VC template storage

[seangar]

I cant find any info on the format of the storage that can be used for VC templates/cloning.

Documentation states it can be local to the VC (a w2k3 box, we'll use a MS ISCSI LUN). So I ASSUME it can be formatted NTFS, and VMFS is of no concern ?

TIA

S

[VirtualNoitall]

Hello,

In VI 3 virtual machine templates are stored on VMFS volumes along with virtual machines.

Here is a good doc that should help you: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vc_2_templates_usage_best_practices_wp.pdf

templates are no longer stored local to a VC server.

[seangar]

So in our farm of many hosts and one 300 GB LUN per host, I should create another LUN (datastore) for templates and attach it to maybe ESX1, INSTEAD of using a ntfs vol local to the VC ?

TIS

S

[VirtualNoitall · Accepted solution]

Correct, a separate LUN, or multiple LUNs for templates is a good idea.

[DougBaer]

Some people like to use the local storage on an ESX host for templates. Since templates become somewhat tied to the host that the VM is living on when it becomes 'templated' (at least when clusters are used for DRS and HA), this makes a bit of sense.

Arguably, it takes a bit longer to deploy a template from local storage, and they disappear if the host dies or is rebuild without remembering that they were there -- but you can make use of that 100 GB space leftover when you installed ESX on the 146 GB RAID 1 in the host servers.