You can select the type of disk that the virtual machine uses:
Virtual Disk: A virtual disk is a file on the host file system that contains all data stored in the virtual IDE or SCSI drive visible to the guest operating system. A virtual disk can be created on any type of disk (IDE, SCSI, etc.) and any type of file system (E2FS, FAT, FAT32, NTFS, etc.) supported by the host operating system. The virtual disk can also be created on a removable disk drive or placed on a network file server. The Configuration Wizard places the virtual disk in the virtual machine directory that you specify. Virtual disks can be as large as 128GB for IDE virtual hard disks and 256GB for SCSI virtual hard disks. VMware GSX Server creates a file for each 2000MB of virtual disk capacity. The actual files used by the virtual disk start out small and grow to the maximum size as needed. Virtual disks can be set up as IDE disks for any guest operating system. They can be set up as SCSI disks for any guest operating system that has a driver for the BusLogic SCSI adapter used in a VMware GSX Server virtual machine. A virtual disk of either type can be stored on either type of physical hard disk. That is, the files that make up an IDE virtual disk can be stored on either an IDE hard disk or a SCSI hard disk (or any other kind of fast storage). So can the files that make up a SCSI virtual disk. A key advantage of virtual disks is their portability. Because the virtual disks are stored as files on the host machine or a remote computer, you can move them easily to a new location on the same computer or to a different computer.
Existing Physical Disk: An existing physical disk or raw disk is a partition on a physical IDE or SCSI drive connected to the host computer. You use raw disks if you want VMware GSX Server to run one or more guest operating systems from existing disk partitions. Raw disks may be set up on both IDE and SCSI devices. At this time, however, booting from an operating system already set up on an existing SCSI disk or partition is experimental. If an existing partition is empty, you can install an operating system in the partition. If the host is a dual-boot or multi-boot system, then bootable partitions on the host computer can also be booted within the virtual machine. If you select this option, you can also choose to hide the type of read-only disk partitions from other operating systems.
VMware recommends that new users gain experience with the product by initially installing a guest operating system on a virtual disk because virtual disks are easier to set up and use. However, be aware that it is not possible to convert an entire virtual disk to a raw disk or vice versa.
Note: Using an existing disk partition is recommended for advanced users only.
By default, when you select to create a virtual disk option, VMware GSX Server creates a persistent virtual disk. You can use the Configuration Editor to change the disk mode to undoable or nonpersistent. You can install a new operating system onto the virtual disk file without repartitioning a physical disk or even rebooting the host system. Virtual disks are limited to a maximum of 128GB for IDE virtual hard disks or 256GB for SCSI virtual hard disks.
Note: VMware GSX Server does not support using existing disk partitions on RAID or network disk drives. Use of existing disk partition on SCSI disk drives is experimental at this time.
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