VMware Cloud Community
Mannock
Contributor
Contributor

Which would be faster - odd question perhaps...

Hi all

If I have a host with 64Gb RAM and 4 CPU's (4 cores each).  If these processors ran at 3Ghz, I would have a total of 64Ghz processing power within my VMWare host.  This host is perhaps 2 years old.

Now, if I was to have a brand new server, with 64Gb RAM, different set of 4 CPU's, but still 4 core, and it still ran at 3Ghz, Would VM's in this new host run any quicker than the old Host?

Reply
0 Kudos
6 Replies
weinstein5
Immortal
Immortal

Welcome to the Community - Theoretically yes the VMs should run faster - it should as both Intel and AMD are more aware of the hypervisor and being deisgned for better performance - 

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer correct or helpful
Mannock
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the welcome and the quick reply - it's appreciated

Reply
0 Kudos
PhillyDubs
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

If by brand new you mean newer CPU architecture, yes, the new stuff would should be faster. If a CPU can do more instructions per clock cycle, it will be faster than one of the same frequency that isn't as efficient. Additionally, new instruction sets may be in the newer CPUs that your applications may or may not leverage assuming you aren't using EVC to hide those instruction sets.

VCP5
Mannock
Contributor
Contributor

Because of the way VMware treats cpu power, I thought that like for like, VM's would run the same, unless the hardware infrastructure was more streamlined - including your CPU example.  So, I started confusing myself with for and against arguments...  Thanks for your answer though

Reply
0 Kudos
Mannock
Contributor
Contributor

And yes, EVC is being used to hide them Smiley Sad  I didn't set their environment up though; their sister site had a bit of a problem when one of their hosts failed and VM's didn't start up on other hosts - as their cluster didn't have HA enabled..... so - just picking my way through this project at the moment.

Reply
0 Kudos
rickardnobel
Champion
Champion

There might also be other improvements like bigger L1, L2 and L3 CPU cache. The newer CPU could also have bigger processor pipelines allowing more parallell execution. It could also have feature like "turbo boost" which could raise the clock frequenze temporarily.

My VMware blog: www.rickardnobel.se
Reply
0 Kudos