licensed memory usage in ESX5 essentials +

[gwhynott]

Hello,

We have a 3 node cluster with an ESX 5 Essentials license applied.  This limits us to 3 nodes and 192 gigs of memory in total IIRC.

I am wondering what happens with the memory allocation and what control we have over it. Each server has 96 gigs of physical memory, meaning 2 nodes will cause us to hit the memory limit.   I added the 3rd node but don't see any indication of it being limited in terms of memory limitiations.  didn't see any obvious log warnings either. 

Is the vmemory licensed amount a limit on memory in use by guests,  or a limit on the physical amount of memory in totoal amongst the 3 nodes?  if the total amount of physical memory, can you modify the amount each host is entitled to?   (in our case the VMs all run on the first 2 nodes with the 3rd as a 'stand by/sandbox',  due to it being an older machine with less cores and other resources).

thanks for your time,

greg

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

The 192 GB is the vRAM Entitlement, which means the total memory assigned to the powered on VM's across all three hosts is taken into account. It's the vCenter Server which watches the memory usage.

André

PS: Discussion moved from VI: VMware ESX™ 3.5 to VMware ESXi 5

[gwhynott]

Thanks a.p. for your time.

take care,

greg