In Windows 10, Proxmox memory ballooning can be used to optimize memory usage within virtual machines. As part of our Proxmox Support, Bobcares provides answers to all of your questions.

Proxmox Memory Ballooning in Windows 10 VMs

Memory ballooning dynamically adjusts the memory allocation of VMs based on their real needs. Thus ensuring effective exploitation of physical memory resources on the host system. Let’s look into the working of Proxmox memory ballooning:

1. More RAM than is actually physically accessible on the host system is frequently allotted to VMs by hypervisors like Proxmox. Memory overcommitment is a technique that allows for greater resource efficiency. This is because not every VM uses its entire allotted memory at once.

2. Proxmox installs a component known as a “balloon driver” into the guest VMs, including Windows 10. This is done in order to efficiently manage memory. In order to recover memory from VMs, this balloon driver works with the Proxmox hypervisor.

3. The hypervisor interacts with the balloon driver inside the VM when the host system requires more physical memory to assign to other VMs or tasks.

4. The balloon driver in the Windows 10 VM inflates, thus giving the impression that the guest OS is using more memory. The Windows 10 guest OS is prompted by this to find memory pages that are less important and can be securely released.

5. The balloon driver transmits the freed memory back to the Proxmox host so that it can be assigned to other VMs or tasks that require it more urgently as the Windows 10 guest OS releases memory pages.

6. VMs that are not actively using all of their allotted memory are often not affected by ballooning in terms of performance. However, ballooning can result in more memory shifting or lower performance in the afflicted VM if memory pressure is constantly high.

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Conclusion

Memory ballooning for Windows 10 virtual machines running on Proxmox can be enabled either using the Proxmox web interface or by changing the VM’s configuration file.