VM Storage Policies ensure the administrators that virtual machines are placed to storage that guarantees a specific level of capacity, availability and performance.
Formerly called VM Storage Profiles, in vSphere 5.5 they have been renamed to VM Storage Policies.
Enable VM Storage Policies
First thing to do is enabling the VM Storage Policies feature. Open your favorite browser and access vCenter Server using vSphere Web Client. Go to Home and click VM Storage Policies icon.
Click the Enable VM storage policies per compute resource button.
To enable the feature for the current host/cluster, click Enable button.
Once enabled, you can recognize the new status in the VM Storage Policy Status field.
Storage Policies have been now enabled for the cluster.
Create a new tag
From vCenter Server, go to Datastore view and select the datastore you want to attach a storage policy to. To create the Storage Policy we need to create a Tag by clicking the New tag button.
Fill the Name and Description tag fields then create a new category. Fill the requested category details and select Datastore as Associable Object Type. Click OK to confirm.
Assign the new created tag to the datastore(s) you want to include in the storage policy. Right click the datastore(s) and select Assign Tag option.
Click Yes to perform this action.
Click Assign button to tag the selected datastore(s).
The tag is now assigned to your datastore(s).
Create a new VM Storage Policy
From vSphere Web Client, go to Home and click the VM Storage Policies icon.
This time you need to click the Create a new VM storage policy button.
Fill the details and click Next.
Click Next to continue.
Because no Rule-Set has been assigned yet, click Add tag based rule button.
From the Categories drop-down menu, select the storage category previously created.
Select the added category then click OK.
Click Next to continue.
Next screen shows the resources that match the tag associated with the policy. Click Next.
Click Finish to complete the procedure.
The new VM Storage Policy has been now created.
Assign policies to virtual machines
To assign this policy to a virtual machine, right click the virtual machine and select All vCenter Actions > VM Storage Policies > Manage VM Storage Policies.
From Home VM storage policy drop-down menu, select the storage policy created.
Click Apply to disks button. The selected policy is shown in the VM Storage Policy field. Click OK to complete.
Now verify the policy has been applied by checking the virtual machine Summary view.
While creating a new virtual machine, the VM can be placed to a specific storage using the VM Storage Policy and selecting the correct policy from the drop-down menu.
The resources that match the selected policy will be shown as Compatible.
VM Storage Policies are an useful feature that make simpler the process of assigning virtual machines to specific datastore(s).
