Assign specific processor to a VM host

[masterNcommande]

i have 2 vm guests running w2k3 std edition on a ESXi4.1 vm host. host is a new server dell R710, AMD processor, 32gb RAM .

They 2 vm guests are being used as terminal servers. However, they are running slow when users are connected.

To fix this slowness i did a couple things:

-I tried to put each server on its on vswitch attached to attached to each physical nic

- All NICs on host where plugged into gigabit ports on the switch using cat6 cable

-installed vmware tools

-disabled CD rom

Unfortunately none of this has helped.

So i resorted to assigning a specific cpu processors on the host to the VM guests. I have been trying to find an article that document how to do this but no luck.

The closest thing i came across was this http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=110

I tried to follow the article but the "processor.#.present=true" is not an option in the vmx files i have looked at.

I am assuming this article refers to an older version of vmware.

here is vmx file.

.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "7"
pciBridge0.present = "true"
pciBridge4.present = "true"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "true"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "true"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "true"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "true"
nvram = "TAM Backup.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
powerType.powerOff = "soft"
powerType.powerOn = "hard"
powerType.suspend = "hard"
powerType.reset = "soft"
displayName = "HQ-printers"
extendedConfigFile = "printers.vmxf"
scsi0.present = "true"
scsi0.sharedBus = "none"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
memsize = "1024"
scsi0:0.present = "true"
scsi0:0.fileName = "printers.vmdk"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
ethernet0.present = "true"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "false"
ethernet0.networkName = "VM Network"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
guestOS = "winnetstandard"
uuid.location = "56 4d c0 f4 bd 91 1e cc-a5 de 83 b9 5e 43 41 5b"
uuid.bios = "56 4d c0 f4 bd 91 1e cc-a5 de 83 b9 5e 43 41 5b"
bios.bootDelay = "10000"
vc.uuid = "52 cc 1e 9d 92 87 f0 cb-f5 0e 48 2d fc 2e b2 ff"
snapshot.action = "keep"
sched.cpu.min = "0"
sched.cpu.units = "mhz"
sched.cpu.shares = "normal"
sched.mem.minsize = "0"
sched.mem.shares = "normal"
tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"
replay.supported = "FALSE"
sched.swap.derivedName = "/vmfs/volumes/4dc409b6-57277cae-f384-f04da23f9196/printers/printers-71d4b5c9.vswp"
replay.filename = ""
scsi0:0.redo = ""
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "16777216"
tools.remindInstall = "TRUE"
hostCPUID.0 = "0000000568747541444d416369746e65"
hostCPUID.1 = "00100f910008080000802009178bfbff"
hostCPUID.80000001 = "00100f91300001df000837ffefd3fbff"
guestCPUID.0 = "0000000568747541444d416369746e65"
guestCPUID.1 = "00100f910000080080802001078bbbff"
guestCPUID.80000001 = "00100f91300001df000001e9ebd3bbff"
userCPUID.0 = "0000000568747541444d416369746e65"
userCPUID.1 = "00100f910008080080802001078bbbff"
userCPUID.80000001 = "00100f91300001df000001e9ebd3bbff"
evcCompatibilityMode = "FALSE"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:43:41:5b"
vmci0.id = "1581465947"
cleanShutdown = "FALSE"
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "33"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
ethernet1.present = "true"
ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet1.networkName = "VM Network"
ethernet1.addressType = "generated"
ethernet1.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:43:41:65"
ethernet1.pciSlotNumber = "34"
ethernet1.generatedAddressOffset = "10"
numvcpus = "2"
svga.autodetect = "true"
svga.vramSize = "16777216"
hostCPUID.10 = "0000000568747541444d416369746e65"
hostCPUID.11 = "00100f910008080000802009178bfbff"
guestCPUID.10 = "0000000568747541444d416369746e65"
guestCPUID.11 = "00100f910000080080802001078bbbff"
userCPUID.10 = "0000000568747541444d416369746e65"
userCPUID.11 = "00100f910008080080802001078bbbff"
sched.cpu.max = "4000"
sched.cpu.affinity = "all"
sched.mem.affinity = "all"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
ide1:0.present = "FALSE"

[MauroBonder]

Hello,

Check if this help http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1010184

Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers. 

Mauro Bonder - Moderator

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

"they are running slow" is relative. What do you consider slow

This could be caused by the host's hardware (e.g. slow disk drives or a RAID controller without write-cache) or even the guest OS configuration itself (e.g. DNS settings, roaming profiles, ...)

Can you please elaborate on your setup and explain which parts are slow (logon, overall working, ...)

André

[masterNcommande]

so how does doing what is in the article help cpu and how do i know which number of cores i should use either 2 or 4?

Im fairly new to VMware.

[masterNcommande]

High CPU..it spikes to like 100%

I have other vm guests on the Host and they are not experiencing the high cpu, but then again they are not terminal servers.

DNS seems to be fine. The users have terminal profiles but they are very thin. Some users had their roaming profiles from their local computer replicated to the server. But i can try recreating them and make sure local profile is not replicated to the server.

2 virtuals both in a cluster using windows NLB, overall working is slow, pulling up files etc..

[a_p_]

High CPU..it spikes to like 100%

Assuming you are talking about the guest CPU, you may download e.g. Process Explorer to find out which processes are consuming the CPU cycles.

What type of storage do you use? If local, which RAID level, how many disks? Does the RAID controller have BBU attached (important)?

How did you configure the virtual network?

André

[RParker]

masterNcommander1 wrote:

High CPU..it spikes to like 100%

What is causing the CPU spike?  Get process explorer from sysinternals.com, that will identify exactly what program / process is causing the CPU to run high.  You fix that, you will fix the "slow" responsiveness..

Also a good registry fix program works wonders in windows, never discount simple registry errors and routine maintenance on windows.

The last thing is you do not want to pin (use CPU affinity) with any program or any VM.  It's just not a good idea.  It will NOT make a difference besides.  Your guest OS is having problems not the VM, forcing the VM to specify a processor will just make your problem even more complex.