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 Can Vmware vSAN stretched cluster support different memory and storage size in each nodes?

funyjoker's profile image
funyjoker posted Apr 26, 2025 06:32 AM

Dear all,

Good day.

Can Vmware vSAN stretched cluster support different memory and storage size in each nodes?

Current Setup:

  1. 8x nodes vSAN stretched cluster.
  2. Site A - 4 nodes, and Site B 4 nodes.
  3. Witness at another building.
  4. Each physical hosts having 1x 480GB ssd as cache, and 2x 3.84TB ssd as capacity.
  5. Each nodes having 256GB memory.

Question: Can we add another 2x nodes for each Site A and Site B, with lesser memory 128GB each node, and bigger disk with 4x 3.84TB?

Thanks!

TheBobkin's profile image
TheBobkin

@funyjoker, while non-homogenous node configurations are supported, they are not advisable and you need to fully understand the implications of configuring you cluster in a manner that is not recommended.

The memory part is fairly trivial - it just means you won't be able to run as many VMs or less VMs with higher memory requirements on those nodes. That may also have implications for HA and you might not be able to restart all VMs in some situations if the remaining nodes don't have sufficient memory.

The storage aspect is IMO worse - those new nodes will be pushing 2x the throughout compared to original nodes and that could have implications for other aspects such as NIC(s)/switchports becoming a bottleneck on those nodes. It would also have impacts for repairs from failures and data evacuation - you would be far better off just adding 1x 4TB disk to all nodes so they all have 3x.