Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 121
Chapter 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine
information!about!running!virtual!machines!from!DVDROM!or!CDROM,!see!
“Running!Virtual!Machines!from!DVDs!or!CDROM!Discs”!on!page 98.
A!key!advantage!of!virtual!disks!is!their!portability.!Because!the!virtual!disks!are!stored!
as!files!on!the!host!machine!or!a!remote!computer,!you!can!move!
them!easily!to!a!new!
location!on!the!same!computer!or!to!a!different!computer.!You!can!also!use!VMware!
Server!on!a!Windows!host!to!create!virtual!disks!and!move!them!to!a!Linux!computer!
and!use!them!under!VMware!Server!for!Linux!!or!vice!versa.!For!information!about
!
moving!virtual!disks,!see!“Moving!and!Sharing!Virtual!Machines!in!VMware!Server!
Administration!Guide.
Physical (Raw) Disk
A!physical!disk!directly!accesses!an!existing!local!disk!or!partition!Use!physical!disks!
for!VMware!Server!to!run!one!or!more!guest!operating!systems!from!existing!disk!
partitions.!You!can!set!up!physical!disks!on!both!IDE!and!SCSI!devices.!However,!
booting!from!an!operating!system!already!set!up!on
!an!existing!SCSI!disk!or!partition!
is!not!supported.
The!most!common!use!of!a!physical!disk!is!to!convert!a!dualboot!or!multipleboot!
machine!so!one!or!more!of!the!existing!operating!systems!can!be!run!inside!a!virtual!
machine.
CAUTION You!can!set!up!physical!disks!on!both!IDE!and!SCSI!devices.You!cannot!
use!a!physical!disk!that!is!stored!on!a!SAN.!You!must!use!a!disk!or!a!
partition!on!the!VMware!Server!host.
If!you!run!an!operating!system!natively!on!the!host!computer,!and!switch!to!running!it!
inside!a!virtual!machine,!the!change!is!like!pulling!the!hard!drive!out!of!one!computer!
and!installing!it!in!a!second!computer!with!a!different!motherboard!and!other!
hardware.!You!need!to!prepare!carefully!for!such!a!switch.!The!specific!steps!you!need!
to!take!depend!on!the!operating!system!you!want!to!use!inside!the!virtual!machine.!
You!can!create!a!new!virtual!machine!that!uses!a!physical!disk!instead!of!a!virtual!disk.!
For!details,!see!“Installing
!an!Operating!System!onto!a!Physical!Partition!on!page 146.!
In!most!cases,!however,!it!is!better!to!use!a!virtual!disk.
Only!advanced!users!should!attempt!physical!disk!configurations.
Independent Disks
Independent!disks!add!a!layer!of!control!and!complexity!to!your!virtual!disks.!You!
configure!virtual!disks!in!independent!mode!for!certain!special!purpose!configurations.!