Nested VM ESXi resource settings.

[ianboo77]

Hello,

Hopefully a relatively easy question to answer..

I have at home a 16gb quad core PC which I am using (or plan to) as my lab environment, to this end I intend to run Workstation 10 on windows 7 and nested inside this an instance of ESX .

Put simply my question is, if I assign ESX virtual machine 8gb and a couple of CPUs , will VMs created in this ESX be constrained by  the Virtual 8gb memory assigned to the Virtual ESXi or the 16gb of my physical machine . Ie if I create 3 Vms with 4Gb memory each, will they be contesting over 8gb, or 16gb. Does a nested VM reference its direct virtual hosts resource settings or the underlying physical hosts resources is probably the question more succinctly put.

My original thinking was assign 12 Gb and 2 CPUs to the virtual ESXi and plan my environment on these figures. But I wonder if that is the wrong thinking considering what seems to be the most common settings people are installing nested ESX with according to blogs/guides ( which is 4gb)..

If somebody could spare 5mins to offer some advice it would be greatly appreciated..

[GaneshNetworks]

Your system config is as same as mine, where I run my lab.

If I assign ESX virtual machine 8gb and a couple of CPUs , will VMs created in this ESX be constrained by  the Virtual 8gb memory assigned to the Virtual ESXi or the 16gb of my physical machine

Yes, Nested VMs resources will be constrained by the resource assigned to the Nested ESXi servers.

I would recommend you to create 2 or 3 Nested ESXi servers. You could divide your memory by 6+6+4 or any ratio. Having 3 ESXi servers will be give you more option to test all the features.

[ianboo77]

Many thanks. At least I know Im starting off on the right foot now..

[GaneshNetworks]

Happy Testing!!!