Actually the vm_folder_ref is a reference to a Folder managed entity. It bears no relationship to VM's location on storage, and nor any relationship to datastores. It is mostly used to group VMs for assigning permissions. So I don't believe the choice of a vm folder over another can be the difference in VM spawning behavior. Shawn, as there a particular scenario where you saw a potential problem?
Actually the vm_folder_ref is a reference to a Folder managed entity. It bears no relationship to VM's location on storage, and nor any relationship to datastores. It is mostly used to group VMs for assigning permissions. So I don't believe the choice of a vm folder over another can be the difference in VM spawning behavior. Shawn, as there a particular scenario where you saw a potential problem?