6.7

Table 1‑2. Virtual Machine Hardware and Descriptions (Continued)
Hardware Device Description
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.
PCI Device You can add up to 16 PCI vSphere DirectPath devices to a virtual machine. The
devices must be reserved for PCI passthrough on the host on which the virtual
machine runs. Snapshots are not supported with DirectPath I/O passthrough devices.
Pointing device Mirrors the pointing device that is connected to the virtual machine console when you
first connect to the console.
Serial Port Interface for connecting peripherals to the virtual machine. The virtual serial port can
connect to a physical serial port, to a file on the host computer, or over the network.
You can also use it to establish a direct connection between two virtual machines or a
connection between a virtual machine and an application on the host computer. You
can configure a virtual machine with up to 32 serial ports. You can add, remove, or
configure virtual serial ports.
SATA controller Provides access to virtual disks and DVD/CD-ROM devices. The SATA virtual
controller appears to a virtual machine as an AHCI SATA Controller.
SCSI controller Provides access to virtual disks. The SCSI virtual controller appears to a virtual
machine as different types of controllers, including LSI Logic Parallel, LSI Logic SAS,
and VMware Paravirtual. You can change the SCSI controller type, allocate bus
sharing for a virtual machine, or add a paravirtualized SCSI controller.
SCSI device By default, a SCSI device interface is available to the virtual machine. The SCSI
interface is a typical way to connect storage devices (floppy drives, hard drives, and
DVD/CD-ROMs) to a virtual machine. You can add, remove, or configure SCSI
devices.
SIO controller Provides serial and parallel ports, floppy devices, and performs system management
activities. One SIO controller is available to the virtual machine. You cannot configure
or remove this device.
USB controller The USB hardware chip that provides USB function to the USB ports that it manages.
The virtual USB Controller is the software virtualization of the USB host controller
function in the virtual machine.
USB device You can add multiple USB devices, such as security dongles and mass storage
devices, to a virtual machine. The USB devices can be connected to an ESXi host or a
client computer.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
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