Replicating with low source disk space

[sergeyg65]

Hello All,

We are needing to replicate a VM that is 5.1 TB is size to a different datastore on the same ESXi 6.7 server (all datastores are on local storage). Unfortunately, the free disk space on the VM's 7.63 TB datastore is currently only about 380 GB, and the job is failing due to insufficient space (as I understand it, this is needed for snapshot creation). Is there any way to create the snapshots on a different datastore in the same host, where we do have ample space? And could you please recommend a way to calculate exactly how much free space is required? Also, could a different type of job (Copy or Backup) be made to accomplish the same task?

Thank you.

[PetrM]

Hello Sergey!

I'd suggest to take a look at this KB article.
I suppose that it should be still valid for 6.7 but you may confirm this workaround with VMware support.

An amount of space required for snapshot depends on the I/O changes inside the VM however it can't go beyond the size of the base disk,
the speed of snapshot growing can vary depending on the role of VM in your environment.

VM copy might be an option but it also creates a snapshot during VM processing.

Thanks!

[sergeyg65]

Excellent, thank you, Petr!