CentOS 4.4 VMDK slow compared to vmware
Posted: 31. Mar 2010, 19:43
My host is Windows Server 2003:
2 GB RAM
Intel 1.9ghz (dual core, no VT features)
no other services/processes running, no active directory, no antivirus, running vbox as a service, so no users are even logged into windows
guest is CentOS 4.4 with no gui,
running Asterisk (LAMP also)
300mb ram allocated to vbox (top shows ~125 used after boot)
8mb video
guest additions installed
using 8gb VMDK from Vmware 2.0
turned off all unneeded bootup services
swappiness=20
vrdp
I am trying to migrate from vmware server 2.0, I have spent a lot of time optimizing the vbox vm, but boot up is still quite slow, I can read page by page as it boots, seems like it takes about 5-10 seconds per service to start, but on vmware its almost like a real machine, it is almost impossible to read the boot process, text just flies by.
Once booted the machine is so-so, audio playback in asterisk is notably slow, but when talking on an actual phone call it sounds perfectly fine (so decoding an uncompressed wav file ie IVR menu or music on hold = slow).
At home I have the same computer, but its running Win7 64bit with 4GB RAM, same 1.9ghz cpu, I do not have the same VM, but I have loaded Tiny Core Linux as a guest, full X server it seems to boot reasonably fast (not blazing), I can actually go on youtube in the vm, and video playback is decent, not perfect, but when compared to a VM that has no gui and is just playing a short wav file I would say its 100 times the work being done to play video.
I have heard in the forums that vmdk support is slower than vdi - could this be part of my problem?
Another thing I have noticed that concerns me - in windows task manager the vbox service does not show anywhere near what I have allocated for RAM or even what the guest uses - so my guest has 300mb allocated, TOP shows 125 used, but in windows its only using 35-45mb RAM, and 11-20% cpu, sometimes it maxes to 25% - but this seems to be a cap, it never exceeds 25, even during bootup, I am going to try to bump up the process priority in windows, but i have a feeling this will change nothing. - how can 45mb ram = 125 used?
2 GB RAM
Intel 1.9ghz (dual core, no VT features)
no other services/processes running, no active directory, no antivirus, running vbox as a service, so no users are even logged into windows
guest is CentOS 4.4 with no gui,
running Asterisk (LAMP also)
300mb ram allocated to vbox (top shows ~125 used after boot)
8mb video
guest additions installed
using 8gb VMDK from Vmware 2.0
turned off all unneeded bootup services
swappiness=20
vrdp
I am trying to migrate from vmware server 2.0, I have spent a lot of time optimizing the vbox vm, but boot up is still quite slow, I can read page by page as it boots, seems like it takes about 5-10 seconds per service to start, but on vmware its almost like a real machine, it is almost impossible to read the boot process, text just flies by.
Once booted the machine is so-so, audio playback in asterisk is notably slow, but when talking on an actual phone call it sounds perfectly fine (so decoding an uncompressed wav file ie IVR menu or music on hold = slow).
At home I have the same computer, but its running Win7 64bit with 4GB RAM, same 1.9ghz cpu, I do not have the same VM, but I have loaded Tiny Core Linux as a guest, full X server it seems to boot reasonably fast (not blazing), I can actually go on youtube in the vm, and video playback is decent, not perfect, but when compared to a VM that has no gui and is just playing a short wav file I would say its 100 times the work being done to play video.
I have heard in the forums that vmdk support is slower than vdi - could this be part of my problem?
Another thing I have noticed that concerns me - in windows task manager the vbox service does not show anywhere near what I have allocated for RAM or even what the guest uses - so my guest has 300mb allocated, TOP shows 125 used, but in windows its only using 35-45mb RAM, and 11-20% cpu, sometimes it maxes to 25% - but this seems to be a cap, it never exceeds 25, even during bootup, I am going to try to bump up the process priority in windows, but i have a feeling this will change nothing. - how can 45mb ram = 125 used?