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, Inc. 155
Chapter 6 Performance Tuning and the VMware Server Host
By!adjusting!these!settings,!you!can!affect!both!virtual!machine!and!overall!system!
performance.
The!following!sections!describe!how!VMware!Server!uses!the!memory!configuration!
parameters!to!manage!virtual!machines!and!system!memory!properly.
! “Memory!Use!on!the!Host”!on!page 155
! “Specifying!How!Much!RAM!is!Used!by!All!Running!Virtual!Machines”!on!
page 155
! “Memory!Usage!on!Older!Linux!Hosts”!on!page 157
For!information!on!memory!use!for!a!specific!virtual!machine,!see!“Allocating!Memory!
to!a!Virtual!Machine”.
Memory Use on the Host
Host!operating!systems!do!not!behave!well!when!they!run!low!on!free!memory!for!their!
own!use.!When!a!Windows!or!Linux!host!operating!system!does!not!have!enough!RAM!
for!its!own!use,!it!thrashes,!that!is,!it!constantly!swaps!parts!of!itself!between!RAM!and!
its!paging!file
!on!disk.!To!help!guard!against!virtual!machines!causing!the!host!to!
thrash,!VMware!Server!enforces!a!limit!on!the!total!amount!of!RAM!that!can!be!
consumed!by!virtual!machines.
In!general,!the!sum!of!the!memories!of!all!currently!running!virtual!machines!plus!
overhead!for!the!VMware!Server!processes
!should!not!exceed!the!amount!of!physical!
memory!on!the!host!minus!some!memory!that!must!be!kept!available!for!the!host.!For!
more!information,!see!“Using!Additional!Memory”!on!page 156.
Some!memory!must!be!kept!available!on!the!host!to!ensure!the!host!is!able!to!operate!
properly!while!virtual
!machines!are!running.!The!amount!of!memory!reserved!for!the!
host!depends!on!the!host!operating!system!and!the!size!of!the!host!computer’s!memory.!
Specifying How Much RAM is Used by All Running Virtual
Machines
You!can!set!the!amount!of!host!RAM!that!VMware!Server!is!allowed!to!reserve!for!all!
running!virtual!machines.!To!set!this!parameter,!choose!Host!>!Settings!>!Memory.
The!reserved!memory!setting!specifies!a!maximum!amount!of!host!RAM!that!VMware!
Server!is!allowed!to!use.!But!this!memory
!is!not!allocated!in!advance.!Even!if!multiple!
virtual!machines!are!running!at!the!same!time,!VMware!Server!might!be!using!only!a!
fraction!of!the!RAM!you!specified!here.!Any!unused!RAM!is!available!for!use!by!other!
applications.!If!all!the!RAM!you!specify!here!is!in!use!
by!one!or!more!virtual!machines,!