{"id":8,"date":"2010-03-03T16:14:14","date_gmt":"2010-03-03T21:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/virtualizeplanet.com\/wordpress\/?p=8"},"modified":"2011-02-01T20:10:51","modified_gmt":"2011-02-01T20:10:51","slug":"save-optimise-virtual-disk-storage-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/read.virtualizeplanet.com\/?p=8","title":{"rendered":"Save & Optimise Virtual Disk Storage for FREE."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
Save & Optimise Virtual Disk Storage for FREE.
\n<\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\nThis article demonstrates a FREE <\/em><\/strong>way of saving\/optimising Virtual Disk storage space using software which is freely available. Include is :1. How to report which disks are over-allocated using our very own free vdisk waste finder application from here >
\n\n\tVdisk Waste Finder\t(13719 downloads\t)\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n2. How to resize over-allocated vdisks using a free open source application called \u201cgparted<\/span><\/a>\u201d
\n3. How to align the vdisk including system disks to a 64k start sector. This increases performance and reduces disk latency using a free open source application called \u201cgparted<\/span><\/a>\u201dSo to get started first of all download all the software by clicking on the application names above.\/Disclaimer:\u00a0 Virtualizeplanet will not be liable if anything was to go wrong whilst performing the following operations. Do at your own risk and we will not be responsible for data loss or down time.<\/span><\/strong>\/
\n<\/span><\/strong>How to\u00a0report which disks are over-allocated.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Update on this post, watch how to do this found > here<\/a> <<\/h1>\n

Firstly use Vdisk Waste Finder by pointing the application to your ESX server or vCenter server, providing credentials, specifying the percentage of free space you want to look for and then clicking go.
\nYou will then be presented with a list of VMs and their disk details. On the far right you will see a column titled \u201cWasted Disk\u201d. Any disk that is noted as \u201cNeeds Resize\u201d falls under\u00a0the allowed free space and you could consider this drive a candidate for a resize..<\/p>\n

\"VWF\"<\/a> Click Picture to make larger<\/p>\n

How to resize over-allocated vdisks.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Secondly Add a vdisk to the candidate VM of the new optimal size using the VI client.
\nNow booting from the Gparted live-cd iso image it\u2019s easy to resize the partition of a disk.\u00a0 Right click on the drive you want to resize then click Resize\/Move from the menu:<\/p>\n

\"gparted\"<\/a>Click Picture to make larger<\/p>\n

Then resize the original drive to the same size as the newly add drive:<\/p>\n

\"gparted\"<\/a>Click Picture to make larger
\nNext you\u2019ll have to click on \u201cApply All Operations\u201d
\nNext right click the drive and select copy.
\nNow select the new drive, right-click and select paste. Before you can paste you will be prompted to initiate a partition table make sure you do this but no need to\u00a0create a partition or format it.
\nNext you\u2019ll have to click on \u201cApply All Operations\u201d
\nThis will now copy the data from the old drive to the new disk.
\nNow the newly created drive right-click and select manage-flags.
\nMake sure the boot flag is selected or the VM won\u2019t boot.<\/p>\n

\"Gparted\"<\/a>Click Picture to make larger<\/p>\n

In the VI client back in the settings of VM remove the old drive.<\/p>\n

Job done.<\/p>\n

How to align the vdisk including system disks to a 64k start sector.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea here is to make sure your partition starts on a sector number derivable by 64, so for example 64 or 128 or 256. This will increase your VM disk performance and reduce latency.
\nThis issue is fully described in the following vmware document:
\nhttp:\/\/www.vmware.com\/pdf\/esx3_partition_align.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

New update and “how to”\u00a0video found >HERE<<\/a><\/h1>\n

Follow these steps:
\nAgain boot the system with the Gparted live CD.
\nRight-click the parition select move\/resize
\nShrink the partition by 10 MBs
\nMove the partition to right by a few MB’s to free up space at the begining of the disk.
\nNext you\u2019ll have to click on \u201cApply All Operations\u201d
\nWhen finished\u00a0 exit Gparted, not the entire live CD, just the Gparted application (so don\u2019t reboot)
\nStart the terminal window
\nAt command prompt type ‘parted \/dev\/sda’ (substitute your actual device here) to start the command line parted editor
\nCreate a new partition at the start of the disk to fill in the space up to the section where you want to align your parition.\u00a0 For example, if you want your system partition to start at sector 128, create a very small partition that takes up space from sectors 63-127.\u00a0 For example using the command:
\n>mkpart primary 63s 127s<\/span><\/p>\n

parted will create a new primary partition from sector 63 to sector 127.\u00a0 That means the very next sector available is 128.
\nExit parted and restart the Gparted GUI by clicking the Gparted icon.
\nUse the move\/resize option to resize the partition to fill the entire remaining space.\u00a0 Make sure you have the MUST uncheck the “Round to Cylinders” option selected.
\nNext you\u2019ll have to click on \u201cApply All Operations\u201d<\/p>\n

Job Done.<\/p>\n

Your partition should now start on an optimized sector<\/p>\n

\"Gparted\"<\/a> Click Picture to make larger<\/p>\n

But how do you find misaligned disks in the first place? Click >HERE<\/a> < to find out<\/h1>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Last Updated ( Mar 07, 2010 at 03:47 PM )<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Save & Optimise Virtual Disk Storage for FREE. This article demonstrates a FREE way of saving\/optimising Virtual Disk storage space using software which is freely available. Include is :1. How to report which disks are over-allocated using our very own free vdisk waste finder application from here > 2. How to resize over-allocated vdisks using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-downloads","category-vmware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t