Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
126 VMware, Inc.
For!best!disk!performance,!you!can!take!the!following!three!actions,!in!the!order!listed:
1Run!a!disk!defragmentation!utility!inside!the!virtual!machine.
2Power!off!the!virtual!machine!and!defragment!its!virtual!disks!from!the!virtual!
machine!settings!editor!(VM!>!Settings).!Select!the!virtual!disk!you!want!to!
defragment,
!and!click!Defragment.
3Run!a!disk!defragmentation!utility!on!the!host!computer.
Defragmenting!disks!can!take!considerable!time.
NOTE The!defragmentation!process!requires!free!working!space!on!the!host!
computer’s!disk.!If!your!virtual!disk!is!contained!in!a!single!file,!for!example,!
you!need!free!space!equal!to!the!size!of!the!virtual!disk!file.!Other!virtual!disk!
configurations!require!less!free!space.
Shrinking Virtual Disks
Shrinking!a!virtual!disk!reclaims!unused!space!in!the!virtual!disk.!This!process!reduces!
the!amount!of!space!the!virtual!disk!occupies!on!the!host!drive.!VMware!recommends!
you!shrink!virtual!disks!when!the!amount!of!used!space!on!the!virtual!hard!drive!is!
much!lower!than!the!size!of!the
!actual!.vmdk!files!associated!with!the!virtual!hard!
drive.!VMware!recommends!that!you!not!shrink!a!virtual!disk!when!the!space!used!on!
the!virtual!hard!drive!is!nearly!the!same!as!the!size!of!the!actual!.vmdk!files!associated!
with!the!virtual!hard!drive.!
You!cannot!shrink!preallocated!virtual!
disks!or!physical!disks.!Shrinking!requires!free!
disk!space!on!the!host!equal!to!the!size!of!the!virtual!disk!being!shrunk.
NOTE The!shrink!process!applies!to!all!virtual!disks!even!if!you!do!not!prepare!all!
the!virtual!disks!in!a!virtual!machine!for!shrinking.
Shrinking!virtual!disks!is!a!convenient! way!to!convert!a!virtual!disk!to!the!format!
supported!by!VMware!Server.!Virtual!disks!created!in! the!new!format!cannot!be!
recognized!by!VMware!GSX!Server!3!or!any!other!VMware!product,!except!
Workstation!5.x.
The
!virtual!disks!to!be!shrunk!must!not!be!booted!as!independent!disks.!You!can!
change!the!mode!of!a!virtual!disk!before!the!virtual!machine!is!powered!on.!See!
“Independent!Disks”!on!page 121.!
Shrinking!a!disk!is!a!twostep!process.!In!the!first!step,!called!wiping,!VMware!Tools!
reclaims!
all!unused!portions!of!disk!partitions!(such!as!deleted!files)!and!prepares!them!