Before you deploy a new virtual machine, you have the option to configure the virtual machine hardware and the virtual machine options.

For information about virtual machine options and virtual disk configuration, including instructions for adding different types of devices, see vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.

Procedure

  1. Configure the virtual machine hardware settings on the Virtual Hardware tab of the Customize settings page in the New Virtual Machine wizard.
  2. (Optional) To add a new virtual hardware device, select the device from the Add other device drop-down menu on the Customize settings page of the New Virtual Machine wizard.
  3. (Optional) Expand any device to view and configure device settings.
    Option Description

    CPU

    The CPU or processor is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program and is the primary element carrying out the computer's functions. CPUs contain cores. The number of virtual CPUs that are available to a virtual machine depends on the number of licensed CPUs on the host, and the number of CPUs supported by the guest operating system. To use the VMware multicore virtual CPUs feature, you must comply with the requirements of the guest operating system EULA.

    Memory

    You can add, change, or configure virtual machine memory resources or options to enhance virtual machine performance. You can set most of the memory parameters during virtual machine creation or after the guest operating system is installed. The memory resource settings for a virtual machine determine how much of the host's memory is allocated to the virtual machine. The virtual hardware memory size determines how much memory is available to applications that run in the virtual machine.

    Hard disk

    You can add large-capacity virtual disks to virtual machines and add more space to existing disks, even when the virtual machine is running. You can set most of the virtual disk parameters during virtual machine creation or after you install the guest operating system.

    SCSI controller

    Storage controllers appear to a virtual machine as different types of SCSI controllers, including BusLogic Parallel, LSI Logic Parallel, LSI Logic SAS, and VMware Paravirtual SCSI. You can set the type of SCSI bus sharing for a virtual machine and indicate whether the SCSI bus is shared. Depending on the type of sharing, virtual machines can access the same virtual disk simultaneously on the same server or on any server. You can change the SCSI controller configuration for a virtual machine on an ESXi host only.

    SATA controller

    If a virtual machine has multiple hard disks or CD/DVD-ROM devices, you can add up to three additional SATA controllers to assign the devices to. When you spread the devices among several controllers, you can improve performance and avoid data traffic congestion. You can also add additional controllers if you exceed the thirty-device limit for a single controller. You can boot virtual machines from SATA controllers and use them for large-capacity virtual hard disks.

    Network adapter

    When you configure a virtual machine, you can add network adapters (NICs) and specify the adapter type. The type of network adapters that are available depend on the following factors:

    • The virtual machine compatibility, which depends on the host that created or most recently updated it.
    • Whether the virtual machine compatibility has been updated to the latest version for the current host.
    • The guest operating system.

    CD/DVD drive

    You can configure DVD or CD devices to connect to client devices, host devices, or Datastore ISO files.

  4. To remove a device, click the delete button close next to the device.
    This option appears only for virtual hardware that you can remove safely.
  5. Configure the virtual machine options on the VM Options tab of the Customize settings page in the New Virtual Machine wizard.
  6. Click Next.