Installation guide

Recommendations for Enhanced ESX Performance

There are several things you can do to enhance ESX performance, including using multiple physical disks,

such as SCSI disks, Fibre Channel LUNs, and RAID LUNs.

Following are some recommendations for enhanced performance:

RAM – The ESX host might require more RAM for the service console if you are running third-party

management applications or backup agents.

Network adapters for virtual machines – Dedicated Gigabit Ethernet cards for virtual machines, such as

Intel PRO 1000 adapters, improve throughput to virtual machines with high network traffic.

Disk location – For best performance, store all data used by your virtual machines on physical disks

allocated to virtual machines. These physical disks should be large enough to hold disk images used by

all the virtual machines.

Processors – Faster processors improve ESX performance. For certain workloads, larger caches improve

ESX performance.

Hardware compatibility – Use devices in your server that are supported by ESX 4.0 drivers. See the

Hardware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

Tested Software and Firmware for Creating ESX Installation Media

Before you install ESX, you might need to burn the ESX installation ISO image onto DVD or USB media. Review

the firmware and software that VMware has tested and has confirmed works.

VMware has tested these combinations, however, other combinations might work as well.

Table 4-1 lists the tested combinations for burning the ESX installation ISO image onto DVD media.

Table 4-1. Tested Combinations for DVD

DVD Drive (Make, Model, and BIOS) Software to Burn DVD DVD Media

Phillips + RW DVD8801 Roxio Creator Classic version: 6.1.1.48 SONY DVD +RW 120min / 4.7 GB

Philips PLDS DVD + RW DH-16A6S Roxio Creator version: 3.3.0 SONY DVD+RW

Philips PLDS DVD + RW DH-16W1S Roxio Creator version: 3.3.0 SONY DVD+RW

Philips BenQ PBDS + RW DH-16W1S Roxio Creator version: 3.3.0 SONY DVD+RW

HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H53N Burn4Free V.4.6.0.0 SONY DVD+RW

Dell/_NEC DVD +-RW ND-3530A Roxio Creator Classic version: 6.1.1.48 Memorex DVD-R

Dell/_NEC DVD +-RW ND-3530A Roxio Creator Classic version: 6.1.1.48 Office Depot DVD+RW

Dell/_NEC DVD +-RW ND-3530A Roxio Creator Classic version: 6.1.1.48 Ativa DVD-RW

Dell/_NEC DVD +-RW ND-3530A Roxio Creator Classic version: 6.1.1.48 TDK DVD+R

Verbatim DVD+R

SONY DVD-R

Maxell DVD+R

Table 4-2 lists the tested combinations for burning the ESX installation ISO image onto USB media.

Table 4-2. Tested Combinations for USB

External USB DVD Drive Firmware Version

Iomega Rev: XY13

LaCie Rev: LA00

Chapter 4 System Requirements

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