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Table Of Contents
3 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand CPU, and allocate CPU capacity for the virtual machine.
Option Description
Reservation
Guaranteed CPU allocation for this virtual machine.
Limit
Upper limit for this virtual machine’s CPU allocation. Select Unlimited to
specify no upper limit.
Shares
CPU shares for this virtual machine in relation to the parent’s total. Sibling
virtual machines share resources according to their relative share values
bounded by the reservation and limit. Select Low, Normal, or High, which
specify share values respectively in a 1:2:4 ratio. Select Custom to give each
virtual machine a specic number of shares, which express a proportional
weight.
4 Click Save.
Virtual Memory Configuration
You can add, change, or congure virtual machine memory resources or options to enhance virtual machine
performance. You can set most of the memory parameters during virtual machine creation or after the guest
operating system is installed. Some actions require that you power o the virtual machine before changing
the seings.
The memory resource seings for a virtual machine determine how much of the host's memory is allocated
to the virtual machine. The virtual hardware memory size determines how much memory is available to
applications that run in the virtual machine. A virtual machine cannot benet from more memory resources
than its congured virtual hardware memory size. ESXi hosts limit the memory resource use to the
maximum amount useful for the virtual machine, so that you can accept the default of Unlimited memory
resources.
Change the Memory Configuration of a Virtual Machine in the VMware Host Client
You can recongure the amount of memory allocated to a virtual machine to enhance performance.
Minimum memory size is 4MB for virtual machines that use BIOS rmware. Virtual machines that use EFI
rmware require at least 96MB of RAM or they cannot power on.
Maximum memory size for a virtual machine depends on the host's physical memory and the virtual
machine's compatibility seing.
If the virtual machine memory is greater than the host memory size, swapping occurs, which can have a
severe eect on virtual machine performance. The maximum for best performance represents the threshold
above which the host’s physical memory is insucient to run the virtual machine at full speed. This value
uctuates as conditions on the host change, for example, as virtual machines are powered on or o.
The memory size must be a multiple of 4MB.
Table 32. Maximum Virtual Machine Memory
Introduced in Host Version Virtual Machine Compatibility Maximum Memory Size
ESXi 6.0 ESXi 6.0 and later 4080GB
ESXi 5.5 ESXi 5.5 and later 1011GB
ESXi 5.1 ESXi 5.1 and later 1011GB
ESXi 5.0 ESXi 5.0 and later 1011GB
ESX/ESXi 4.x ESX/ESXi 4.0 and later 255GB
ESX/ESXi 3.x ESX/ESXi 3.5 and later 65532MB
Chapter 3 Virtual Machine Management with the VMware Host Client
VMware, Inc. 53