1、 Using Thunderbolt I/O in a vSphere environment
Cylindrical Apple Mac Pro ® The launch of 6.1 showcases a newly designed hardware platform with external PCIe connectivity that can be accessed through Thunderbolt as the only I/O option to connect external storage and peripheral devices. The new Thunderbolt enabled Apple Mac Pro has a unique design and powerful hardware that meets the certification requirements of the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) as a host, but the I/O connection options seem limited.

The six port Mac Pro, which supports Thunderbolt, poses a challenge when using the platform as a virtual server when connecting to external storage, as it cannot access PCIe slots that allow for the installation of traditional host bus adapter (HBA) I/O. Mac Pro further utilizes Thunderbolt as a high-performance I/O connection. The question that arises is whether Thunderbolt can provide legal ESXi connectivity to external storage in a vSphere environment?

Considering the lack of PCIe slots, it seems that the only option is the storage originally installed in Mac Pro. This is not suitable for Apple developers, Mac administrators, and VMware administrators who require Mac hardware to access the Mac operating system and want to use virtual instances connected to external storage for testing. They began to search for I/O solutions to meet their needs. Therefore, none of the existing Thunderbolt I/O interface solutions have passed VMWareReady certification.

Other server-level hardware that provided Thunderbolt as an I/O connection option quickly appeared on other platforms as well. Intel ® NUC and other systems have become the favorite of VMware administrators for testing and deployment in home and small laboratory environments.

Each platform type helps to characterize a unique set of use cases, ranging from software development, application deployment or patch launch, compact demonstration suites, or VDIs, and they have entered commercial, educational, and enterprise data centers. There are still challenges in using these devices as virtualized servers due to the lack of accessible PCIe slots to allow HBA installation to provide I/O connectivity.

2、 ATTO ThunderLink ® Adapters provide fiber channel connectivity
ATTO recognizes the opportunity to provide VMware Ready for ATTO ThunderLink Thunderbolt to Fibre Channel adapters ™ Certified ESXi driver to meet the needs of the community. Due to ATTO's tenure and experience as a VMware developer, ATTO submitted the new driver to VMware for approval.

Now, users can use ATTO ThunderLink Thunderbolt adapters to virtualize Mac Pro or other hosts to efficiently connect to Fibre Channel storage and provide fully supported and certified solutions for their vSphere environment.

3、 How is the HK-ATTO Thunderbolt with vSphere different from other options in the market?

ATTO Thunderlink Thunderbolt to Fibre Channel adapter has passed VMware Ready certification

These adapters are uniquely designed as specialized devices

Compared to other solutions that support Thunderbolt, due to its smaller footprint and lower power requirements, users can achieve the same throughput using a single device

4、 Use Cases
The VMware ESXi solution that supports Thunderbolt is designed specifically for software developers, web developers, VMware and other administrators, or other users who need to develop and test on Mac hardware. This solution is also suitable for virtual testing or home laboratory and demonstration kits of systems with Thunderbolt I/O connections.

5、 Operational process
By combining the HK-ATTO ThunderLink ESXi driver that supports Thunderbolt with vSphere, combined with Mac Pro or microserver platforms, it can simplify connections to external Fibre Channel storage in fully supported VCG environments.