Hi,
I've generated and deployed an OVA via ovftool (running CentOS 6.2 on a ESXi 5.1).
The VMs used to generate the OVA and to deploy it were both provisioned as 32GB.
However, Linux ('cfdisk', 'parted /dev/sda unit GB print free' etc.) indicates that the disk size is 34GB.
Trying a 64GB VM, such tools report 68GB.
Is it normal to expect a ~ 2GB larger disk per 32GB of provisioned size? If so, why?
Thanks.
Many tools, such as "cfdisk", use the International System of Units (SI) prefixes in order to be consistent with how hard drive manufacturers convey size. For example a kilobyte is considered to equal 1,000 bytes.
vSphere/vCenter uses binary prefixes to indicate size. For example a kilobyte is considered to equal 1,024 bytes.
Why do the tools show 34 GB and vSphere 32 GB?
vSphere: 32 GiB = 32,768 MiB = 33,554,432 KiB = 34,359,738,368 B (note the lower case "i" conveys binary units)
cfdisk: 34,359,738,368 B = 34,359,739 kB = 34,360 MB = 34 GB
So yes, what you are seeing is expected. Nothing's wrong. Doesn't make things any less confusing though.
Many tools, such as "cfdisk", use the International System of Units (SI) prefixes in order to be consistent with how hard drive manufacturers convey size. For example a kilobyte is considered to equal 1,000 bytes.
vSphere/vCenter uses binary prefixes to indicate size. For example a kilobyte is considered to equal 1,024 bytes.
Why do the tools show 34 GB and vSphere 32 GB?
vSphere: 32 GiB = 32,768 MiB = 33,554,432 KiB = 34,359,738,368 B (note the lower case "i" conveys binary units)
cfdisk: 34,359,738,368 B = 34,359,739 kB = 34,360 MB = 34 GB
So yes, what you are seeing is expected. Nothing's wrong. Doesn't make things any less confusing though.