Release Notes

9 Dell Virtual Storage Manager: Installation Considerations and Local Data Protection | 2079-BP-V-VSM
The size of a storage container is limited only by the size of the pool it exists in on a PS Series group. However, non-
technical issues, such as a preference for keeping a virtual machine isolated to a specific department or project, may
drive a preference for multiple storage containers. In an environment where a PS Series group has multiple pools,
multiple storage containers are needed as a storage container does not span pools.
Previously, a virtual machine consisted of a VMX file (configuration file), one or more VMDK files (virtual disk), a VSWP
file (memory swap file), and other miscellaneous files including log files. With vVols, a virtual machine consists of a
grouping of volumes on the array consuming space from the storage container space reservation. A vVol-based virtual
machine consists of the following types of Virtual Volumes:
• Config: A small, VMFS-formatted 4GB volume that hosts the VMX and other miscellaneous files, including log
files
• Data: The equivalent of a VMDK; one exists for each virtual disk attached to the virtual machine
• Swap: The equivalent of the VSWP file; it exists only when the virtual machine is powered on
If a VMware snapshot is taken of the virtual machine, two more virtual volume types will exist:
• Snapshot: One of these hidden Virtual Volumes exists for each data virtual volume included in each virtual
machine snapshot that has been taken, and stores the delta of changes since the previous snapshot was
taken.
• Memory: This virtual volume is created if the option to include a memory dump with the snapshot is selected.