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Wajeeh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

maximum memory for virtual machine possible

Hello,

If I have 2 esxi hosts in cluster with 1TB memory in each host. so total cluster memory 2TB

If I want to build a VM with memory 1TB and want to power it on, will esxi or vcenter will allow me to power on a VM having memory equal to all total memory of the esxi hosts i.e. 1TB ?

Incase any additional details are needed, please let me know

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maksym007
Expert
Expert

you should be able to start your VM normally.

But which ESXi version we are discussing here?

Remember about VMware Tools, VM Hardware Version and from Cluster level configuring Datastore for SWAP Memory. 

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Wajeeh
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

it is vsphere 7 U3, how a VM will be able to power on when the host on which it is residing having memory equal to VM, the OS we will be installing is going to be RHEL 7.9

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IRIX201110141
Champion
Champion

Because you can configure and starting a VM with more vMem as the Host have phys. Memory. Reason is quite simple because ESXi uses a swap file for that which of curse kills the performance but it will "run".  There s also memory compression, Ballooning and TpS.

There is a config max.

https://configmax.esp.vmware.com/guest?vmwareproduct=vSphere&release=vSphere%207.0&categories=1-0

Regards,
J.B

 

DCasota
Expert
Expert

This is a uncommon spec because applications in a vm with 1-2TB amount of memory needed typically run with VMware validated design support. That's the first point in a design finding phase. Your hardware must be able to handle I/O. Overcommitting vm memory and reserving a part of it, yes, this works, but the hardware should be rugged enough for the application. See application specs about VMware prerequisites in detail.

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