<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
<br />
<br />
Background - I have a VMware 3.5 infrastrure for server enviroment on HP Lefthand SAN. The only thing not on the VM infrastrure is my NAS server (Standalone) mainly used for CIFS. &nbsp;Hardware in EOL and needs to be replaced but would like to incorporate it with LH SAN device. Can i create a Windows 2003 Storage VM and utilize the SAN storage. My HP rep is suggesting to purchase a NAS gateway system that connects to the San. Do I need to purchase a NAS device that point to San or can I create a VM server (Windows 2003 Storage) that point to San for file sharing? 
</div>
</div>




Background - I have a VMware 3.5 infrastrure for server enviroment on HP Lefthand SAN. The only thing not on the VM infrastrure is my NAS server (Standalone) mainly used for CIFS.  Hardware in EOL and needs to be replaced but would like to incorporate it with LH SAN device. Can i create a Windows 2003 Storage VM and utilize the SAN storage. My HP rep is suggesting to purchase a NAS gateway system that connects to the San. Do I need to purchase a NAS device that point to San or can I create a VM server (Windows 2003 Storage) that point to San for file sharing? 

NAS Storage for VMware Infrastrure

Virtualization is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, including (but not limited to) a virtual computer hardware platform, operating system (OS), storage device, or computer network resources. Virtualization is usually the creation of a system that executes separate from the underlying hardware resources, or the creation of an entire desktop for systems located elsewhere, similar to thin clients.

Virtualization

VMware, a software company founded in 1998,  was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies.

VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture.  Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.

VMware

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media used to retain digital data. In addition to local storage devices like CD and DVD readers, hard drives and flash drives, solid state drives can hold enormous amounts of data in a very small device. Cloud services and other new forms of remote storage also add to the capacity of devices and their ability to access more data without building additional data storage into a device.