Stretched vSAN deployments can give the witness its own VMkernel adapter for its traffic. That spares the witness host a second interface and removes any need to route between the data network and the witness site.
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In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains witness traffic separation in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- vSAN
VMware's software-defined storage, which combines local devices across a cluster's ESX hosts into one shared datastore. Available as OSA or ESA, VCF can use it as principal storage.
- Witness
Nutanix's preferred way of handling metro failures. Decisions are automatic, split brain is avoided, and a lost site is distinguished from a broken network link.
- VMkernel adapter
An ESX host's own virtual network interface, named vmk0, vmk1 and so forth. It handles host services like management, vMotion, vSAN and IP storage, as opposed to traffic from VMs.
- vSAN witness
Fulfils the witness role in stretched and two-node vSAN clusters, as either a host or an appliance. No extra licence or subscription is needed, but unrelated workloads must not run on it.
- LSDOU
The sequence in which Group Policy is processed: the local policy first, followed by site, domain and organisational unit policies. The nearest, last-processed setting takes effect unless Enforced or Block Inheritance alters that.