Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
196 VMware, Inc.
drives.!
See!also!Shrink.!
Virtual!disk
A!virtual!disk!is!a!file!or!set!of!files!that!appears!as!a!physical!disk!drive!to!a!guest!
operating!system.!These!files!can!be!on!the!host!machine!or!on!a!remote!file!system.!
When!you!configure!a!virtual!machine!with!a!virtual!
disk,!you!can!install!a!new!
operating!system!into!the!disk!file!without!needing!to!repartition!a!physical!disk!
or!reboot!the!host.!Virtual!disks!can!be!preallocated!or!growable.!A!preallocated!
virtual!disk!has!all!the!disk!space!allocated!at!the!time!the!virtual!disk!is!created.!A!
growable!disk
!is!not!preallocated;!its!files!start!out!small!in!size!and!grow!as!data!
is!written!to!it.
See!also!Physical!disk.!
Virtual!hardware
The!devices!that!comprise!a!virtual!machine.!The!virtual!hardware!includes!the!
virtual!disk,!the!removable!devices!such!as!the!DVDROM/CDROM!and!floppy!
drives,!and!
the!virtual!Ethernet!adapter.!You!configure!these!devices!with!the!
virtual!machine!settings!editor.
Virtual!machine
A!virtualized!x86!PC!environment!in!which!a!guest!operating!system!and!
associated!application!software!can!run.!Multiple!virtual!machines!can!operate!on!
the!same!host!machine!concurrently.!
Virtual!machine!configuration
The!specification!of!what!virtual!
devices!(disks,!memory!size,!and!so!forth)!are!
present!in!a!virtual!machine!and!how!they!are!mapped!to!host!files!and!devices.!
Virtual!machine!configuration!file
A!file!containing!a!virtual!machine!configuration.!It!is!created!when!you!create!the!
virtual!machine.!It!is!used!by!VMware!Server!to!identify!
and!run!a!specific!virtual!
machine.
Virtual!machine!settings!editor
A!pointandclick!control!panel!used!to!view!and!modify!a!virtual!machine’s!
settings.!You!launch!it!by!choosing!VM!>!Settings.!
See!also!New!Virtual!Machine!Wizard.!