A vSphere administrator has multiple virtual machines running on a VMFS datastore. Which setting prioritizes the disk access for the virtual machines?

The setting that prioritizes disk access for virtual machines is Disk Shares. This setting allows an administrator to configure the relative priority of virtual machines when accessing the shared storage resources. By defining shares, it helps determine how the disk I/O is allocated among competing virtual machines during periods of high demand.

Disk Shares operate on a proportional basis, meaning that if one virtual machine demands more resources, the shares assigned to that machine can allow it to take precedence over others with fewer shares. This becomes crucial in environments where multiple VMs are competing for limited disk I/O bandwidth, ensuring that critical applications maintain performance even under load.

The other options serve different purposes and do not relate directly to prioritizing disk access. Disk Mode pertains to how a virtual machine interacts with its disk (e.g., independent or dependent modes) and does not affect resource allocation. Hard disk typically refers to the virtual disk itself and its settings but does not influence priority. Disk type usually indicates the format of the virtual disk (e.g., thick or thin provisioning) and impacts storage efficiency rather than access priority.