Minimum requirements for the VMware vCenter Server 5.x Appliance
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Minimum requirements for the VMware vCenter Server 5.x Appliance

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Article ID: 335215

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

If you are using the VMware vCenter Server Appliance, beginning with vSphere 5.x you can download vCenter Server as a virtual machine appliance. With the VMware vCenter Server Appliance, the necessary components are contained in a pre-configured virtual machine. This article outlines the minimum requirements and configurations for a successful implementation.

Note: For more information, see the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide. The documentation contains definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the documentation and this article, assume that the documentation is correct.


Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Resolution

The VMware vCenter Server Appliance can be deployed only on hosts that are running ESX/ESXi 4.x or later.
This table outlines the VMware vCenter Server Appliance requirements:
ComponentRequirement
vCPU's on the host virtual macinevCenter Server Appliance 5.x:
  • Intel or AMD x64 processor with two or more logical cores, each with a speed of 2GHz.
Disk storage on the host machinevCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x / 5.1.x:
  • At least 7 GB
  • A maximum of 80 GB
vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.x:
  • At least 70 GB
  • A maximum of 125 GB
Memory in the vCenter Server AppliancevCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x:
  • Very small inventory (10 or fewer hosts, 100 or fewer virtual machines) – at least 4 GB
  • Small inventory (10-100 hosts or 100-1000 virtual machines) – at least 8 GB
  • Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines) – at least 13 GB

  • Large inventory (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines) – at least 17 GB

vCenter Server Appliance 5.1.x:
  • Very small inventory (10 or fewer hosts, 100 or fewer virtual machines) – at least 4 GB
  • Small inventory (10-100 hosts or 100-1000 virtual machines) – at least 8 GB
  • Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines) – at least 16 GB

  • Large inventory (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines) – at least 24 GB
vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.x:
  • Very small inventory (10 or fewer hosts, 100 or fewer virtual machines) – at least 8 GB
  • Small inventory (10-50 hosts or 100-1500 virtual machines) – at least 16 GB
  • Medium inventory (the maximum inventory supported with the embedded database; 50-100 hosts or 1500-3000 virtual machines) – at least 24 GB

Using an external Oracle database, the vCenter Server Appliance supports up to 1000 hosts or 10000 registered virtual machines, and 10000 powered-on virtual machines, and have these memory requirements:
  • Very small inventory (10 or fewer hosts, 100 or fewer virtual machines) – at least 4 GB
  • Small inventory (10-100 hosts or 100-1000 virtual machines) – at least 8 GB
  • Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines – at least 16 GB
  • Large inventory (More than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines) – at least 32 GB
This table outlines the recommended JVM Heap settings for VMware vCenter Server Appliance vCenter Server Appliance Hardware:
vCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x:
For more information, see

vCenter Server Appliance Hardware

Tomcat

Query Service (QS)

Policy Based Storage Management (SPS)

Small inventory (1-100 hosts or 1-1000 virtual machines)

1 GB

2 GB

512 MB

Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines)

2 GB

4 GB

1 GB

Large inventory (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines)

3 GB

6 GB

2 GB

vCenter Server Appliance 5.1.x:
For more information, see JVM Heap Settings for VMware vCenter Server Appliance in the vSphere 5.1 Documentation Center.

vCenter Server Appliance Hardware

Tomcat

Query Service (QS)

Policy Based Storage Management (SPS)

Small inventory (1-100 hosts or 1-1000 virtual machines)

1 GB

2 GB

512 MB

Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines)

2 GB

6 GB

1 GB

Large inventory (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines)

3 GB

12 GB

2 GB

vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.x:
For more information, see JVM Heap Settings for VMware vCenter Server Appliance in the vSphere 5.5 Documentation Center.

vCenter Server Appliance Hardware

Tomcat

Query Service (QS)

Policy Based Storage Management (SPS)

Small inventory (1-100 hosts or 1-1000 virtual machines)

512 MB

3 GB

1 GB

Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines)

512 MB

6 GB

2 GB

Large inventory (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines)

1 GB

12 GB

4 GB





Additional Information

vCenter Server Appliance 5.x supports Oracle as an external database. It does not support Microsoft SQL Server or IBM DB2 as an external database.

In vSphere 5.5, the embedded database provided with the vCenter Server Appliance supports an inventory with a maximum of 100 hosts and 3000 virtual machines.

In vSphere 5.0/5.1, the embedded database provided with the vCenter Server Appliance supports an inventory with a maximum of 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines. The embedded database is not configured to manage an inventory that contains more than 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines.

If you use the embedded database with the vCenter Server Appliance, exceeding these limits can cause numerous problems, including causing vCenter Server to stop responding. For related information, see the VMware vSphere 5.x Release Notes.
Installing vCenter Server 5.0 best practices
Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.0 best practices
Downloading and deploying the vCenter Server Appliance 5.x
Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.1 best practices
Installing vCenter Server 5.1 best practices
Installing vCenter Server 5.5 best practices
Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 best practices
Requisitos mínimos para VMware vCenter Server 5.x Appliance
VMware vCenter Server 5.x アプライアンスの最小要件
VMware vCenter Server 5.x Appliance 的最低要求

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