What does the term "suspend" mean in VMware?

In VMware, the term "suspend" refers to the action of temporarily saving the current state of a virtual machine (VM). When a VM is suspended, all of its operational data, including the running processes, active applications, and current memory state, are preserved. This allows the VM to be paused without losing any unsaved work, functioning similarly to how a computer goes into sleep mode.

When a VM is resumed from a suspended state, it can continue from exactly where it left off, making it a very useful feature for managing resources and optimizing performance. This capability is essential for scenarios where you may need to free up system resources temporarily without shutting down the VM entirely, allowing for efficient workload management on a hypervisor.

In contrast, the other options describe different actions that do not align with the concept of suspending a VM. Permanently deleting a VM would remove all associated data and settings entirely, while initiating a system reboot involves restarting the VM, losing any data not saved. Upgrading the hardware involves modifying the virtual machine's specifications, such as increasing RAM or CPU allocation, which is also distinctly different from simply suspending the VM's state.