Why is Win7 VM in Fusion 4.1.1 (on SSD) so slow on MacPro 12 core?

[earthman]

I run ArcGIS 10 on a Win 7 x 64 bit VM, using Fusion 4.1.1 on a MacPro 64 GB, HDD (2x2TB) and SSD (2 x 0.5 TB). Mac Boot and Apps are on SSD1 running 10.6.8 (sweet!), VM is on other SSD2, Large Arc files/images are on shared folder in HDD.  VM is set for 4 processors, 8 GB memory and 2 TB virtual hard drive on 500 GB SSD.

ArcGIS startup and draw map is slow -  3x slower (30 vs 10 sec) than drawing the same map in a Win XP64 on my MacBook Pro running Fusion 3. WHY?

Is there something wrong or inefficient about the setup? I know the vdisk was set larger than hardware, but VMware won't let me change it (even though no snapshots). The whole shebang is also on active directory, which could slow it down. I'm not an expert Fusion/Windows user, but I have worked the google, the vmware knowlegde base and discussions to no avail.

Instead of shared folders, should I create a second, large virtual HD on one of the physical HDDs? If so how?

It's not in the documentation or help, and the discussions on this topic are unclear. Once a second VHD is created (according to the documentation), how do I move it to the second physical drive (undocumented)?

Or should I move the whole VM to the big HDD, create the large virtual drive there, and move commonly accessed rasters/files back to SSD2?

Or?

Your ideas would be welcome.

Ray

[ColoradoMarmot]

What CPU is in your machine?  It sounds like you may be starving the host for resources.

[earthman]

Thanks for your question.

The MacPro has 2 x 2.66 GHz 6 core Intel Xeon processors, for a total of 12 processor cores, and It has 64 GB of RAM. I have only assigned 4 processors (cores), and the maximum 8 GB memory to the VM. I don't believe any part of the host or guest should be starved for resources. The host Mac side is very quick, even with VM running.

VM runs OK, but with all of the resources available, including VM on an SSD, it should be able to at least keep up with my MacBook running Fusion 3 (but it can't).

Maybe the set up is too complex, too many drives, shared folders, etc. I have done a lot of reading about using SSDs, but I cannot determine the best set up for a VM. I presume that when large files are used, a virtual hard drive needs to be set up on a different physical drive than the SSD containing the VM.

Is this true, or should I give up on the SSD and move the entire VM and its large files to a single HDD?

[admin]

Others may chime in with better ideas, but I would try something like this. Assuming it doesn't work, try the next one.

1. Use Activity Monitor to verify that you are not starved for resources (though you shouldn't be, agreed). Look at CPU and RAM. Also make sure none of your disks involved are very full.

2. In the Fusion Help menu, select 'Collect Support Information' and post the resulting information

2. Take the VM off of Active Directory - worth a shot

3. VM to a normal HDD, not saying it will help, but it might

4. Remove 32 GB RAM, see if it runs any faster (put it back later and beware if you are not used to doing this, you can damage your motherboard so skip if you are not comfortable with it

5.  (having put any RAM removed back) - report back and let us know how it went. There are more and maybe better steps, but these should at least eliminate some possibilities.

[Mikero]

Does the issue persist if you reduce the cores to 2 and the RAM to 4GB?

Also, was the VM originally created on the SSD, or was it created elsewhere and then migrated?

[earthman]

Thanks for the suggestions:

1. DONE:  CPU up to 200% (about 15% of available resource); RAM 25% of available resource, Disk space 10-30% of available

2a. DONE, will post extracts if appears necessary

2b Waiting for IT

3. will try moving VM after  trying #4

4. Waiting for IT

Will let you know how it turns out.

[earthman]

RE:

Jan 27, 2012

Does the issue persist if you reduce the cores to 2 and the RAM to 4GB?

Answer:

Win7x64 VM in Fusion 4.1.1 on MacPro:

1 processor core    1 GB RAM  Start VM to Win 7 Login     62 seconds     Open Arc GIS test map   31 seconds

1 processor core    2 GB RAM  Start VM to Win 7 Login     78 seconds     Open Arc GIS test map   31 seconds    

2 processor cores, 4 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login     67 seconds     Open Arc GIS test map   29 seconds

4 processor cores, 8 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login     62 seconds     Open Arc GIS test map   31 seconds

WinXPx64 VM in Fusion 3 on MacBook Pro (I like this setup; feels crisp and snappy)

1 processor core    1 GB RAM  Start VM to WinXP Login   23 seconds    Open Arc GIS test map   31 seconds

More processor cores/memory on MacPro seems to have no positive effect; at best, still only 1/3 the speed of WinXP on my laptop.

Opening Arc files is similar on all VM.

I believe ArcGIS ($$$) still uses only one processor - years after the introduction of multiprocessor desktops.

Also, was the VM originally created on the SSD, or was it created elsewhere and then migrated?

Answer:

Created on SSD:     Win7 64 bit

[earthman]

Test showing effect of 1) Active Directory and 2) SSD vs HDD storage of Arc files

Win7x64 VM in Fusion 4.1.1 on MacPro SSD:

ACTIVE DIRECTORY

VM Settings                                                                        Boot time        Arc GIS file on shared folder on HDD

1 processor core    1 GB RAM  Start VM to Win 7 Login     62 seconds      Open Arc GIS test map   31 sec

1 processor core    2 GB RAM  Start VM to Win 7 Login     78 seconds      Open Arc GIS test map   31 sec    

2 processor cores, 4 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login     67 seconds      Open Arc GIS test map   29 sec

4 processor cores, 8 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login     62 seconds      Open Arc GIS test map   31 sec

NO ACTIVE DIRECTORY

4 processor cores  8 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login     42 seconds      Open Arc GIS test map   31 sec    BEST Win7 BOOT

ACTIVE DIRECTORY                                                                                  same Arc GIS file on SSD

4 processor cores, 8 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login     62 seconds      Open Arc GIS test map   14 sec    BEST ArcGIS

COMMENTS

1) AD adds 50% to Win 7 boot (62 vs 42 sec) on SSD

2) More processor cores/memory for VM seems to have little effect on boot. Intermediate RAM VMs are slower.

3) Once open, Windows is very responsive on SSD.

4) Opening Arc files from HDD is similar on all VM, probably because ArcGIS 10 still uses only one processor.

5) Opening a large Arc file residing on SSD is very quick; pulling big files from a shared folder on HDD takes time.