split virtual HDD

[darkdragon001]

Like it's possible in VMware Player to split a virtual disk into several vmdk-files, is it possible on the ESXi, too?

I would like to have one virtual disk that is stored on two different datastores.

[Troy_Clavell]

although I've never done this, have a look at the below thread. My only concern is that you may not be able to split the disk across two datastores.

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/128238

[darkdragon001]

Seems like ESXi can not handle splitted files internally. So it seems to be not possible to split it across several datastores.

Thanks for your answer.

Somebody a different idea how to do it? Because I want to create a larger virtual disk than my datastore's size...

[Marcj1]

If the disk is not your boot disk, and if it is a windows guest, you could convert it to dynamic and extend it onto the disk residing on another datastore. That way you would have a single partition spanning two vmdk's, with a total size greater than your individual datastore.

[darkdragon001]

Good idea. I'll try it!

[a_p_]

Another way to get more space is to extend your datastore. You are able to create a datastore with up to 32 extends (up to ~64TB).

Some things you should keep in mind though:

1. The disks/LUNs you use as extends should have the same speed as the base datastore

2. Extends are comparable to RAID 0, so you'd have to make sure the disks/LUNs you use as extends are redundant

3. before extending make sure the base datastore has the block size you need (depending on the max. size of your vmdk)

4. the max. vmdk size is 2TB (with a block size of 8MB)

André

[darkdragon001]

Is it possible to extend it to one that is currently shown in my config?

How do I do that? Because these datastores are not shown, when I select extend. Do I need to delete the datastore I want to use to extend it before?

[a_p_]

Is it possible to extend it to one that is currently shown in my config?

How do I do that? Because these datastores are not shown, when I select extend. Do I need to delete the datastore I want to use to extend it before?

You can only add a raw disk/LUN as an extend. If you already created a datastore on your second disk/LUN, you would have to delete it (thus loosing all the data on it) to be able to add this disk/LUN as an extend to another existing datastore.

As I said in my earlier post, make sure the base datastore hast the desired block size.

André

EDIT:

see Increase VMFS Datastores