeon CPUs with vSAN 8 (Express Storage) can boost IOPS by an order of magnitude while slashing latency. Key hardware highlights include:


🧠 DDR5 Memory

  • Higher capacity (often 4–8 TB per node)

  • Faster speeds (4.8–5.6 GHz) let vSAN cache more data in RAM and handle more VMs

  • ECC DDR5 improves data integrity



⚡ PCIe Gen5 I/O

  • Doubles bandwidth per slot over PCIe4

  • Supports dozens of NVMe drives and 100Gb NICs without bottlenecks

  • Up to 128 NVMe lanes on Xeon 5th-gen CPUs

  • Easily supports all-flash configurations or mixed SAS/NVMe pools



💾 NVMe SSDs

  • All servers support multi-TB NVMe drives

  • NVMe delivers much higher IOPS and lower latency than SAS/SATA

  • Ideal for vSAN’s flash-intensive tiers

  • PCIe 5.0 NVMe drives support Express Storage Architecture

  • Helps reduce write amplification and further cut latency



🌐 100Gb+ Networking

  • Built-in support for Intel E810 100Gb, Mellanox ConnectX/BlueField 200Gb, etc.

  • Enables fast vSAN replication between hosts

  • 25/50/100 GbE or Infiniband links reduce rebuild/rebalance times

  • Intel offloads (iSCSI/NVMe-oF) and Mellanox RDMA minimize CPU load on network I/O



VMware vSAN Hardware Requirements and Compatibility: Recommended Dell, HPE, and Lenovo Servers


💻 Dell PowerEdge (15th Gen) Servers

  • Models like the R750 (2U) and R650 (1U) are certified as vSAN Ready Nodes

  • Support dual Xeon 5th-gen CPUs (up to 64 cores total)

  • Up to ~8 TB DDR5 and up to 24 x 2.5″ NVMe drives without oversubscription

  • Integrated iDRAC management and vCenter plugin (OpenManage for VMware) simplify deployment and lifecycle updates

  • Ships many factory-tested vSAN configurations (all-flash, hybrid, NVMe-only, etc.)

  • Expandable NIC options (OCP or PCIe slots) for 25–100Gb Ethernet or fiber

  • Ideal for large enterprise clusters

  • Smaller 1U PowerEdge (e.g. R650) suitable for SMB or remote-edge setups

  • Refurbished 14th-gen PowerEdge (R740, R640, etc.) usable in non-production labs (limited to DDR4/PCIe4)



🖥 HPE ProLiant (Gen11) Servers

  • Models include DL360/DL380 Gen11 (2U) and ML350/ML110 towers (2U rackable or 5U tower)

  • Support 4th/5th-gen Xeon, DDR5, and PCIe5

  • DL380 Gen11 can include 64 cores, 8 TB DDR5, and up to 20 EDSFF NVMe drives in a 2U chassis

  • OCP 3 slots allow dual-port 25/100Gb NICs (Intel, Mellanox, or Broadcom)

  • HPE iLO management and silicon root-of-trust for high availability

  • HPE offers vSAN-ready configurations aligned with vSphere HCL guidelines

  • Includes features like persistent memory for cache tiers if needed

  • Smaller models (ML110, MicroServer Gen11) are budget-friendly for SMBs and branches

  • Older Gen10 servers (DL380 Gen10 with DDR4/PCIe4) are still widely used in labs



💾 Lenovo ThinkSystem (V3)

  • Includes SR650/SR630 and ThinkAgile VX V3, using Intel Xeon 4th/5th-gen platforms

  • SR650 V3 (2U) supports up to 36 NVMe drives (PCIe5, 1:1 lane mapping), 8 TB DDR5, and 128 PCIe lanes for NICs/GPUs

  • Delivers massive I/O performance, ideal for vSAN ESA all-flash configurations

  • OCP NIC slots, with support for Nvidia BlueField DPUs and Mellanox cards

  • XClarity management integrates with vCenter for firmware upgrades

  • SR630 V3 (1U) offers a dense option (up to 8–16 NVMe) for edge deployments

  • Lenovo offers turnkey vSAN nodes (ThinkAgile VX) for fast validation

  • Cost-sensitive options: Gen2 models (e.g. SR650 Gen2 with DDR4/PCIe4) suitable for labs or small clusters



🚀 VMware vSAN Hardware Requirements and Compatibility: Deployment Scenarios


🏢 Enterprise Datacenters

  • Use dual-socket racks (Dell R750xs, HPE DL380 Gen11, Lenovo SR650 V3) with full feature sets – dozens of NVMe, multi-terabyte DDR5, and 100Gb NICs – for large vSAN clusters. These handle heavy VM and storage I/O with headroom for growth.


🏠 SMBs and ROBO

  • Smaller configs (single-socket or entry models) like Dell R650/R550, HPE ML350 or DL360, Lenovo SR630, each with 4–8 NVMe drives, DDR5 (128–512 GB), and 25–50Gb NICs, offer a sweet spot of performance and cost. They can run vSAN for ~3–5 hosts in offices or remote sites.



🌐 Edge/Branch

  • Compact 1U or tower servers with SSD/NVMe storage (fewer drives but still PCIe5) are great on the edge. For example, an HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 or Lenovo ThinkSystem SE350 (rugged) can deliver vSAN storage with minimal latency at local sites.



🧪 Lab/Dev (Refurbished)

  • For proof-of-concept or testing, consider refurbished 13–14th Gen servers – e.g. Dell R740xd, HPE DL380 Gen10, Lenovo Gen2 – which support DDR4 and PCIe4. They lack the peak performance of new gear, but still run vSAN or Ceph clusters for training and validation at low cost.



Dell, HPE and Lenovo Servers: Save Up To 80%

✔️ No Upfront Payment Required - Test First, Pay Later!


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