Which storage protocol is supported by vSphere?

vSphere supports the NFS (Network File System) storage protocol as it is designed for use in VMware environments. NFS allows virtual machines to access shared storage across the network, making it ideal for VMs running on different hosts. This protocol enables features such as storage vMotion, snapshots, and DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler), which contribute to the dynamic management of virtualized resources.

NFS is well-suited for VMware's architecture, allowing for easier management of storage resources, scalability, and integration with the existing networking infrastructure. It is widely used in enterprise environments due to its flexibility and compatibility with the various features offered by VMware.

While other protocols like SMB (Server Message Block), CIFS (Common Internet File System), and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) might be suitable for different use cases, they are not specifically designed or optimized for the requirements of a virtualized environment in the same way that NFS is. SMB and CIFS are more associated with Windows file sharing, while FTP is a lack of support for disk-level features required in a VMware context. Thus, NFS stands out as the correct choice for storage protocol support within vSphere.