Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Administration Guide
154 VMware, Inc.
VMware Server on a Linux Host
NOTE The!items!in!this!section!describe!performance!of!VMware!Server!on!a!Linux!
host.!For!tips!on!configuring!VMware!Server!on!a!Windows!host,!see!
“VMware!Server!on!a!Windows!Host”!on!page 151.
Using Full Screen Mode
Full!screen!mode!is!faster!than!window!mode.!If!you!do!not!need!to!have!your!virtual!
machine!and!your!host!sharing!the!screen,!try!switching!to!full!screen!mode.
NOTE You!see!the!most!noticeable!improvement!using!full!screen!mode!when!the!
guest!is!in!VGA!mode.!VGA!mode!is!any!mode!in!which!the!screen!is!in!text!
mode!(DOS,!for!example,!or!Linux!virtual!terminals),!or!16color!640!x!480!
graphics!mode!(for!example,!the!Windows!95!or
!Windows!98!clouds!boot!
screen,!or!any!guest!operating!system!that!is!running!without!the!SVGA!
driver!provided!by!VMware!Tools).!
On!a!Linux!host,!full!screen!VGA!mode!uses!the!underlying!video!card!directly,!so!
graphics!performance!is!quite!close!to!that!of!the!host.!By!contrast,!window!mode!VGA!
requires!more!computer!resources!to!emulate!than!window!mode!SVGA.!As!a!result,!if!
you!need
!to!run!for!an!extended!period!of!time!in!VGA!mode!(for!example,!when!you!
are!installing!an!operating!system!using!a!graphical!installer)!you!should!see!a!
significant!performance!boost!if!you!run!in!full!screen!mode.
Swap Space and /tmp
The!amount!of!swap!space!on!your!host!and!the!size!of!your!/tmp!directory!affect!
performance.!Your!/tmp!directory!should!be!equivalent!to!1.5!times!the!amount!of!
memory!on!the!host.!For!example,!if!your!VMware!Server!host!has!1GB!of!memory,!
make!sure!the!host’s!/tmp!directory!is
!at!least!1.5GB!in!size.
For!more!information!on!configuring!swap!space!and!the!/tmp!directory,!read!VMware!
knowledge!base!article!844!at!
http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=844.
Understanding Memory Usage
VMware!Server!allows!you!to!set!the!memory!size!of!each!virtual!machine!and!the!
amount!of!the!host!computer’s!memory!that!can!be!used!for!virtual!machines.!A!third!
control!governs!the!extent!to!which!you!want!to!allow!the!host!operating!system’s!
memory!manager!to!swap!virtual!machines!out
!of!physical!RAM.