ESXi

  • 1.  Windows VM swap file sizing and best practice.

    Posted Nov 04, 2014 12:41 AM

    Hi,

    Does the Windows swap file (pagefile.sys) still required to be created 1.5x of the total vRAM assigned on the C:\ for all Windows Server VMs ?

    My VMFS data store is currently hosted on the Flash Storage array so the disk performance is not a problem to handle the load of 25 up to 30 VMs per VMFS data store.



  • 2.  RE: Windows VM swap file sizing and best practice.

    Posted Nov 04, 2014 12:53 AM

    The size of pagefile inside the guest OS is an question more related to OS than VMware, anyway the size of swap file will depend of the size of assign RAM memory and if the workload is requiring all memory assigned.

    Take a look at this note from Microsoft KB: RAM, virtual memory, pagefile, and memory management in Windows</title> <!-- integration code for PDF -->…

    Users frequently ask "how big should I make the pagefile?" There is no single answer to this question because it depends on the amount of installed RAM and on how much virtual memory that workload requires. If there is no other information available, the typical recommendation of 1.5 times the installed RAM is a good starting point. On server systems, you typically want to have sufficient RAM so that there is never a shortage and so that the pagefile is basically not used. On these systems, it may serve no useful purpose to maintain a really large pagefile. On the other hand, if disk space is plentiful, maintaining a large pagefile (for example, 1.5 times the installed RAM) does not cause a problem, and this also eliminates the need to worry over how large to make it.



  • 3.  RE: Windows VM swap file sizing and best practice.

    Posted Nov 04, 2014 01:00 AM

    Thanks for the reply Richard,

    The OS is all Windows Server, mostly being 2008 R2 and running as Windows Terminal Server / RDS farm.



  • 4.  RE: Windows VM swap file sizing and best practice.
    Best Answer

    Posted Nov 04, 2014 11:18 PM

    With Windows Server 2008 R2 and above I am in favor of system manged pagefiles - the OS is extremely efficient at managing this without manual intervention.

    Here is another interesting article which might help you decide ... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff382717.aspx

    Cheers,

    Jon