Unfortunately we are constrained by the processing resources that are available and therefore have to work with them as best one can. If your asking ‘can you seamlessly amalgamate the two PCs to appear as one’, then no. Unfortunately you’ve not given a lot to go on, but there are number of things that you might like to consider . . .
- [Balanced Load] Take a look at the performance of each of the PCs, over time, to determine whether one is working harder then the other, and if so, then consider relocating VMs to balance it up.
- [Networking] Check the performance (including collisions, etc) of the network interfaces both for the PCs and the individual VMs to determine whether these are optimal. If for instance one VM only needs to talk to another then think about where to place them, and the interface type which is best suited for each. In addition, if the PCs network interfaces and the local subnet are hammering away, then evaluate, and improve where possible. In some cases providing an additional point-to-point network between the two PCs might improve things a tad.
- [System Design] check what’s running within each of the VMs, move Apps around accordingly, and disable anything that’s unnecessary and might be using valuable resources, etc.,
- [Resource Allocation, VMs] make sure that resource allocation for each VM is commensurate and appropriate to its function and requirement.
The above should be considered as a whole rather than individually, and all pretty standard stuff really. It may be the case that no improvement can be made, after all you cannot get more than you have, but you might just improve some things.
There is one alternative which you might like to consider, if you have not already done so, which is utilising online shared resource (cloud services). Clearly this is dependent on the nature of what you are doing and the cost of doing so. On the cost front, many colleges have, or provide access to such services, either as part of the course or at a much reduced rate.
