How does distributed storage function in a VMware environment?

Distributed storage in a VMware environment operates by aggregating storage resources across multiple hosts. This approach allows for a more efficient and seamless use of storage capabilities, ultimately enhancing performance and scalability in a virtualized infrastructure. In a distributed storage model, storage resources are pooled together from different hosts, enabling virtual machines to access data from any of those hosts.

This aggregation of storage resources not only optimizes the utilization of available storage but also aids in improving data redundancy and resilience. When storage is distributed, it can help prevent individual points of failure, as data can be spread across different physical storage devices and hosts, ensuring higher availability for virtual machines.

In contrast, isolating storage resources per host limits the flexibility and robustness of the storage solution, while limiting access to a single host restricts the efficiency and performance benefits. Integrating with third-party cloud storage can enhance the architecture, but it does not define how distributed storage fundamentally operates within the VMware environment itself.