Recommendation on VMware snapshot disk space requirement

[Muralimohana_R]

Hi,

I have a VM with size 350GB and i have the Datastore LUN with size 500GB. My requirement is I have to take a snapshot of this VM. I want to know what is the minimum free space which is required to take a snapshot in this type of situation.

Please suggest me if I should have the free space same as the size of VM?

I understand that initial size of the disk will be a small file and the size of the snapshot will increase depending upon the number of I/Os on the disk. but what i am concerned is the Provisioned space for the snapshot. In my observations when we take snapshot the Provisioned space for the VM will be double the size of the VM. In my case if I initiate a snapshot then the provisioned space would exceed the size of the LUN.

Any help would be apprepicated.

Thanks & Regards,

Murali

[a_p_]

The provisioned space shows the maximum theoretically required disk space in the case your snapshot grows to its maximum. As you mentioned the real required disk space depends on the changed data while the snapshot is active.

Usually a snapshot should only live for a short time, e.g. while taking a backup or in case of a critical update. Running a VM with snapshots does not only require additional disk space but can also slow down the VM.

André

[vGuy]

Welcome to the forum!

As mentioned by Andre, the provisioned space is only showing therotical limit incase the snapshot size grows to its maximum. This means you will still be able to PowerOn the VM and perform normal operations. However, you should monitor the snapshot size closely. You can configure vCenter Alarm for the VM to monitor Snapshot Size as well.

[Muralimohana_R]

Thanks for the reply. Now I got an idea on how to decide with disk space for large VMDK files. If Provisioning is just a theoritical value then I need to think of some monitoring in place as mentioned by Guy.

Thanks,

Murali