Running VCenter on a vvol

[Osm3um]

I was thinking of placing my vcenter appliance (VCSA 6.7) on a vvol.  Typically this would be unwise, but I can browse a vvol from a server directly and I can restore the VM from the nimble GUI.

My gut says to keep it on a vmfs volume.

Am I missing something,

Bob

[JRich]

Stick with your gut - VMFS all the way for vCenter.  Take the scenario of a hard power outage at your datacenter that shuts down your entire infrastructure ... servers powered off, no vCenter, etc.  Without vCenter, the servers have no idea how to connect to VASA on power-up.  Your only potential would be to restore vCenter from backup to a VMFS volume.  

Save yourself the headache and DR nightmare - create a simple iSCSI volume on your SAN (like you would for ISOs, templates, etc.) and keep vCenter there.  Best bang for your buck.  Just my $0.02.

[SprinkleJames]

Theoretically your ESXi hosts would be able to reconnect to existing vVols on their own in case of a power outage - you just wouldn't be able to manage them without vCenter.

However, I agree with @JRich and always recommend putting vCenter on a VMFS datastore. And, backup vCenter frequently via the appliance's built-in backup function.

It might be a good idea to put a domain controller / DNS server on VMFS as well, especially if you don't have one outside your virtualized environment.

[JRich]

@SprinkleJames I completely agree with you - theoretically...  Unfortunately, I've made that mistake and then did a complete shutdown of our infrastructure for maintenance - Mr. Murphy came to visit.  No VVols were available on any of the hosts without vCenter being online first.  

A DC resident on VMFS is smart too - always a CYA.  Of course, your infrastructure, management and change control will vary.