Sharing DAS/NAS between VMs

[avery1]

In VMware Fusion, is it possible to run VMs (say 6-10 concurrently) off my Mac's SSD while adding vmdk's for each VM that are stored on a single:

a) DAS (USB3, Firewire, or thunderbolt)

b) NAS

If so, can anyone point to some instructions for how I would do this?

If this is possible with both, is one easier to mange than the other (say if I disconnect the DAS/NAS regularly, assuming VMs is powered off)?

Thanks in advance!

[WoodyZ]

While what you're asking, assuming one has appropriate Host Resources to concurrently run the number of VM needed, is technically doable nonetheless I would not recommend it simply because it just to easy to corrupt the virtual hard disk if DAS/NAS connectivity is disconnected for any reason while writes to the virtual hard disk are occurring.

[avery1]

Thanks. Good point, regarding the availability of the storage. Seems like NAS has a much higher chance of interruption (rebooting a router, etc, included).

Now that said, this is for a personal training lab, and the VMs themselves would run on the local disk. Most of them won't have 'external'/DAS storage, but I may need to add some extra files to Oracle's ASM with dummy environments. I don't mind backing those up, or losing some data, per-se... just would want to minimize the chances of that occurring. Seems like having an iMac or whitebox (ESXi) would be OK with DAS in this scenario, provided there is a UPS.

How do I add a vmdk to a vm that references some portion of DAS? Any reason to believe the interface (USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt) would matter?

[WoodyZ]

How do I add a vmdk to a vm that references some portion of DAS?

If you're referring to a .vmdk file that resides on the DAS this is simple, just add it via the VM's Settings however if you're referring to Raw Disk Access this is another story all together.  You need to create the .vmdk that's using Raw Disk Access with /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/Library/vmware-rawdiskCreator and then add it to the VM either via it setting or sometimes it has to be added manually.  Also when using Raw Disks you may not suspend the VM or snapshot the .vmdk that using Raw Disk Access and you'll probably have to manually add some .vmx configuration file options, that I don't have handy at the moment to post, to keep this from happening.

Any reason to believe the interface (USB, Firewire, Thunderbolt) would matter?

Yes if USB 2.0, then I'd use Firewire or Thunderbolt over it.

[avery1]

When I add a disk in Fusion, it doesn't seem to allow me to select a location for the vmdk. Perhaps I can just move it to another destination and it will prompt on bootup?

[WoodyZ]

Of course you can tell it where to save it!  No offense intended, do you know how to use a Mac?  When adding the Disk don't just click the Apply button, click on the $NAME.vmdk and select Save As... and if need be click the down arrow button to the right of the Save As: test box to expand the dialog box where you have aggregate controls.  This is basic OS X functionality, nothing to do with VMware Fusion per se.