Section 4.3. Disk Bandwidth

4.3. Disk Bandwidth

If you are running virtual servers that require heavy access to diskssuch as a file, messaging, or database serveryou may want to modify the bandwidth allocation values for that virtual machine. VMware ESX Server uses an "allocation policy" based on proportional shares. The more shares a virtual machine has on a disk, the more access to the disk the virtual machine will have. Shares can be set numerically, such as 100, 200, and so on, or by setting the share value to Low, Normal, or High.

To set the share value, open the MUI and right-click the virtual machine you want to modify and then select Properties. On the Disk tab of your virtual machine, click Edit. Type the value of disk shares you want this virtual machine to have. By default, it's set to 1,000 (see Figure 4.2).

Figure 4-2. Disk Shares

Depending on the type of virtual machine you are running, you may or may not want to adjust this value. A file server, for example, may need greater access to the disk then say a Web server. Whatever change you make here, ensure it's documented.