Datastore Scan Collection
By default, Inventory collection only captures information about the files referenced by a collected virtual machine (VM files), and only using the information available without directly contacting the datastore. Examples of large files that will not be collected during the default Inventory collection are .iso files (such as, DVD images) and disk images (.vmdk) that are not attached to any collected VM.
Data collection runtime is reduced when using the default Inventory collection, but only files for VMs in the inventory are collected. Therefore, a considerable amount of consumed space in the datastore may not be captured. Choose the
Datastore Scan option
to gain visibility into the storage that is not associated with a VM. See
Reports Impacted by Datastore Collection.
When you check
Datastore Scan, a more detailed collection is performed by scanning the datastore to discover files resident on the datastore, but not associated with a VM in the inventory. This option, although it may impact performance, finds files that may be invisible to VMware, but that are consuming space on the datastore. For example, a VM may have been removed without deleting files from the datastore. Similarly, log files or user-stored files may be taking up space not apparent from the VM inventory’s perspective. See
Reports Impacted by Datastore Collection.
NOTE: If an error occurs during the Datastore Scan, then only the files available with the default Inventory collection will be collected for the Datastore. It is also possible that individual files may be found via the Inventory collection, but not via the Datastore Scan.
Reports Impacted by Datastore Collection
The following reports may be impacted by the Datastore Scan collection configuration in the data collector policy.
Report | Default Inventory | Collect all files on datastore |
VM Files Summary (drilldown) | • No Last Modified date. • Total # files collected will usually be less than with an all files collection. | Last Modified date will be missing for files not found in the datastore scan. |
Datastore Usage Breakdown | • Non-VM Files and VM Not In Inventory will be zero. • Total VM Used will be reduced by the amount that would have been collected as VM Not In Inventory if an all files collection had been done. • Unknown category in the pie chart will often be significantly higher than if an all files collection had been done. | The Unknown category in the pie chart will usually be non-zero and will often be significantly higher than the default inventory collection. |
Datastore Utilization | • VM Not In Inventory will be zero. • Total VM Used will be reduced by the amount that would have been collected as VM Not In Inventory if an all files collection had been done. | |
Datastore Detail | • Non-VM Files and VM Not In Inventory will be zero. • Total VM Used will be reduced by the amount that would have been collected as VM Not In Inventory if an all files collection had been done. | VMDK and Other VM Files values typically will not be impacted by the datastore collection type. |
VM Server Detail | • VM Not In Inventory will be zero • Total VM Used will be reduced by the amount that would have been collected as VM Not In Inventory if an all files collection had been done. | Last Modified date will be missing for files not found in the datastore scan. |
VM Detail | • No Last Modified date. • Total # files collected will usually be less than with an all files collection. | |
VM Snapshot Summary | • No Last Modified date. | |