6.0.1

Table Of Contents
On Windows guest operating systems whose operating system is Windows
Vista or later, the VMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft - WDDM) driver is installed.
This driver provides the same base functionality as the SVGA driver, and it
adds Windows Aero support.
SCSI driver
A VMware Paravirtual SCSI driver is included for use with paravirtual SCSI
devices. Drivers for other storage adapters are either bundled with the
operating system, or they are available from third-party vendors.
For example, Windows Server 2008 defaults to LSI Logic SAS, which
provides the best performance for that operating system. In this case, the LSI
Logic SAS driver provided by the operating system is used.
Paravirtual SCSI driver
This driver for VMware Paravirtual SCSI adapters enhances the performance
of some virtualized applications.
VMXNet NIC drivers
The vmxnet and vmxnet3 networking drivers improve network
performance. Which driver is used depends on how you configure device
settings for the virtual machine. Search the VMware Knowledge Base for
information on which guest operating systems support these drivers.
When you install VMware Tools, a VMXNet NIC driver replaces the default
vlance driver.
Mouse driver
The virtual mouse driver improves mouse performance. This driver is
required if you use some third-party tools such as Microsoft Terminal
Services.
Audio driver
This sound driver is required for all 64-bit Windows guest operating systems
and 32-bit Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista
guest operating systems.
Guest Introspection
drivers
The two Guest Introspection drivers are the NSX File Introspection driver
and the Network Introspection driver. The NSX File Introspection driver
uses the hypervisor to perform antivirus scans without a bulky agent. This
strategy avoids resource bottlenecks and optimizes memory use. The NSX
Network Introspection driver supports NSX for vSphere Activity
Monitoring. You can install the two drivers separately. When you install
VMware Tools, by default, the Guest Introspection drivers are not installed.
Memory control driver
This driver is required for memory ballooning and is recommended if you
use VMware vSphere. Excluding this driver hinders the memory
management capabilities of the virtual machine in a vSphere deployment.
Modules and drivers
that support making
automatic backups of
virtual machines
If the guest operating system is Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or
other newer Windows operating systems, a Volume Shadow Copy Services
(VSS) module is installed. For other, older Windows operating systems, the
Filesystem Sync driver is installed. These modules allow external third-party
backup software that is integrated with vSphere to create application-
consistent snapshots. During the snapshotting process, certain processes are
paused and virtual machine disks are quiesced.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements
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