Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
122 VMware, Inc.
For!example,!you!might!want!to!run!a!virtual!machine!that!uses!a!virtual!disk!stored!on!
DVD!or!CDROM.!For!more!information,!see!“Running!Virtual!Machines!from!DVDs!
or!CDROM!Discs”!on!page 98.
Or,!you!might!want!to!exclude!one!or!more!virtual!disks!from!a!virtual!machine’s!
snapshot.!For!more!information!about!snapshots,!see!“Taking!Snapshots”!on!page 112.
To!configure!a!disk!as!an!independent!disk,!choose!VM!>!Settings,!select!the!virtual!
disk,!and!click!Advanced.!On!the!advanced!settings!screen,!select!Independent,!then!
the!mode!for!the!disk.!You!have!the!following!options!for!an
!independent!disk:
! Persistent!!changes!are!immediately!and!permanently!written!to!the!disk.!All!
changes!to!an!independent!disk!in!persistent!mode!remain,!even!when!you!revert!
to!the!snapshot.
! Nonpersistent!!changes!to!the!disk!are!discarded!when!you!power!off!or!revert!
to!the!snapshot.!Choose!this!option!to!run!a!virtual!machine!where!the!virtual!disk!
is!stored!on!a!DVD!or!CDROM,!or!to!lose!any!changes!made! to!the!virtual!disk!
since!the!snapshot!was
!taken!when!you!revert!to!the!snapshot.
Additional Information about Disk, Redo-Log, Snapshot, and
Lock Files
This!section!provides!information!about!virtual!machine!files.
Disk Files
The!virtual!machine!settings!editor!(VM!>!Settings)!lets!you!choose!the!disk!files!for!a!
virtual!machine.!
Choose!a!file!other!than!the!one!created!by!the!New!Virtual!Machine!Wizard!if!you!are!
using!a!virtual!disk!that!you!created!in!a!different!location!or!if!you!are
!moving!the!
created!disk!files!to!a!new!location.
The!disk!files!for!a!virtual!disk!store!the!information!that!you!write!to!a!virtual!
machine’s!hard!disk!!the!operating!system,!the!program!files,!and!the!data!files.!The!
virtual!disk!files!have!a!.vmdk!extension.!
A!virtual!disk!is
!made!up!of!one!or!more!.vmdk!files.!
On!Microsoft!Windows!hosts,!each!virtual!disk!is!contained!in!one!file!by!default.!You!
can!optionally!configure!the!virtual!disk!to!use!a!set!of!files!limited!to!2GB!per!file.!Use!
this!option!if!you!plan!to!move!the!virtual!
disk!to!a!file!system!that!does!not!support!
files!larger!than!2GB.!
You!must!set!this!option!at!the!time!you!create!the!virtual!disk.