Vsan Witness Appliance - Download [work]

The vSAN Witness Appliance includes a built-in, free witness license. Ensure this license is applied to the newly added host.

| Characteristic | Sizing Guidelines & Requirements | | :--- | :--- | | | Tiny: Supports up to 10 VMs (750 components). Not supported for vSAN ESA. Medium: Supports up to 500 VMs (21,833 components). Can serve up to 21 two-node clusters. Large: Supports >500 VMs (45,000 components). Can serve up to 24 two-node clusters. Extra Large: Supports >500 VMs (64,000 components). Can serve up to 64 two-node clusters. | | Resource Requirements | All sizes require 2 vCPUs . Memory: 8GB (Tiny), 16GB (Medium), 32GB (Large/XL). Storage: The datastore for the witness must be separate from the vSAN stretched cluster datastore. | | Network Requirements | Physical Separation: Deploy the witness at a third, independent site , isolated from the two main data sites. It must not share physical resources with either. Latency: Round-trip time (RTT) between data nodes and the witness must not exceed 200ms (100ms one way). MTU: An MTU of 9000 (jumbo frames) is recommended for vSAN Witness traffic. | | Licensing & Support | No Separate License Needed: The appliance has an embedded license and does not require an additional purchase. Match Build Versions: The appliance's ESXi version must match the physical hosts in the vSAN cluster. Snapshots are Not Supported: Never take snapshots of a production witness appliance as it can cause split-brain and metadata corruption. If the appliance fails, VMware recommends redeploying a fresh one. |

Source Note: The download and deployment process is consistent across all 2025-2026 versions of vSAN (vSAN 8.0, 9.0) 1.2.3. download vsan witness appliance

Are you planning a cluster or a Stretched Cluster across data centers?

A: Yes, but it requires a dedicated physical server and consumes a vSphere license. The virtual Witness Appliance is the preferred method for most environments due to cost and simplicity. The vSAN Witness Appliance includes a built-in, free

As a crucial component of VMware's vSAN (Virtual SAN) architecture, the vSAN Witness Appliance plays a vital role in ensuring the availability and consistency of data across a vSAN cluster. In this article, we will walk you through the process of downloading and deploying the vSAN Witness Appliance, highlighting its importance, prerequisites, and step-by-step instructions.

The Witness Appliance must not reside on the vSAN cluster it is protecting. It should live on a separate standalone host or a different vSphere cluster. Not supported for vSAN ESA

The is a specialized virtual machine that acts as a "tie-breaker" in 2-node or stretched clusters to prevent split-brain scenarios. While traditionally simple to acquire, recent reviews and guides highlight a significant shift in the download process following the Broadcom acquisition. The "New" Download Experience