I know that alignment of VMs is less important now than it was few years ago, because modern OS like Windows 2012 or Windows 7 does align correctly when installing in Virtual environments, but still. But if your infrastructure runs some 2003 or 2008 VMs, than still you need a tool which checks if VM is miss-aligned.
I have blogged few times about tools which are free and can do the job of alignment and other tools that checks that VM is aligned or not. But I never blogged about this free tool from Guillermo Musumeci.
The tool is free and it's simly called VM Check Alignment.
How to use VM Check Alignment?
Simple. Place the executable in your VM that you want to test and click the big button Check alignment.
In the pane bellow you'll see the report saying that either the VM is not aligned or VM is aligned. As simple as that.
The tool is available at http://ctxadmtools.musumeci.com.ar/VMCheckAlign/Default.asp (free registration is required).
Not aligned VMs have direct impact on the overall performance of your storage system as they consume more IOPS than necessary due to misalignement. Few steps can help to improve disk performance by 9 – 13% in your virtual infrastructure.
Enjoy… -:)
Hi
cool tool , I think a script will be better for doing this 🙂
there is a powershell script in the middle of this thread
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/425590
Regards
Haim
Interesting article, thank you.
A quick note, you mention Windows 2008 server, however the default alignment of Disk Manager in 2008 should work without problem. I belive the main problem is only Windows 2003 and earlier.
Not quite… “It depends, is the right answer” If you do a fresh install 2008 or later then yes it “should” do it right. However, a lot of VM’s have been created via P2V or other automation processed like Altiris or image programs. Additionally, even your core 2008 VM template could be out of alignment and over the total life of a vm it “could” be out of alignment. This is a Aligment tool I blogged about years ago, and at that time it was flawed and doesn’t do a good job. If you want to check your windows VM and your datastores alignment it is SO SIMPLE and no tool needed >> https://vmexplorer.com/2015/06/11/quick-ways-to-check-disk-alignment-with-esxi-and-windows-vms/