Specifications

Administration Guide
36 VMware, Inc.
Table 1‐4!includes!ESX!Server!performance‐related!tasks!for!an!Administrator!(root!
user).
Use!scripts!to!
schedule!
frequent!tasks.!
For!more!information!on!VMware!Scripting!APIs,!see!
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer.
View!system!logs!
and!reports!
through!the!
management!
interface.
As!needed,!view!the!ESX!Server!log!files!for!warnings,!serious!system!
alerts!and!messages!through!the!management!interface.!
See!Viewing!System!Logs!and!Reports!on!page 229.
Table 1-4. Performance-related tasks for an Administrator
Task Description
Enhance!performance!
on!virtual!machines,!
based!on!its!
application(s).
ESX!Server!applies!a!proportional!share!mechanism!to!CPU,!
memory!allocation,!and!disk!bandwidth.!The!more!shares!a!virtual!
machine!has,!the!more!CPU,!memory,!or!disk!bandwidth!it!has.
For!example,!virtual!machines!running!a!CPU‐intensive!
application!should!have!a!
greater!minimum!CPU!and!memory!
share!than!a!virtual!machine!running!a!non‐CPU!intensive!
application.
See!Chapter 12,!“VMware!ESX!Server!Resource!Management.”
Enhance!CPU!
performance!on!virtual!
machines.
Set!minimum!and!maximum!percentages!as!well!as!memory!shares!
for!each!virtual!machine.!Also!select!the!processors!on!which!the!
virtual!machine!
runs.
See!“Configuring!a!Virtual!Machine’s!CPU!Usage”!on!page 96and!
“CPU!Resource!Management”!on!page 331
Enhance!memory!
utilization!on!virtual!
machines.
You!can!set!memory!shares!for!a!virtual!machine.!If!you!have!a!
NUMA!machine,!you!can!also!select!the!NUMA!affinity!nodes!for!
the!virtual!machine.
See!“Configuring!a!Virtual!Machine’s
!CPU!Usage”!on!page 96,!
“Memory!Resource!Management”!on!page 345,!and!“Using!Your!
NUMA!System”!on!page 358.
Enhance!disk!
bandwidth!utilization!
on!virtual!machines.
You!can!set!disk!bandwidth!for!a!virtual!machine.!A!virtual!
machine!with!more!shares!has!more!bandwidth.!
See!“Configuring!a!Virtual!Machine’s!CPU!Usage”!on!page 96!and!
“Managing!Disk!Bandwidth”!on!page 371.
Enhance!networking!
performance!on!virtual!
machines.
You!can!manage!networking!performance!by!enabling!traffic!
shaping!and!specifying!network!parameters.
See!“Configuring!a!Virtual!Machine’s!Networking!Settings”!on!
page 100
and!“Managing!Network!Bandwidth”!on!page 367.
Table 1-3. Maintenance tasks for an Administrator (Continued)
Task Description