Vmware

Use an Existing Virtual Disk
You can use an existing disk that is configured with an operating system or other virtual machine data. This
choice allows you to freely move the virtual hard drivefrom virtual machine to virtual machine.
In most cases, you can accept the default device node. For a hard disk, a nondefault device node is useful to
control the boot order or to have different SCSIcontroller types. For example, you might want to boot off an
LSI Logic controller and share a data disk with another virtual machine using a BusLogic controller with bus
sharing turned on.
In mostcases, you can accept the default device node. A nondefault device node for a hard disk is useful to
control the boot order or to have different SCSI controller types. For example, you might want toboot off an
LSI Logic controller and share a data disk with another virtual machine using a Buslogic controller with bus
sharing turned on.
Procedure
1 On the Select Existing Disk page of the NewVirtual Machine wizard, browse for a virtual disk file, click
OK, and click Next.
2 Accept the default or select a different virtual device node.
3 (Optional) Select the virtual disk Independentmode and select an option.
Option Description
Persistent The disk operates normally except that changes to the disk are permanent
even if the virtual machine is reverted to a snapshot.
NonpersistentThe disk appears to operate normally, but whenever the virtual machine is
powered off or reverted to a snapshot, the contents of the disk return to their
original state. All later changes arediscarded.
Independent disks are not affected by snapshots.
4 Click Next.
Your changes are recorded and the Ready to Complete page opens.
What to do next
Review the virtual machine configuration.Create Raw Device Mappings
For virtual machines running on an ESX/ESXi host, instead of storing virtual machine data in a virtual disk
file, you can store the data directly on a SAN LUN. This is...