Set the Storage Overcommit Level for Linked-Clone Virtual Machines

You can control how aggressively Horizon 7 creates linked-clone virtual machines on a datastore by using the storage overcommit feature. This feature lets you create linked clones that have a total logical size larger than the physical storage limit of the datastore.

This feature works only with linked-clone pools and automated farms.

The storage overcommit level calculates the amount of storage greater than the physical size of the datastore that the clones would use if each clone were a full virtual machine. For details, see Storage Overcommit for Linked-Clone Virtual Machines. The following procedure applies to linked-clone desktop pools. The steps are similar for automated farms.

Procedure

1. In Horizon Administrator, select Catalog > Desktop Pools.
2. When you create a new desktop pool or edit an existing pool, navigate to the vCenter Settings page.

   Option	Action
   New desktop pool	Click Add. Proceed through the Add Desktop Pool wizard until the vCenter Settings page appears.
   Existing desktop pool	Select the linked-clone pool and click Edit. Click the vCenter Settings tab.

3. On the vCenter Settings page, click Browse next to Datastores.
4. Select the datastore on the Select Linked Clone Datastores page.
   A drop-down menu appears in the Storage Overcommit column for the selected datastore.
5. Select the storage overcommit level from the drop-down menu.

   Option	Description
   None	Storage is not overcommitted.
   Conservative	4 times the size of the datastore. This is the default level.
   Moderate	7 times the size of the datastore.
   Aggressive	15 times the size of the datastore.
   Unbounded	Horizon 7 does not limit the number of linked-clone machines that it creates based on the physical capacity of the datastore. Select this level only if you are certain that the datastore has enough storage capacity to accommodate all of the machines and their future growth.

6. Click OK.