VMware Certified Professional - Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV) Practice Exam

If a hard disk in a cluster node fails, what is the impact on data availability in a Virtual SAN?

1. Data availability will be affected.

2. Data availability will remain unaffected.

3. The cluster will automatically recreate the hard disk.

4. All virtual machines using that hard disk will fail.

The correct answer is: Data availability will remain unaffected.

In a Virtual SAN (vSAN) environment, data availability is designed to remain unaffected by the failure of a single hard disk due to the fault tolerance and redundancy provided by vSAN. vSAN utilizes a distributed architecture where data is spread across multiple disks within a cluster, leveraging storage policies that define how many copies of data are maintained and where they reside. When a hard disk fails, vSAN can still access the data through the remaining disks since it maintains redundancy through mechanisms such as mirroring or Erasure Coding, depending on the configuration in place. This means that even if one hard disk fails, the data can still be accessed, ensuring continuous availability. Additionally, vSAN is capable of automatically healing itself by recreating components of data on the healthy disks, ensuring that the desired level of redundancy is achieved over time, but the immediate impact on data availability is minimal, allowing virtual machines to continue operating normally. This architecture is crucial for maintaining uptime and reliability in data center environments where high availability is paramount.