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2.1 How much desk space is enough

Lesson

Practice lab

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Build and test

Size an IT test workstation

An IT technician must run a client VM and a test-server VM together to validate a desktop rollout. Host peak demand is 6 GB and each VM needs 4 GB. Plan at least two simultaneous VMs with 25% capacity margin and a matched RAM kit costing at most $95. The board supports every listed capacity; use the supplied peaks for this model and measure the actual workload before deployment.

Supplied active demand—
Demand with 25% margin—
Kit price—

Change choices to compare results, then check the requirements.

  • At least two VMs together
  • Installed capacity covers the margin
  • Kit at most $95
Lesson notes

Choose RAM capacity from the apps and projects that run together.

Common capacity stories

Basic web and office work needs enough room for everyday apps. Creative work, large spreadsheets, virtual machines, and many browser tabs need more workspace.

  • Light use: avoid too little RAM.
  • Student multitasking: leave room for browser tabs and video calls.
  • Virtual machines and creative work: plan higher capacity.

Symptoms of too little RAM

The system may slow down when many apps are open, switch between apps slowly, or show heavy storage activity because it is using the drive as overflow workspace.

Worked example

Inputs: Measured peak memory use 13 GB; required planning margin 25%; choices 16 GB or 32 GB.

Task: Calculate target capacity and justify a choice.

Check the reasoning

13 × 1.25 = 16.25 GB. The 32 GB kit meets this stated margin; 16 GB narrowly misses it.

The margin is a scenario assumption. Different workloads or acceptable paging may justify different targets.