Specifications
Table Of Contents
- Administration Guide
- Contents
- Introduction and System Requirements
- VMware Server Overview
- Features of VMware Server
- Support for 32-bit and 64-bit Guest Operating Systems
- Two-Way Virtual SMP (Experimental Support)
- Connect to VMware GSX Virtual Machines and Hosts
- Upgrade and Use GSX Virtual Machines
- Move Existing Virtual Machines
- Compatible with VMware Workstation 5.x Virtual Machines
- Configure Virtual Hardware Devices to be Automatically Detected
- Take and Revert to Snapshots in the Background
- Support for VMware Virtual Machine Importer
- Support for VirtualCenter
- APIs Included with VMware Server
- Before You Install the Release
- Host System Requirements
- Virtual Machine Specifications
- Virtual Processor
- Virtual Chipset
- Virtual BIOS
- Virtual Memory
- Virtual Graphics
- Virtual IDE Drives
- Virtual SCSI Devices
- Virtual PCI Slots
- Virtual Floppy Drives
- Virtual Serial (COM) Ports
- Virtual Parallel (LPT) Ports
- Virtual USB ports
- Virtual Keyboard
- Virtual Mouse and Drawing Tablets
- Virtual Ethernet Card
- Virtual Networking
- Virtual Sound Adapter
- Supported Guest Operating Systems
- Technical Support Resources
- Installing VMware Server
- Selecting Your Host System
- About the VMware Server Console on the Server
- Installing VMware Server on a Windows Host
- Installing VMware Server on a Linux Host
- Configuring Web Browsers for Use with VMware Server
- Installing the VMware Server Console
- Installing the VMware APIs
- Uninstalling VMware Server
- Migrating from GSX Server to VMware Server
- Preparing for the Migration
- Before You Install VMware Server
- Shut Down and Power Off All Virtual Machines
- Make Sure All Disks Are in the Same Mode
- Upgrading Virtual Machines with Disks in Undoable Mode
- Upgrading Virtual Machines with Multiple Virtual Disks
- Back Up Virtual Machines
- Take Note of Custom Network Configurations
- Remove Existing VMware Products
- Make the Virtual Machine Accessible to Its Users
- When You Remove a VMware Product and Install VMware Server
- Before You Install VMware Server
- Migrating to VMware Server on a Windows Host
- Migrating to VMware Server on a Linux Host
- Using Virtual Machines Created with VMware GSX Server
- Using Virtual Machines Created with Workstation 5.x
- Preparing for the Migration
- Managing Virtual Machines and the VMware Server Host
- Remotely Managing Virtual Machines
- Securing Virtual Machines and the Host
- Identifying a Virtual Machine by Its UUID
- Logging VMware Server Events on Windows
- Backing Up Virtual Machines and the VMware Server Host
- Using the VMware Management Interface
- Setting the Session Length for the VMware Management Interface
- Logging On to the VMware Management Interface
- Using the Status Monitor
- Viewing Summary Information About the VMware Server Host System
- Viewing Summary Information About Virtual Machines on the Host
- Using the Virtual Machine Menu
- Connecting to a Virtual Machine with the VMware Server Console
- Monitoring the Virtual Machine’s Heartbeat
- Viewing Information about a Virtual Machine
- Using Common Controls
- Configuring a Virtual Machine
- The Apache Server and the VMware Management Interface
- Logging Off the VMware Management Interface
- Deleting Virtual Machines
- Configuring the VMware Server Host
- Using VirtualCenter to Manage Virtual Machines
- Moving and Sharing Virtual Machines
- Performance Tuning and the VMware Server Host
- Using High-Availability Configurations
- Using SCSI Reservation to Share SCSI Disks with Virtual Machines
- Overview of Clustering with VMware Server
- Creating a Cluster in a Box
- Using Network Load Balancing with VMware Server
- Creating Two-Node Clusters Using Novell Clustering Services
- Clustering Using the iSCSI Protocol
- Mounting Virtual Disks
- Glossary
- Index
VMware Server Administration Guide
146 VMware, Inc.
! The!files!that!hold!a!virtual!disk
! The!files!that!store!newly!saved!data!when!you!take!a!snapshot
! The!files!that!hold!information!used!in!suspending!and!resuming!a!virtual!
machine
If!you!are!experiencing!slow!disk!performance!in!the!virtual!machine,!or!if!you!want!to!
improve!the!speed!of!suspend!and!resume!operations,!check!to!be!sure!the!host!disk!
that!holds!the!virtual!machine’s!working!directory!
and!virtual!disk!files!is!not!badly!
fragmented.!If!it!is!fragmented,!you!can!improve!performance!by!running!a!
defragmentation!utility!to!reduce!fragmentation!on!that!host!disk.
Virtual Drives
VMware!strongly!recommends!that!you!defragment!using!a!guest!operating!
mechanism!before!taking!the!first!snapshot.
VMware!Server!makes!all!its!changes!to!the!redo!log,!not!to!the!original!disk,!when!you!
run!a!defragmenting!program!on!the!guest!after!a!snapshot.!You!permanently!lose!the!
ability!to!defragment!inside!
the!original!disk.
Every!sector!that!moves!is!copied!to!the!redo!log,!making!the!virtual!machine!redo!log!
extremely!large!when!the!disk!is!heavily!fragmented!and!you!run!defragmentation!
after!a!snapshot.
Adequate Free Disk Space
For!better!performance,!avoid!having!very!low!free!disk!space!on!the!host!disk.!
Performance!can!degrade!considerably!when!VMware!Server!has!to!use!a!nearly!full!
host!hard!disk!t!o!write!guest!sparse!disk,!snapshot,!checkpoint,!or!redo!files.
NIC Interrupts Coalescing
Increasing!host!NIC!interrupt!coalescing!can!improve!performance!for!workloads!
involving!heavy!network!traffic!into!the!guest.!Interrupt!coalescing!is!a!feature!
implemented!in!hardware!under!driver!control!on!high‐performance!NICs,!allowing!
the!reception!of!a!group!of!network!frames!to!be!notified!tot!he!operating!system!kernel!
through!a
!single!hardware!interrupt.
Configuring VMware Server
The!following!sections!offer!advice!and!information!about!factors!that!can!affect!the!
performance!of!VMware!Server!itself.!The!sections!do!not!address!performance!of!the!
guest!operating!system!or!the!host!operating!system.!