Swap Datasore config specs

[VPXA]

Hi All,

We are deploying new environment with vCenter 7.x , planning to configure Swap Datastores on cluster level, please assist me with the best practices for configuring SWAP datastore on cluster level.

What size's and calculations we need to follow to configure these. 

[ptarnawski]

Hey @VPXA , 

Here is something I found: 

• Choose a high-performance datastore. The swap datastore should be located on a datastore that has good performance characteristics, such as SSD or high-performance SAS disks. This will help to improve the performance of virtual machines that are using swap space.
• Size the swap datastore appropriately. The size of the swap datastore should be greater than or equal to the total amount of virtual machine memory (vRAM) assigned to all virtual machines in the cluster. This will ensure that there is enough swap space available for all virtual machines, even if they are all using swap space at the same time.
• Configure the swap datastore at the cluster level. This will allow you to centrally manage the swap datastore for all virtual machines in the cluster. To configure the swap datastore at the cluster level, go to the Clusters view in vCenter, right-click the cluster, and select Edit Settings. Then, go to the Configuration tab and select Storage. Under Swapfile Location, select Store Swapfile in the datastore specified by host. Then, select the datastore that you want to use for swap space.
• Configure virtual machines to use the cluster-level swap datastore. To configure a virtual machine to use the cluster-level swap datastore, go to the Virtual Machines view in vCenter, right-click the virtual machine, and select Edit Settings. Then, go to the Configuration tab and select Storage. Under Swapfile Location, select Use cluster swapfile location.

The size of the swap datastore will depend on the amount of vRAM assigned to all virtual machines in the cluster. VMware recommends that you size the swap datastore to be greater than or equal to the total amount of vRAM assigned to all virtual machines in the cluster.

For example, if you have a cluster with 10 virtual machines, each with 4 GB of vRAM, then you would need a swap datastore that is at least 40 GB in size.

However, you may want to consider sizing the swap datastore larger than this recommendation, depending on your specific needs. For example, if you expect that your virtual machines will be using swap space frequently, then you may want to size the swap datastore larger to improve performance.