vVols – Virtual Volumes – vVols is a VMware vSphere SAN/NAS management and integration framework that exposes virtual disks as native storage objects and enables array-based operations at the virtual disk level. vVols virtualizes SAN/NAS arrays, enabling a more efficient operational model optimized for virtualized environments and centered on the application instead of the infrastructure. vVols virtualizes SAN and NAS devices by abstracting physical hardware resources into logical pools of capacity (vVols datastores) that can be more flexibly consumed and configured to span a portion of, one or several storage arrays. A vVols datastore is a logical construct that can be configured on the fly, without disruption, and does not need to be formatted with a file system.
vVols defines a new virtual disk container (Virtual Volume) that is independent of the underlying physical storage representation. This virtual disk becomes the primary unit of data management, eliminating pre-allocated LUNs/Volumes. vVols enables storage operations with VM granularity, leveraging native array-based data services and software-based data services.
