Hi,
I've been finding that Linux distributions based on RHEL run REALLY slow on my desktop. Specifically, the ones I've tried thus far are CentOS 6 and Oracle Linux 6. However, I have 5 other VM's, all running different operating systems, that run perfectly fine. In addition, the same CentOS and OEL VM's run just fine on my laptop running the same base operating system.
In my research, I've tried various suggestions on the CentOS VM:
o Changed the chipset to ICH9
o Ensured I/O APIC was enabled
o Increased the video RAM
o Enabled 3D acceleration
o Disabled X11
o Rebuilt the VM (after deleting all but the vdi files and using those vdi files in the new VM)
o Exported the VM and imported it on my laptop
I was trying to take a class with Oracle on using Oracle VM. They provided a pair of VM's pre-configured with Oracle Linux in the form of ova files to do the labs. However, after importing the ova files, both VM's ran unusably slow on my desktop. However, the same ova files ran perfectly fine on my laptop.
At this point, I think the issue may have something to do with either how the VM's are addressing the CPU's (AMD vs Intel) or, less likely, something related to the video hardware or driver. But I'm just guessing.
I'd love to hear any other thoughts or suggestions. I think I've only included basic information below but I'll be happy to provide more.
Here are the details of the desktop:
Software:
Mageia 3
kernel-server-latest-3.10.24-2.mga3.x86_64
VirtualBox 4.3.6
Hardware:
2x AMD Barcelona Quad-Core Opteron 2356 2.3GHz
64GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 8600 GT 256GB
Seagate ST3500641NS (500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB cache)
Seagate ST31000N (1TB, 7200rpm, 16MB cache)
VT-x/AMD-V enabled in BIOS
Other Virtual Machines:
Mageia 2 (piix3, 256MB RAM, 12MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Solaris 9 (piix3, 2GB RAM, 32MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Solaris 11 (piix3, 2GB RAM, 12MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Windows XP (piix3, 2GB RAM, 128MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
FreeBSD (piix3, 512MB RAM, 32MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
CentOS 6.5 (ich9, 3GB RAM, 128MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Guest OS: Red Hat (64 bit)
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging: on
Large Pages: off
VT-x VPID: on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
3D Acceleration: on
2D Video Acceleration: off
Storage Controller Name (1): SATA
Storage Controller Type (1): IntelAhci
All VM's have the latest Additions installed (4.3.6)
Here is the laptop configuration:
Software:
Mageia 3
kernel-server-latest-3.10.24-2.mga3.x86_64
VirtualBox 4.3.6
Hardware:
2x Intel Dual-Core i7-3520M CPU @ 2.90GHz
16GB RAM
Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller i915
Hitachi HTS72505 (500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB cache)
VT-x enabled in BIOS
Other Virtual Machines:
Mageia 3 (piix3, 256MB RAM, 12MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Windows XP (piix3, 1GB RAM, 20MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Windows 7 (ICH9, 2GB RAM, 64MB VRAM, 1xCPU)
Here's an excerpt of the CentOS VM log file from the desktop presumably showing AMD-V is enabled:
00:00:06.877624 HM: Using AMD-V implementation 2.0!
00:00:06.877626 HM: CPUID 0x80000001.u32AMDFeatureECX = 0x7ff
00:00:06.877632 HM: CPUID 0x80000001.u32AMDFeatureEDX = 0xefd3fbff
00:00:06.877635 HM: AMD HWCR MSR = 0x1000018
00:00:06.877637 HM: AMD-V revision = 0x1
00:00:06.877639 HM: AMD-V max ASID = 64
00:00:06.877641 HM: AMD-V features = 0x7
00:00:06.877643 HM: AMD_CPUID_SVM_FEATURE_EDX_NESTED_PAGING
00:00:06.877646 HM: AMD_CPUID_SVM_FEATURE_EDX_LBR_VIRT
00:00:06.877647 HM: AMD_CPUID_SVM_FEATURE_EDX_SVM_LOCK
00:00:06.877653 HM: AMD-V enabled!
00:00:06.877654 HM: Nested paging enabled!
00:00:06.877678 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled SYSENTER/EXIT
00:00:06.877680 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled SYSCALL/RET
00:00:06.877681 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled PAE
00:00:06.877683 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled LONG MODE
00:00:06.877684 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled NX
00:00:06.877686 CPUM: SetGuestCpuIdFeature: Enabled LAHF/SAHF
00:00:06.877687 HM: TPR Patching disabled.
00:00:06.877689 HM: Guest support: 32-bit and 64-bit.
00:00:06.877691 HM: VT-x/AMD-V init method: GLOBAL