VMware Cloud Community
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

ESXI 7.0 running on maintenance mode but use 35Gb Ram

Hello everyone!.

I have a case I need your help with,

I have an esxi server, the esxi server is in maintenance mode, there are no VMs on it but it is taking up 35Gb of space.

I have never encountered this situation, can you help me find the cause of such high ram usage?

When installing new, this server does not have this problem.
when i add the server to vcenter it doesn't have high ram consumption.

But when I migrade a virtual machine running on it it uses up to 35G ram.

I move the new VM to another esxi server, go into maintenance mode and make sure the esxi doesn't contain another server, then I remove the esxi server from the vcenter and restart that esxi server.

However, it still takes up the same high amount of ram as before.

Please help me fix it

 
Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
pkvmw
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

"Storage Accelerator" is not a vSAN feature - it's a Horizon feature which caches VM data to reduce the load on the storage under high boot-storms or so: see https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-7/7.13/horizon-console-administration/GUID-FE046913-1555-4...

This feature caches VM data in RAM, but I'm not sure how big the memory pool is. That's being set on Horizon.

As you mention instant clones: Horizon makes a template and a replica when a Desktop Pool is created. Then the replica (IIRC) of the golden image is put into RAM to allow the quick creation of VMs, as it simply duplicates the VM in RAM.

So, might the load just come from ESXi, Storage Accelerator and the fact you have Instant Clones? How many RAM does your golden image have?

Regards,
Patrik

View solution in original post

13 Replies
fabio1975
Commander
Commander
Jump to solution

Ciao 

Have you tried to connect via SSH to the single ESXi node and check with the ESXTOP command (Once in the ESXTOP screen press 'm' to display memory statistics) which process is using the 35 GB of ram?

 

Fabio

Visit vmvirtual.blog
If you're satisfied give me a kudos

Reply
0 Kudos
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dear @fabio1975  

thanks for your reply

it now i reinstall esxi and vcenter server, it work is ok.

before reinstall i also tried running that command but didn't see any unusual problem in RAM usage

 
Reply
0 Kudos
fabio1975
Commander
Commander
Jump to solution

CIao 

Once you have installed it again, have you tried to repeat the operation that created the RAM problem for you?

Fabio

Visit vmvirtual.blog
If you're satisfied give me a kudos

Reply
0 Kudos
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dear @fabio1975 

I've retried the operations and it doesn't happen again.
Thank you very much for your support

Reply
0 Kudos
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dear @fabio1975 

After two days of normal operation, my servers have the problem of using a lot of ram again, I think after I deploy Workspace One UEM appliance this happens, but I deleted Workspace One UEM appliance and the RAM still won't go down .
I use the extop command as you instructed, the results are as shown below. In the results displayed, I do not see any application that uses such high resources.
please help me check it

Reply
0 Kudos
fabio1975
Commander
Commander
Jump to solution

CIao 

From the ESXTOP you attached, I actually don't find any anomalies.
However, I noticed the server model which is a Lenovo Flex System x240 M5. I saw that it does not fall within the compatibility matrix with ESXi 7.x from both the Lenovo site and the VMware site:

VMware Compatibility Guide - System Search

OS Interoperability Guide > Lenovo Press

Did you have any indication that it is supported with ESXi 7.x?
Are you able to do a test with 6.7 to see if the problem recurs or have you updated all the firmware versions?

Fabio

Visit vmvirtual.blog
If you're satisfied give me a kudos

Reply
0 Kudos
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

i tried vcsa 7 and esxi 6.7 but the problem still occurs, the problem occurs after i deploy horizon 2016 (vm instant clone)

I will try again with vcsa 6.7 and esxi 6.7 and will update you with the results

Thank you very much for your support

Reply
0 Kudos
pkvmw
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

Do you have vSAN running?

Is Storage Accelerator (in Horizon) enabled (if so, how much memory is set there?)?

Reply
0 Kudos
fabio1975
Commander
Commander
Jump to solution

Ciao 

I calmly looked at the ESXTOP data and actually, you have some vmkernel reserved memory and probably the cause is the presence of a vSAN.

fabio1975_0-1629751165635.png


If so, read this KB

Understanding vSAN memory consumption in ESXi 6.x and 7.x (2113954) (vmware.com)

which explains how RAM is reserved for vSAN

and this post in the community:

Solved: VMware ESXi 6.7 VMKernel memory usage - VMware Technology Network VMTN

you can see the system memory reservation on the Esxi configuration settings 

fabio1975_2-1629751469959.png

 

 

 

Fabio

Visit vmvirtual.blog
If you're satisfied give me a kudos

Reply
0 Kudos
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dear @fabio1975 and @pkvmw 

by default i don't use vsan

I deploy horizon according to the instructions and there is no mention of activating the vsan feature

I will rebuild again and update to you

I will use vcenter 6.7, esxi 6.7 (the esxi iso downloaded from lenovo homepage for the server I'm using)

Thanks so much

Reply
0 Kudos
cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dear @fabio1975 and @pkvmw 

i redeployed the system with esxi version 6.7 download from lenovo's site and vcsa 6.7 standard
results after deploying vm-clone-instant, my esxi Ram is occupied as high as before.

I have attached the information in the images below

my system don't use vsan, i only use SAN (v3700 IBM)

I see a host/vim object using high ram like in the attached image, I don't know what it is and why is it using so high?

Thanks for helping me out

Thank you very much

    

Reply
0 Kudos
pkvmw
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

"Storage Accelerator" is not a vSAN feature - it's a Horizon feature which caches VM data to reduce the load on the storage under high boot-storms or so: see https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-7/7.13/horizon-console-administration/GUID-FE046913-1555-4...

This feature caches VM data in RAM, but I'm not sure how big the memory pool is. That's being set on Horizon.

As you mention instant clones: Horizon makes a template and a replica when a Desktop Pool is created. Then the replica (IIRC) of the golden image is put into RAM to allow the quick creation of VMs, as it simply duplicates the VM in RAM.

So, might the load just come from ESXi, Storage Accelerator and the fact you have Instant Clones? How many RAM does your golden image have?

Regards,
Patrik

cuong9551
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dear @pkvmw 

thanks for your answer that properly solved my situation. During the installation process, I adjusted the parameters of View Storage Accelerator to 32Gb.

Thank @pkvmw and @fabio1975 supported me

Reply
0 Kudos