6.0.1

In some cases, the host might not have the required vSphere license for a resource or device. Licensing in
vSphere is applicable to ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and solutions and can be based on different criteria,
depending on the specifics of each product. For information about vSphere licensing, see the vCenter Server
and Host Management documentation.
The PCI and SIO virtual hardware devices are part of the virtual motherboard, but cannot be configured or
removed.
Table 1‑2. Virtual Machine Hardware and Descriptions
Hardware Device Description
CPU You can configure a virtual machine that runs on an ESXi host to have one or
more virtual processors. A virtual machine cannot have more virtual CPUs than
the actual number of logical CPUs on the host. You can change the number of
CPUs allocated to a virtual machine and configure advanced CPU features,
such as the CPU Identification Mask and hyperthreaded core sharing.
Chipset The motherboard uses VMware proprietary devices based on the following
chips:
n
Intel 440BX AGPset 82443BX Host Bridge/Controller
n
Intel 82371AB (PIIX4) PCI ISA IDE Xcelerator
n
National Semiconductor PC87338 ACPI 1.0 and PC98/99 Compliant
SuperI/O
n
Intel 82093AA I/O Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller
DVD/CD-ROM Drive Installed by default when you create a new vSphere virtual machine. You can
configure DVD/CD-ROM devices to connect to client devices, host devices, or
datastore ISO files. You can add, remove, or configure DVD/CD-ROM devices.
Floppy Drive Installed by default when you create a new vSphere virtual machine. You can
connect to a floppy drive located on the ESXi host, a floppy (.flp) image, or the
floppy drive on your local system. You can add, remove, or configure floppy
devices.
Hard Disk Stores the virtual machine's operating system, program files, and other data
associated with its activities. A virtual disk is a large physical file, or a set of
files, that can be copied, moved, archived, and backed up as easily as any other
file.
IDE 0, IDE 1 By default, two Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interfaces are presented to
the virtual machine. The IDE interface (controller) is a standard way for storage
devices (Floppy drives, hard drives and CD-ROM drives) to connect to the
virtual machine.
Keyboard Mirrors the keyboard that is connected to the virtual machine console when you
first connect to the console.
Memory The virtual hardware memory size determines how much memory applications
that are running inside the virtual machine have available to them. A virtual
machine cannot benefit from more memory resources than its configured
virtual hardware memory size.
Network Adapter ESXi networking features provide communication between virtual machines on
the same host, between virtual machines on different hosts, and between other
virtual and physical machines. When you configure a virtual machine, you can
add network adapters (NICs) and specify the adapter type.
Parallel port Interface for connecting peripherals to the virtual machine. The virtual parallel
port can connect to a file. You can add, remove, or configure virtual parallel
ports.
PCI controller Bus on the virtual machine motherboard that communicates with components
such as hard disks and other devices. One PCI controller is presented to the
virtual machine. You cannot configure or remove this device.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
14 VMware, Inc.