Convert dynamic disk to fixed 1

[Nelviticus]

Hello there,

For our development environment we're running VMWare Server 2.0.0 on a Windows 2003 host and I'm trying to solve our terrible disk fragmentation problems. I know ESXi would be a better solution but we're stuck with what we have for now.

All the VMs on the box were created with dynamic disks rather than pre-allocated ones, which has saved space but led to excessive fragmentation and reduced performance. Is there a way to convert a dynamic virtual disk to a fixed (i.e. pre-allocated) one without re-building the VM or doing a full backup and restore?

Thanks

Nelviticus

 

[Nelviticus]

I've found the answer, I was just searching for the wrong terms. 'Dynamic' is what Microsoft calls virtual disks that grow as needed, the VMWare term is 'Growable'.

Googling the right terminology led me to the VMWare Server docs which you can find here. The Virtual Disk Manager can convert disks from Growable to Preallocated.

Nelviticus