No Problem extending VM disks past 2TB, just upgrade to vSphere 6.5 or above!
Many IT administrators have run into the issue of not being able to hot-extend a virtual disk past 2TB without first having to power off the VM. This can be a significant impact on business and may well result in disruptions to productivity. Extending drive under 2TB is no problem, it’s when you reach that maximum limit in vSphere 5.x or 6 where hot-extending past 2TB is not supported. If you’ve ever tried to hot-extend a virtual disk to over 2TB, you received an error. If you have been wondering why you should upgrade to vSphere 6.5, one of the many storage enhancements allows you to hot-extend a virtual disk past 2TB without having to power off the virtual machine! Of course, expanding the disk within the OS will be dependent on the OS’ capabilities. Simply upgrading your host to vSphere 6.5 or above provides the capability to hot-extend past 2TB. You do not have to upgrade your datastores to enable this functionality.
See the video below where a VM is simply moved from a vSphere 6.0 to a 6.5 host and is then allowed to hot-extend the disk past 2TB.
