Remove VMFS datastore

You can remove a VMFS datastore from your ESXi host in two ways:

• delete a VMFS datastore – destroys the pointers to the files on the datastore, so that the files disappear from all ESXi hosts that have access to the datastore.
• unmount a VMFS datastore – preserves the files on the datastore, but makes the datastore inaccessible to the ESXi host.

Before deleting or unmounting a VMFS datastore, make sure that all virtual machines whose disks reside on the datastore are powered off. Before unmounting a VMFS datastore, make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

• no virtual machines reside on the datastore.
• the datastore is not part of a datastore cluster.
• storage I/O control is disabled.
• the datastore is not used for HA heartbeat or Storage DRS.