Select Storage

Assign a datastore to hold the virtual machine files (e.g., OS, application binaries, VM snapshots). This ensures sufficient space and the correct type of storage for your VM workloads.

Sections on This Screen

  1. Datastores *

    This section displays all available datastores accessible from the compute resource.

    Each datastore is listed with the following attributes:

    • Datastore Name - The label identifying the storage target (e.g., datastore1)

    • Datastore Type - Type of file system (e.g., VMFS, NFS, etc.)

    • Datastore Free Space - The available capacity in gigabytes (e.g., 197.49 GB)

    How to Use:

    • Select a datastore by clicking the radio button beside it.

    • Only one datastore can be selected per VM build.

    • The Next button becomes active after a valid selection is made.

Selection Criteria & Recommendations

Criteria

Guidance

Available Space

Ensure the free space exceeds the total estimated VM size.

Performance Tier

Choose SSD-backed storage for high-performance workloads.

Redundancy

Prefer datastores backed by fault-tolerant or RAID-configured arrays.

VMFS vs NFS

VMFS is optimized for VMware-based VMs; NFS is suitable for shared access.

Navigation Controls

  • Previous - Returns to Step 3: Select Compute Resource

  • Next - Proceeds to Step 5: Customize Hardware

Notes and Best Practices

  • Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

  • Insufficient space or unsupported datastore types will prevent VM provisioning.

  • If no datastore is available, verify permissions or go back to Select Storage and select a different compute resource.

Example Use Case

If you’re deploying a development VM that needs around 100 GB of disk space:

  • Select a datastore with at least 150-200 GB free to allow for logs, snapshots, and system overhead.

  • In this case: datastore1 with 197.49 GB of free space is acceptable.