ESXi Datastore Best Practices

Overview

This guide covers best practices for naming and managing ESXi datastores in a homelab environment, particularly for VCF deployments.

Datastore Naming Conventions

Why Not Use “datastore1”?

The default “datastore1” name:

• Provides no context about the storage
• Creates confusion in multi-host environments
• Makes troubleshooting difficult
• Doesn’t indicate storage type or purpose

Recommended Naming Patterns

Local Datastores

<hostname>-<storage-type>-<purpose>

Examples:
esxi-nuc-01-ssd-local
esxi-ms-a2-01-nvme-boot
esxi-ms-a2-02-nvme-vsan

Shared Datastores (iSCSI/NFS)

<storage-system>-<protocol>-<purpose>

Examples:
synology-iscsi-vcf-content
synology-nfs-iso-library
freenas-iscsi-vm-storage

vSAN Datastores

vsan-<cluster-name>

Examples:
vsan-mgmt-cluster
vsan-workload-cluster

Storage Configuration by Host Type

Intel NUCs

Local Storage:
  - Name: esxi-nuc-XX-ssd-local
  - Size: 250GB NVMe
  - Purpose: ESXi boot, local VMs
  
Shared Storage:
  - Name: synology-iscsi-nuc-shared
  - Size: 4TB (RAID0)
  - Purpose: VM storage

MS-A2 Hosts

Boot Drive:
  - Name: esxi-ms-a2-XX-nvme-boot
  - Size: 500GB
  - Purpose: ESXi installation
  
vSAN Capacity:
  - Name: (Managed by vSAN)
  - Size: 4TB+ NVMe
  - Purpose: vSAN datastore

Datastore Discovery in Scripts

Dynamic Datastore Discovery

Instead of hardcoding datastore paths, scripts should discover available datastores:

# List all datastores
esxcli storage filesystem list

# Get first available datastore (excluding VFFS)
DATASTORE=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep -E "VMFS|NFS" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')

# Get largest datastore
DATASTORE=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep -E "VMFS|NFS" | sort -k3 -nr | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')

# Get datastore by name pattern
DATASTORE=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep "local" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')

Safe Datastore Selection

# Function to select appropriate datastore
select_datastore() {
    # Try to find local datastore first
    local datastore=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep -i "local" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
    
    # If no local datastore, get any VMFS datastore
    if [ -z "$datastore" ]; then
        datastore=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep "VMFS" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
    fi
    
    # If still nothing, get first available
    if [ -z "$datastore" ]; then
        datastore=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep -v "VFFS" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
    fi
    
    echo "$datastore"
}

Renaming Datastores

Via ESXi Command Line

# Get current datastore info
vim-cmd hostsvc/datastore/listsummary

# Rename datastore (example)
vim-cmd hostsvc/datastore/rename datastore1 "esxi-nuc-01-ssd-local"

Via vCenter/vSphere Client

1. Navigate to Storage view
2. Right-click datastore
3. Select “Rename”
4. Enter new descriptive name

Via PowerCLI

# Connect to vCenter/ESXi
Connect-VIServer -Server vcenter.lab.local

# Rename datastore
Get-Datastore -Name "datastore1" | Set-Datastore -Name "esxi-nuc-01-ssd-local"

VCF Specific Considerations

Management Domain Datastores

VCF expects specific datastore configurations:

1. vSAN Datastore (Preferred)
   • Automatically created during VCF deployment
   • Named by VCF (e.g., “vsanDatastore”)
   • Do not rename VCF-managed datastores
2. Local Datastores
   • Used for ESXi boot only
   • Can be renamed before VCF deployment
   • Not used for VCF workloads

Workload Domain Datastores

• Follow organizational naming standards
• Include workload type in name
• Examples:
  • vsan-prod-workload
  • vsan-dev-cluster
  • iscsi-tanzu-storage

Script Improvements

Original (Problematic)

BACKUP_DIR="/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/host-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

Improved (Dynamic)

# Discover available datastore
DATASTORE=$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep VMFS | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
if [ -z "$DATASTORE" ]; then
    echo "Error: No VMFS datastore found"
    exit 1
fi

BACKUP_DIR="${DATASTORE}/host-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

Best Practice (Parameterized)

# Allow user to specify datastore
DATASTORE="${1:-$(esxcli storage filesystem list | grep VMFS | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')}"
if [ -z "$DATASTORE" ]; then
    echo "Error: No datastore specified or found"
    echo "Usage: $0 [datastore-path]"
    exit 1
fi

BACKUP_DIR="${DATASTORE}/host-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

Monitoring and Maintenance

Regular Tasks

1. Monitor Datastore Usage

   esxcli storage filesystem list
   df -h
   

2. Check Datastore Health

   esxcli storage core device list
   esxcli storage vmfs extent list
   

3. Verify Naming Consistency

   • Ensure all datastores follow naming convention
   • Document any exceptions
   • Update automation scripts as needed

Summary

Key takeaways:

1. Never use default “datastore1” name in production
2. Use descriptive names that include host/purpose/type
3. Make scripts discover datastores dynamically
4. Don’t rename VCF-managed datastores
5. Document your naming convention
6. Be consistent across the environment

This approach makes troubleshooting easier and automation more reliable.