Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
194 VMware, Inc.
Nonpersistent!mode
A!mode!in!which!all!disk!writes!issued!by!software!running!inside!a!virtual!
machine!with!a!disk!in!nonpersistent!mode!appear!to!be!written!to!disk!but!are!in!
fact!discarded!after!the!virtual!machine!is!powered!off.!If!you!configure!a!virtual!
disk!or!physical!disk!as!
an!independent!disk!in!nonpersistent!mode,!the!disk!is!not!
modified!by!VMware!Server.!
See!also!Independent!disk,!Persistent!mode
Persistent!mode
A!mode!in!which!all!disk!writes!issued!by!software!running!inside!a!virtual!
machine!are!immediately!and!permanently!written!to!the!virtual!disk.!If!you!
configure!a!virtual!disk
!or!physical!disk!as!an!independent!disk!in!persistent!mode,!
the!disk!behaves!like!a!conventional!disk!drive!on!a!physical!computer.!
See!also!Independent!disk,!Nonpersistent!mode
Physical!disk
A!hard!disk!in!a!virtual!machine!that!is!mapped!to!a!physical!disk!drive!or!
partition!on!the!host!machine.!
A!virtual!machine’s!disk!can!be!stored!as!a!file!on!
the!host!file!system!or!on!a!local!hard! disk.!When!a!virtual!machine!is!configured!
to!use!a!physical!disk,!VMware!Server!directly!accesses!the!local!disk!or!partition!
as!a!raw!device!(not!as!a!file!on!a
!file!system).!
See!also!Virtual!disk.
Preallocated!disk
A!type!of!virtual!disk!where!all!disk!space!for!the!virtual!machine!is!allocated!at!
the!time!the!disk!is!created.!This!is!the!default!type!of!virtual!disk!created!by!
VMware!Server.
Quick!switch!mode
A!display!mode!in!which!the!virtual!
machine’s!display!fills!most!of!the!screen.!In!
this!mode,!tabs!at!the!top!of!the!screen!allow!you!to!switch!quickly!from!one!
running!virtual!machine!to!another.
See!also!Full!screen!mode.
Raw!disk
See!physical!disk.