ESXi

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  • 1.  Snapshot with big vswp file

    Posted Feb 15, 2012 03:24 AM

    I had taken a snapshot and find that the vswp file is so big (around 37GB). How to make it smaller ?



  • 2.  RE: Snapshot with big vswp file

    Posted Feb 17, 2012 07:53 AM

    How much RAM is the virtual machine configured with?

    Are you sure that it is the swap file that actually is large and not the delta file?



  • 3.  RE: Snapshot with big vswp file

    Posted Feb 17, 2012 08:14 AM

    Hi,

    normally the swap file will be equal in size to the memory allocated. If you have set reservations it is possible that the size is a different one.

    Regards



  • 4.  RE: Snapshot with big vswp file

    Posted Feb 17, 2012 08:32 AM

    Not sure whether this is an option for you, but the only secure (data consistency) option to avoid large .vswp and .vmsn files is to take the snapshot with the VM powered off.

    André



  • 5.  RE: Snapshot with big vswp file

    Posted Feb 17, 2012 10:19 AM

    Hi,

    If you make reservations for your virtual machine's that are equal to the amount of RAM assigned to them, swapping and page sharing does not occur. You can over commit pretty heavily if you are comfortable with poorer performance. If you do not set reservations, ESX host creates a .vswp file equal to the difference between the amount of physical memory assigned to the virtual machine and the reservation it has. By default, memory reservations are set to 0. If you have a virtual machine with 2GB of memory without a reservation, it creates a 2GB .vswp file when it is powered on. The virtual machine starts using the .vswp file if the server is out of physical RAM. If you set a 1GB reservation, it creates a 1GB .vswp file. The .vswp files are what allows for memory overcommitment.

    Regards