The correct sequence of steps to provision storage for SMB NAS clients is:

Group hard drives into storage pools. This allows you to create a pool of storage resources that can be allocated to different types of storage objects, such as NAS servers, file systems, and LUNs. You can create different pools based on the performance and capacity requirements of your applications1

Create a NAS server for an existing pool. A NAS server is a logical entity that provides file-level access to clients using SMB, NFS, or FTP/SFTP protocols. You need to create a NAS server before you can create file systems and shares. You can specify the pool, network settings, domain membership, and other properties for the NAS server2

Create file systems and file system shares based on the supported NAS protocol. A file system is a logical container that stores files and folders on a NAS server. A file system share is a logical representation of a file system that can be accessed by clients using a specific protocol. For SMB NAS clients, you need to create SMB file system shares that support the SMB protocol. You can configure the share name, permissions, access policies, and other settings for the SMB share3

Map the shared file system to the client. This allows the client to access the files and folders on the SMB share using a drive letter or a UNC path. You can use the Windows Explorer or the net use command to map the shared file system to the client4

The Dell UnityVSA is a software-defined storage solution that runs the Dell Unity operating environment on a VMware ESXi server. The Dell UnityVSA provides the same features and functions as the Dell Unity hardware platform, such as block and file storage, snapshots, thin clones, data reduction, replication, and encryption. Some of the features of the Dell UnityVSA are:

iSCSI Connectivity: The Dell UnityVSA supports iSCSI connectivity for block storage access. The iSCSI protocol enables hosts to communicate with the Dell UnityVSA over an IP network and access LUNs as SCSI devices. The Dell UnityVSA can support up to 64 iSCSI interfaces and up to 256 iSCSI sessions per interface.

Asynchronous Replication: The Dell UnityVSA supports asynchronous replication for block and file storage. Asynchronous replication is a feature that copies data from a source storage resource to a destination storage resource over a network at scheduled intervals. Asynchronous replication can be used for disaster recovery, data migration, or backup purposes. The Dell UnityVSA can support up to 256 replication sessions per system.

VMware datastore is a logical container that holds virtual machine files and other data. There are three types of VMware datastore that can be defined by using UI or CLI interfaces from the Dell Unity XT platform:

vVol (Block): A vVol datastore is a block-based storage object that is formatted with the VMware Virtual Volumes (vVol) framework and used to store virtual machine files and metadata. A vVol datastore can be created by using the Unisphere UI or the UEMCLI interface on the Dell Unity XT system. A vVol datastore can provide granular control, policy-based management, and improved performance for virtual machines.

NFS (File): An NFS datastore is a file-based storage object that is formatted with the Network File System (NFS) protocol and used to store virtual machine files and other data. An NFS datastore can be created by using the Unisphere UI or the UEMCLI interface on the Dell Unity XT system. An NFS datastore can provide scalability, flexibility, and efficiency for virtual machines.

VMFS (Block): A VMFS datastore is a block-based storage object that is formatted with the VMware File System (VMFS) and used to store virtual machine files and other data. A VMFS datastore can be created by using the Unisphere UI or the UEMCLI interface on the Dell Unity XT system. A VMFS datastore can provide high performance, reliability, and compatibility for virtual machines.