Purpose
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.
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:
| Component | Requirement |
| Disk storage on the host machine |
|
| Memory in the vCenter Server Appliance |
|
This table outlines the recommended JVM Heap settings for VMware vCenter Server Appliance vCenter Server Appliance Hardware:
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 |
VMware vCenter Server Appaliance 5.1 | 3 GB | 12 GB | 2 GB |
Based on VMware KB 2005086
