Nimble + VMware 6.5 Essential Plus licensing useful?

[UlrichThomas]

Hello,

I want to know which features can be used with Nimble and VMware 6.5 Essential Plus licensing. As figured out the API for Storage Awareness (VASA), for Array Integration (VAAI), Storagebased Profiles and Multipathing (MPIO) are not covered in the Essentails Plus Bundle. Are these APIs neccesary? 

Is it correct, the I have to use the Nimble GUI to do snapshots, cloning, creating datastores etc, if these APIs not availible?

Thanks, Ulrich

[SprinkleJames]

As far as I know, VMware has thus far done nothing in the product code to enforce the licensing restrictions on VASA, VAAI, and MPIO. So those features will technically work just fine with vSphere Essentials / Essentials Plus; just know that you're probably violating your VMware license agreement if you enable or use them. Note that VAAI would have to be manually disabled in the host settings in order for it not to be used, so that seems like a grey area to me.

You can still use the regular Nimble vCenter plugin for the vSphere Web Client to create and manage VMFS datastores, instead of the Nimble GUI. That plugin doesn't require any of those special features.