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Stan JFlag for United States of America

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Does vSAN come free with VMware vSphere

Looking into VMware vSAN

Does vSAN come free with vSphere Standard or Enterprise PLus?

Any VMware docs point this out?

thanks
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
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No, it's a seperate license for vSAN per CPU socket.

You can evaluate for free for 30 days.

see the licensing guide

https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/vsan/vmware-vsan-66-licensing-guide.pdf
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

ok,,,

I checked one of our systems and in vCenter under
   /Administration/Licensing
         Under /Licenses    / Products , I see
VMware vSAN Evaluation Mode (CPUs)  and under Expiration  it list  "Never"

Is this an an eval since it never expires?
Correct, You can try and evaluate vSAN for FREE, vSAN is built into the ESXi Hypervisor, no additional software to install.

It's full enabled by a license key which when evaluation mode ends, turns to expired.
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ASKER

How do i now when evaluation mode of vSAN is going to expire if it shows  Expiration as "never" and has no "days remaining"
It states it on the Warning Pages of vCenter Server.

It counts down.

If you've enabled it.
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ASKER

Is there a place you enable the countdown in vCenter so it appears....i do not currently see a count down
It displays it on the top bar in the Summary, unless you click the dismiss to remove it.

is vSAN curretly enabled ?

You can see here in my article, where it's enabled and turned on, you also need to build a vSAN storage network, and VMKernel portgroup.

do you meet the requirements to enable vSAN ?
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ASKER

i logged in and do not see anything in the Summary about a countdown (see attached)
yes--vSAN is enabled

I will check the article out, but i did not set up this vSAN.  Someone else set it up
I did see message in the logs that a migration from the NAS to the vSAN took almost 12 hrs..
vsan-storage.pdf
If you have enabled vSAN and are using vSAN and have not purchase licenses.....

That is a vSAN datastore.

Are you using vSAN for VM storage, if the evaluation/trial license has expired you'll not be able to manage it,
 or turn on VMs, which are on vSAN, or create new VMs on vSAN.

You can confirm if you have licenses for vSAN in your VMware MyVMware panel.
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

i did not enable it.
I think the other person may have

I see this in the VC under the license info ---->  VMware vSAN Evaluation Mode (CPUs)

There are VMs running on the vSAN Data tore, so it must not have expired (but i don't see any count down to expiration?)

We don' t have a paid for vSAN license as I confirm only vSphere Std and vCenter that we purchased.
The VMs will still run on the expired vSAN but you will not be able to add any more!

Check it! Create a new VM on the vSAN datastore and see if you have any issues.

The other person would have dismissed the notice!

Anyway vSAN is not FREE
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

ok,,i will have to try that test later today or tomorrow..

Are you saying i should not be able to add a  VM to vSAN if the key is expired?
Are you saying i should not be able to add a  VM to vSAN if the key is expired?


Correct, and Power on a VM. (just do not power off existing VMs on vSAN!)

Because your trial has expired, requiring a license.
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ASKER

ok,,will let you know what happens
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

I was able to create a VM on the vSAN Datastore and load an OS .

I am not sure the eval expired...is there any other place to check for the evaluation period and expiration
Check your licenses, which I assume you did to start with.

But if you've never purchase vSAN Licenses, which are required per CPU, which are listed in your MyVMware Portal - your are not licenses for them.

and vSAN is not free.

You may want to confirm or not confirm with VMware! (if you are actively using vSAN) and do not want to pay for licenses!
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

License portal only shows vSphere Std and vCenter STD

I may need to open an ST to track where to see the expiration
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

6 CPUs
Okay, so currently you are licensed for 6 CPU.

which is odd, if you've not added a vSAN license.... and it's still working.

Has it been more than 60 days, you've been at the company and vSAN is in use ?

You may find if you have an evaluation license which has expired, it's just you will not be able to expand, replace disks, enable or disable dedupe and encryption!) - if you are happy with that fine!
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

Something strange is going on...

If i go to vCenter, click on the Cluster name and right click on "Assign License"
That key shows in the Assignment Validation box.. as
   The license assignment is valid.
This is where i would expect to see something like "The license expires in xx days" if it were an eval!

If I add the key to the VMware License Tool tracker at the VMware support site, and click on "Track", i get back,,,,

The following licenses are invalid.
Please verify that the numbers have been entered correctly and try again
I think it's safe to assume, if you've not purchased vSAN licenses for 6 CPUs - you do not have a license, and if you cannot confirm that with a VMware Purchase Order, does not exist in MyVMware.

and if you are relying on production vSAN, and have purchased hardware and are using it, you are at risk.

Also interesting because if you have no license recorded with VMware, there is no support for it a well.

You need to check, if you want a Invoice landing on your door mat for $15,000 (approx)

There are some licenses keys which are floating around the net.....

A difficult situation you need to explain to Management.
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ASKER

Indeed,,,,,i can't find the key and did ask our local VMware Reps and they could not find the key registered in their License DBs...

I wonder if this is some kind of key from VMware Europe, Asia, or the a black market

If someone knows a person using VMware in say Germany, and ask them to borrow a valid key,,,,would it show up in the US License tracker?
Avatar of Stan J

ASKER

that what i would think,,,

vmware support said it is possibly an eval key,,

but that does not match what i saw when checking it vCenter...and it showes as,,,.,.
   The license assignment is valid.

in any case,  i need to figure out something to explain to the Grpup Mgt in that Dept.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
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Avatar of Stan J

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agreed...i will post an update if i find any  further info...