recommended ESX system disk size??

[tlyczko]

Hello,

I was getting ready to configure our DL380 with ESX Starter and then discovered the server was unintentionally ordered without the two disks which were intended for the ESX software.

So before I order the additional two disks I need, I'm re-evaluating how much storage I need for ESX and its associated files.

I originally planned for two (2) 36GB disks in RAID1.

Will this be large enough for ESX and all its associated files etc.?? I know I'll probably have to monitor that log files don't take up too much space...

The VMs will be on a separate RAID in the same server. I plan to make a Win2k3 x64 'golden master' of say, 8-10 GB with a 2GB pagefile, then for each actual VM I make, expand the VM's size and add additional VMDK's for additional data partitions as necessary in each VM.

Oh...I assume ESX VMs are pre-allocated and one single size, one doesn't have the option for growable etc. and splitting up the disks like in Workstation 6.x.

I had found stuff which talked about how much disk space one needs but I can't remember where it is etc., that's why I'm posting here, VMware's excellent forum helps me find the topics I've saved for tracking...

Thank you, Tom

[esiebert7625 · Accepted solution]

36GB is plenty for the SC/VMKernel, you usually need about 8-10GB for this. You can install on the 36GB drive and it will also create a small VMFS partition with the leftover space, probably about 28GB. You can create an additional VMFS partition when you install the new drives. You can only create thick (pre-allocated) disks in ESX through the VI client. You can create thin (growable) disks via the command line with vmkfstools.

http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=534759

Fyi…if you find this post helpful, please award points using the Helpful/Correct buttons…thanks

[tlyczko]

I have previously tended to wait till a few people have responded before giving out points, since my questions have usually been not so clear-cut.

Thanks a lot for responding.

Tom

[Chris_S_UK]

The partition sizes I use are:

/ 5g

/boot 250mb

/var 2g

/opt 2g

/tmp 2g

/usr 2g

/home 2g

swap 1g

core 100mb

vmfs rest

So with these sizes, ESX itself needs approx 16.5gb so your 36gb usable space should be ample.

Chris