Datastores shared between clusters?

[dzak64]

I currently have two clusters, the original 6 node cluster (E6540 processors) with 15 - 2TB datastores and a new 3 node cluster (E5-2670v3 processors).

I attached the same 15 - 2TB datastores to the new cluster and migrated some of the load to the new cluster.

Should there be an issue with sharing the datastores between the clusters?

All hosts are running ESXi 5.5 U2 build 2718055?

[Madmax01 · Accepted solution]

Hello theire,

i have same config with several Clusters as i create Clusters per CPU Architecture. Westmere,ivy,Sandy,Haswell.  i don't use EVC.

Hm wouldn't sense now an Kind of Problem. 1 Point is that theire is additional Heartbeat through storage per Cluster. But on other Side theire is more less overhead for HA Master/Slave per Cluster .

For overally optimize, maybe have a look if you have latest Supported Firmware on Storage Boxes. CHeck if theire is support for Alua/RR and that you use ATS/SCSI Reservation  instead of nativ SCSI Reseration. If you fully have ATS Support, you could upgrade to have ATS-Only nativ .

Best regards

Max

[Jimmy15]

No challenge to share datastores between clusters , No EVC constraint , Host hardware , scsi reservation etc.
I am using it upto some extend in production environment with multiple hosts. cross VCs is also possible (tested in lab).

Regards

Pankaj

[dzak64]

I have shared datastores between clusters and didn't have any apparent issues in the past, but I wasn't sure if it was best practice.

Thanks for the replies.