Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
150 VMware, Inc.
/dev/hda!(IDE!physical!disk)!and!/dev/sdb!(SCSI!physical!disk)!belong!to!group!ID!
disk.!If!this!is!the!case,!you!can!add!VMware!Server!users!to!the!disk!group.!
Another!option!is!to!change!the!owner!of!the!device.!Think!carefully!about!security!
issues!when!you!explore!different!options!here.!
VMware!recommends!granting!VMware!Server!users!access!to!all!/dev/hd[abcd]!
raw!devices!that !contain!operating!systems!or!boot!managers!rather!than!to!rely!on!
VMware!Server’s!physical!disk!configuration!files!to!guard!access.!This!provides!
boot!managers!access!to!configuration!and!other!files!they!might!need!to!boot!the!
operating!systems.
!For!example,!LILO!needs!to!read!/boot!on!a!Linux!partition!to!
boot!a!nonLinux!operating!system!that!might!be!on!another!drive.!
4Start!the!New!Virtual!Machine!Wizard!(File!>!New!>!Virtual!Machine)!and!select!
Custom.
5When!you!reach!the!Select!a!Disk!step,!select!Use!
a!physical!disk.
6If!the!physical!disk!you!plan!to!use!already!has!multiple!partitions,!certain!
operating!systems!(DOS,!Windows!95,!Windows!98)!must!be!installed!on!the!first!
primary!partition.
CAUTION Corruption!is!possible!if!you!allow!the!virtual!machine!to!modify!a!
partition!that!is!simultaneously!mounted!under!the!Linux!host!
operating!system.!
Because!the!virtual!machine!and!guest!operating!system!access!an!
existing!partition!while!the!host!continues!to!run!Linux,!it!is!critical!
that!the!virtual!machine!not!be
!allowed!to!modify!any!partition!
mounted!by!the!host!or!in!use!by!another!virtual!machine.
To!safeguard!against!this!problem,!be!sure!the!partition!you!use!for!the!virtual!
machine!is!not!mounted!under!the!Linux!host.!
7At!this!point!you!are!ready!to!begin!installing!the!guest!operating!system!on!the!
physical!disk!you!
configured!for!the!virtual!machine.!For!more!details,!read!the!
installation!notes!for!various!guest!operating!systems!in!the!VMware!Guest!
Operating!System!Installation!Guide,!available!from!the!VMware!Web!site.
Disk Performance in Windows NT Guests on
Multiprocessor Hosts
Some!users!have!experienced!slower!than!expected!disk!input!and!output!performance!
when!running!Windows!NT!guest!operating!systems.!Users!might!experience!the!
problem!in!VMware!Server!virtual!machines!using!IDE!virtual!disks!on!multiprocessor!