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PaulFleetwood
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Working with 5.5 and 6.5.... Sharing Datastores?

We currently have a 3 node 5.5 cluster using shared storage from a SAN

I am installing a new 2 node 6.5 cluster. This will be configured as a spearate cluster in VSphere as I need HA to be separate between the two (for licensing restrictions).

I'm unsure on the best way to configure storage. My three old nodes are in a Storage group on the SAN and can see all LUNs presented to vmware 5.5

Is is safe to put the 2 new nodes in the same Storage group on the SAN and share the same LUNs?

Or should I create a new storage group and new LUNs for the new nodes?

Are there any compatibility issues between Datastores in 5.5 and 6.5?

I will be migrating some VMs over from old to new - if I could do this 'live' using VMotion and Storage VMotion this would be a bonus, but not a requirement (I can move them out of hours powered down if necessary).

The simplest solution would be to add the new nodes into the existing storage group and share all the LUNs - but I can't risk any impact on the current live systems!

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

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SureshKumarMuth
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Hello Paul,

The compatibility is based on the VMFS version, as long as the VMFS version is VMFS5 , is supported by both ESXi 5.5 and 6.5 hosts.So you can add the new hosts to same host groups and make the LUN visible to the new hosts.

Take this common scenario, admin upgrading the existing 5.5 host to 6.5 using same shared datastores. This is more or less same but instead of upgrading the hosts, you are using new hosts.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Suresh

Regards,
Suresh
https://vconnectit.wordpress.com/

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SureshKumarMuth
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Hello Paul,

The compatibility is based on the VMFS version, as long as the VMFS version is VMFS5 , is supported by both ESXi 5.5 and 6.5 hosts.So you can add the new hosts to same host groups and make the LUN visible to the new hosts.

Take this common scenario, admin upgrading the existing 5.5 host to 6.5 using same shared datastores. This is more or less same but instead of upgrading the hosts, you are using new hosts.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Suresh

Regards,
Suresh
https://vconnectit.wordpress.com/
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PaulFleetwood
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Thanks for the reassurance - much appreciated.

We are using VMFS5, so I will proceed with connecting the new hosts to the existing LUNs and datastores.

Regards,

Paul

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