How to Increase Disk Performance on VMware

In this article, we’ll explore how to increase disk performance on VMware Workstation to make virtual machines more performance-intensive.

Improving Disk Performance in VMware

How to Improve Disk Performance on VM Workstation 15/14/12

As you know, VM Workstation is one of the most preferred virtualization programs. You can run many virtual machines on your computer using the VMware virtualization program.

For more information about VMware Workstation, check out our article called “What is VMware?“.

In VM Workstation software, you can only increase the disk performance of virtual machines by 30% to 40%. There are two main ways to improve the disk speed of the virtual machine.

The first is that you use SSD disks instead of mechanical disks on your personal computer or server. The second method is to make a small setting in the disk settings of the virtual machine to be run on a standard HDD or SSD.

Usually, when you create a virtual machine on VMware, you will see the Split virtual disk into multiple files option, which is enabled by default in the disk configuration window.

Splitting a virtual disk into multiple files will create multiple files at the location where the virtual machine is installed. In fact, this will reduce the disk performance of the virtual machine. If you are using a high-capacity HDD on your computer, it is strongly recommended that you configure the virtual machine’s disk configuration as a single file.

In addition, to increase the VM disk performance slightly, you can use the Allocate all disk space now option to create the disk for the virtual machine.

How to Enhance Disk Performance on a Virtual Machine

After explaining the options you can make for HDD configuration, follow these steps in order to increase disk performance on VM Workstation/Player.

Step 1

When setting up a virtual machine in VMware, first select Create a new virtual disk in the Select a Disk window and click Next.

Create a new virtual disk

Step 2

To increase the disk performance of the virtual machine in the Specify Disk Capacity window, there are options to configure.

First, specify the disk capacity of the Windows or Linux virtual machine you will create. Then select Allocate all disk space now and click on the Next button.

Specify Disk Capacity

Step 3

Wait for creating a virtual disk for the virtual machine on VMware.

Creating Disk...

Step 4

After the virtual disk is created, you can see that a single 40 GB file is configured when you examine the following image. If you configure your virtual machine installations in this way, you can increase up to 50% virtual HDD performance in virtualization software.

.vmdk HDD File

How to Increase VMware HDD Performance ⇒ Video

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Disk Secrets for High Speed in Virtual Machines

Why is the speed difference between Split disk and Single file so clear?

I always make this comparison: The Split disk option is like scattering the pages of a book here and there. When VMware wants to read the file, it constantly chases different pieces.

However, when you use a single piece file, the host computer’s read head focuses on just one block. This situation creates an obvious difference, especially on mechanical hard disks.

Because the physical needle of the HDD does not have to shuttle between pieces.

Is it really needed to check the ‘Allocate all disk space now’ option?

This setting scares most people because it reserves the whole disk right away. But if you want to be a performance beast, the secret lies exactly here. As the virtual machine grows, it does not suffer file fragmentation and does not constantly ask for new blocks.

What is more, this method also minimizes fragmentation on the host side of the disk. You give 40 GB of space upfront but in return you get stable and predictable write speed.

However, only enable this option if you have enough free space.

How much do I gain if I make these settings on an NVMe SSD instead of a mechanical HDD?

Honestly, words are not enough to describe the difference. On a mechanical disk, you may catch maybe a forty percent boost with these settings. But when it comes to NVMe SSD, the event stops being about speeding up and almost turns into teleportation.

SSD already has no physically moving parts, so it does not struggle to read fragmented files. Still, the Single File option reduces operating system calls and pulls the delay time down to microsecond levels.

In short, if you are virtualizing ESXi or a database server, SSD plus this setting is a must.

What other tricks are there to increase disk performance on VMware?

Of course, just making the disk file single is not enough. First, you must remove the folder where the virtual machine is stored from the Windows Defender scan list. Real-time protection constantly pokes around the ‘.vmdk’ file and destroys speed.

Together with this, it is also a must to direct virtual memory to a second physical drive, not the host’s system disk. Also, never ever run the disk defrag tool inside the virtual machine.

This process has the opposite effect on thin provisioned disks and leads to terrible swelling.

Can I switch an existing VM to these performance settings without reinstalling?

You cannot get an already installed machine to these settings without setting it up from scratch. Naturally, this situation is annoying. Because these options only appear at the first stage of the disk creation wizard.

You are forced to step in from the command line with VMware’s own disk conversion tool, ‘vmware-vdiskmanager’. Or, easier, create a new disk and clone the old data to it.

My humble advice to you is never skip these golden checkboxes in new setups.

Does increasing disk performance affect the virtual machine’s boot time?

Definitely, and it affects it in a clearly visible way. Especially on heavy operating systems like Windows 10 or Windows Server, hundreds of small files are read at startup. If you use a Split Disk structure, the system gets stuck while looking for these small files.

In short, the moment you switch to Single File structure, your waiting time on that annoying welcome screen drops by half. As a result, this small touch you make even changes your desktop experience from top to bottom.

Your virtual computer starts to respond almost at native, that is, physical PC speed.

Conclusion

In this article, we talked about a small trick to increase disk performance on Workstation/Player. If you make the settings mentioned above on an SSD disk, you will get even more performance improvements.

How to Improve Disk Performance in VMware Workstation