You can add a VMware Paravirtual SCSI high performance storage controller to a virtual machine to provide greater throughput and lower CPU use.

VMware Paravirtual SCSI controllers are best suited for environments, especially SAN environments, running I/O-intensive applications.

For information about SCSI controller maximums and virtual device assignments, see SCSI and SATA Storage Controller Conditions, Limitations, and Compatibility.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that the virtual machine has a guest operating system with VMware Tools installed.
  • Verify that the virtual machine compatibility is ESXi 4.x and later.
  • Ensure that you are familiar with the VMware Paravirtual SCSI controller type.
  • To access boot disk devices attached to a VMware Paravirtual SCSI controller, verify that the virtual machine has a Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 guest operating system.
  • In some operating systems, before you change the controller type, create a virtual machine with an LSI Logic controller, install VMware Tools, and then change to paravirtual mode.

Procedure

  1. Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
  2. On the Virtual Hardware tab, add a paravirtualized SCSI adapter.
    Client Steps
    vSphere Client
    1. Click the Add New Device button and select SCSI Controller from the drop-down menu.
    2. Expand New SCSI controller and from the Change Type drop-down menu, select VMware Paravirtual.
    vSphere Web Client
    1. Select SCSI Controller from the New device drop-down menu at the bottom of the wizard.
    2. Click Add.
    3. Expand New SCSI controller and from the Change Type drop-down menu, select VMware Paravirtual.
    4. Click the Change Type button.
    The controller appears at the bottom of the Virtual Hardware device list.
  3. Click OK.