Re: MSA 1040/2040 iSCSI Direct Connect with VMware vSphere

Thanks . I don't know why 's VMTN link doesn't work. It appears to be the same URL.

I went ahead and replied there, and I'll repost part of my reply here:

I'd like to point out that other storage vendors do indeed support a direct-attached iSCSI configuration, e.g., Dell EMC Unity arrays. See their document Configuring Hosts to Access VMware Datastores. In Chapter 3, entitled Setting up a host to use Unity VMware VMFS iSCSI datastores, there's a note that says, "Directly attaching an ESX host to a Unity system is supported."

So, wouldn't it make sense for HPE to test this configuration and change their policy to support direct-attached iSCSI with MSA? That is, unless there actually is a technical reason not to do so.

 Consider these points:

• People report that they do successfully use this configuration with MSA
• VMware merely "omit the documented evidence" - they don't specifically prohibit it
• The storage vendor has the last word on supportability
• By not supporting it, HPE puts their storage solutions at a competitive disadvantage