Hyper-V - Swap Size/Paging File Size

Question

Hi,

Do you have any recommendation regarding the Swap Size/Paging File Size per Virtual Machine? Is it safe that we will recommend that the Swap Size/Paging File Size is equal to the Memory of the Virtual Machine?

Thank you and regards,

Franz Salazar

Answer 1

Hi,

Compared to physical machines, there are no special requirements for page file setup for Hyper-V virtual machines. It depends on the system crash dump setting requirements and the peak usage of the system commit charge. A general recommendation for page file size is 1.5 times the RAM size.

You can refer to this guide below.

How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows - Windows Client | Microsoft Learn

Answer 2

Hi Ian,

Good day.

Does this also apply on the Virtual Machines that is running on Windows Server? It is not stated there that the computation is 1.5 although the computation that was indicated was 3 x of RAM / 8.

Also, based on our simulation, when we run the Windows Server and Windows Client the size of the Virtual Machine folder (Paging File) is same as the RAM of the Virtual Machines.

Thank you!

Franz Salazar

Answer 3

Hi Franz,

Yes, that guide also applies to the Hyper-V virtual machines running on Windows Server.

Setting the page file to 1.5 times memory is just to store the entire content of the RAM in case of a system crash and ensure there’s enough virtual memory for heavy applications. You can modify it based on your test results.