Installation guide

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Dedicated Fast Ethernet adapters for virtual machines – Place the management network and virtual
machine networks on different physical network cards. Dedicated Gigabit Ethernet cards for virtual
machines, such as Intel PRO 1000 adapters, improve throughput to virtual machines with high network
traffic.
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Disk location – Place all data used by your virtual machines on physical disks allocated specifically to
virtual machines. Performance is better when you do not place your virtual machines on the disk
containing the ESXi 4.1 Installable boot image. Use physical disks that are large enough to hold disk images
used by all the virtual machines.
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VMFS3 partitioning – The ESXi 4.1 installer creates the initial VMFS volumes automatically on blank local
disks. To add disks or modify the original configuration, use the vSphere Client. This application ensures
that the starting sectors of partitions are 64K-aligned, which improves storage performance.
NOTE For SAS-only environments, the installer might not format the disks. For some SAS disks, it is
difficult to identify whether the disks are local or remote. After the installation, you can use the vSphere
Client to set up VMFS.
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Processors – Faster processors improve ESXi 4.1 performance. For certain workloads, larger caches
improve ESXi 4.1 performance.
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Hardware compatibility – Use devices in your server that are supported by ESXi 4.1 drivers. See the
Hardware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.
vCenter Server and the vSphere Client Hardware Requirements
The vCenter Server system is a physical machine or virtual machine with access to a supported database. The
vCenter Server system must meet specific requirements. Also make sure that the vSphere Client machines meet
the hardware requirements.
Minimum Requirements for vCenter Server
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CPU – Two 64-bit CPUs or one 64-bit dual-core processor.
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Processor – 2.0GHz or faster Intel or AMD processor. Processor requirements might be higher if the
database runs on the same machine.
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Memory – 3GB RAM. Memory requirements might be higher if the database runs on the same machine.
vCenter Server includes a service called VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices. This service
requires 512MB to 4.4GB of additional memory. The maximum Webservices JVM memory can be specified
during the installation depending on the inventory size.
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Disk storage – 3GB. Disk requirements might be higher if the database runs on the same machine.
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Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express disk requirements – Up to 2GB free disk space to decompress the
installation archive. Approximately 1.5GB of these files are deleted after the installation is complete.
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Networking – Gigabit connection recommended.
NOTE Installing vCenter Server on a network drive or USB flash drive is not supported.
See your database documentation for the hardware requirements of your database. The database requirements
are in addition to the vCenter Server requirements if the database and vCenter Server run on the same machine.
Minimum Requirements for the vSphere Client
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CPU – 1 CPU
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Processor – 500MHz or faster Intel or AMD processor (1GHz recommended)
Chapter 2 System Requirements
VMware, Inc. 15