Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 251
CHAPTER 10 Performance Tuning for Virtual
Machines
This!chapter!describes!options!for!getting!the!best!performance!from!VMware!Server!
and!your!virtual!machines!and!covers!the!following!topics:
! Allocating!Memory!to!a!Virtual!Machine”!on!page 251
! “Improving!Performance!for!Guest!Operating!Systems”!on!page 253
Allocating Memory to a Virtual Machine
VMware!Server!allows!you!to!allocate!a!portion!of!the!VMware!Server!host!memory!to!
each!virtual!machine.!By!adjusting!this!setting,!you!can!affect!the!virtual!machine’s!
performance.
You!set!the!size!of!an!individual!virtual!machine’s!memory!in!the!virtual!machine!
settings!editor!or!the!VMware!Management!Interface.!The!
minimum!size!of!the!
memory!for!the!virtual!machine!should!be!set!based!on!the!recommendations!of!the!
operating!system!provider.
When!you!create!a!new!virtual!machine,!the!wizard!sets!what!VMware!believes!are!
reasonable!defaults!for!the!memory!size!of!a!virtual!machine,!based!on!the!type!of!the!
guest!operating!system!and!the!amount!of!memory!in! the!host!computer.!
The!following!section!describes!how!you!can!allocate!memory!to!a!virtual!machine:
“Configuring!Virtual!Machine!Memory!from!a!Console”!on!page 252.
The!actual!size!that!should!be!given!to!a!virtual!machine!depends!on!a!few!practical!
considerations:
! What!kinds!of!applications!will!run!in!the!virtual!machine.
! What!other!virtual!machines!will!contend!with!this!virtual!machine!for!memory!
resources.
! What!applications!will!run!on!the!host!at!the!same!time!as!the!virtual!machine.