How to Create a Datastore in ESXi Server

Before any virtual machine can exist, ESXi needs somewhere to store it: a datastore. ESXi supports several datastore types, and choosing the right one matters for both performance and what your lab can do next.

Create datastore in ESXi from local disk and iSCSI LUN

DATASTORESTORAGE PROVISIONINGENTERPRISE LABtimer 15 MIN LAB
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Nurul Huda AUTHORInfrastructure & Cloud Architect · Verified 2026

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● VALID ON THE CONFIG BELOW

dns LAB TOPOLOGY & PREREQUISITES

# example values used while writing and testing this guide

DATASTORE SPECS

FilesystemVMFS-6
Size500 GB
Provisioningthick or thin

BACKING

Option Alocal disk/LUN
Option BTrueNAS iSCSI
MPIOround robin

USAGE

ISO storeyes
VMDKsyes
Snapshotsyes

01constructionDatastore Types

  • Local VMFS: a disk inside the host, formatted with VMware’s VMFS file system — the simplest option, created from the New datastore wizard (see creating a VMFS datastore)
  • NFS: a shared folder from a NAS or server; multiple hosts can mount it at once, which is what makes labs with more than one host realistic
  • iSCSI: block storage presented over the network; the host sees it as a local disk, formats it with VMFS, and can share it via VAAI and clustering features

02downloadCreate Datastore in ESXi: Local Disk Example

  1. In the ESXi Host Client, open Storage and click New datastore.
  2. Choose the type: VMFS for a local disk, NFS for a network share.
  3. Select the device or enter the NFS server address, export path and version.
  4. Name the datastore clearly (for example nas-iso or local-ssd) and review the capacity summary before finishing.

03usbUsing the Datastore

The datastore browser lets you create folders and upload files — the most common use is uploading ISO images so VMs can boot from them. When you create virtual machines, the wizard lists your datastores and shows free space per one. In a lab, a nice pattern is a small local datastore for the ESXi host itself and a bigger NFS datastore from a virtual NAS shared across hosts. Before you create datastore in ESXi hosts, decide whether the backing is local or shared.

04terminalHousekeeping Tips

Rescan adapters after adding hardware, remove deleted VMs’ orphaned files through the browser, and watch thin-provisioned usage in the Storage view so a datastore never fills to 100%.

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Create a VMFS Datastore

Basic datastore done, so the next lab digs into VMFS-6. Then signatures and resignature rules make sense.

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