vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-55-storage-guide

vSphere StorageConfigure the Host Cache in the vSphere Web ClientYou can change the percentage of space allocated for host cache or disable the host's ability to swap to hostcache.Use this procedure if your ESXi host is version 5.1 or earlier, or if you do not have a virtual flash licence. Toconfigure host cache on an ESXi 5.5 host that has a virtual flash licence, use the virtual flash resource. Formore information, see the vSphere Storage guide for ESXi 5.5.PrerequisitesYou must have an SSD-backed datastore in your inventory.Procedure1 Browse to the host in the vSphere Web Client navigator.2 Click the Manage tab.3 Under the Storage tab, click Host Cache Configuration.4 Select the datastore in the list and click the Allocate space for host cache icon.5 Select a size for the host cache allocation on the drive.6 To disable the ability for the host to swap to host cache on a per-datastore basis, deselect the Allocatespace for host cache check box.7 Click OK.Preventing SSD Formatting During Auto-PartitioningWhen you install ESXi or use Auto Deploy to provision hosts, you can enable the auto-partitioning bootoption to create partitions on your host. You have several options to prevent auto-partitioning fromformatting local SSDs as VMFS.ProblemBy default, auto-partitioning deploys VMFS file systems on any unused local storage disks on your host,including SSD disks.However, an SSD formatted with VMFS becomes unavailable for such features as Flash Read Cache andVirtual SAN. Both features require an unformatted SSD and neither feature can share the disk with anyother file system.SolutionTo use auto-partitioning and to ensure that local SSDs remain unpartitioned, use the following boot optionswhen you install ESXi or boot the ESXi host for the first time:• autoPartition=TRUE• skipPartitioningSsds=TRUEIf you use Auto Deploy, set these parameters on a reference host.1 In the vSphere Web Client, select the host to use as a reference host and click Manage.2 Click Settings.3 Click System to open the system options, and click Advanced System Settings.4 Scroll to VMkernel.Boot.autoPartition and set the value to true.5 Scroll to VMkernel.Boot.skipPartitioningSsds and set the value to true.170 VMware, Inc.