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westes
Contributor
Contributor

Horrible Performance Workstation 12.0

I have a server with 48 logical processors, 64 GB of memory, and almost no workload.   I installed Workstation 12 and ran a single virtual machine, a Windows XP box with 4GB of memory and two logical processors.   The performance is HIDEOUS.   I am getting performance about one tenth the speed of the physical computer, even though the virtual machine is on a faster disk system, has more memory available, etc.

Is there some trick to getting a basic level of performance out of Workstation 12?   What I am seeing here is unusable.

-- Will
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BerndNo
Contributor
Contributor

What Intel CPUs are in the server and what OS is the server using. Maybe the server does not support all virtualisation functions a "modern" cpu has? And what is the speed of the server cpu. I see a lot of server with a cpu frequency around 2 Ghz while desktop CPUs can have 3Ghz and more. Depending on the app this might be a reason.

And last what do you use to measure performance?

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linotelera
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi

check also if vmware tools were correctly installed in guest OS.

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Tech_Geek
Contributor
Contributor

@westes: First, Are you using nvidia GPU on your server? If yes, then download the latest driver (if available) or try changing your GPU. I've experienced this problem with my Mobile Workstation using nvidia GPU. Replacing GPU Card saved me. Second, Do you have RAM Memories with different FSB? This also sometimes cause issue with VMWare. Get RAM Memories from single Vendor with same FSB. So, no conflict will occur in FSB Speed. Hope, this might help you...

westes
Contributor
Contributor

The system has six core AMD Opteron 8425 HE processors at 2.1 GHz (3MB L2 and 5MB L3 cache).   They certainly aren't speedy CPUs, but I don't think my VMs workload requires a speedy CPU.

What specific CPU features should I enable in BIOS, and does Workstation 12 need any settings in it to enable use of those features?

I see options in the VM Settings to enable some virtualization features, but these look to be about restricting code inside the virtual machine, not about exploiting performance optimizations?   If I turn on the CPUs "AMD Virtualization" feature in the CPU, does the VM automatically take advantage of that and run faster?

-- Will
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westes
Contributor
Contributor

Tech_Geek, we are using official HP memory for the DL585 G6 server, and it's all the same chip, so I think it is all consistent speed and type.

-- Will
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mfelker
Expert
Expert

Two ideas here.

1)  Try to downgrade the VMs machine  hardware compatibility from 12.0 to 11.0 or even 10.0.  

     You may not need all the hardware in more recent WS porgrams

2)  If you bought a license for WS 12 you might be able to download WS 11 and check that out.

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Bernd_Nowak
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

According to the HP quickspecs it must be a 4 CPU server. The CPU was introduced in 2009.

First I would try to update BIOS/Firmware. You need the latest HP SPP/SUM DVD from HP. You can get it from here: HP® Servers - Service Pack for ProLiant

There's a tool in the ISO to make an USB stick  as it's a big file.

Next what OS is running on the server? Because managing 4 cores could be a problem for some OS.

How about using vSphere or Hyper-V or XEN/KVM and use the server as a type 1 hypervisor host? These should work better with this kind of host.

Just my 2 cents Smiley Happy

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westes
Contributor
Contributor

Bernd, each CPU has many cores.   If you have six cores, then 4 * 6 = 24 cores.  

BIOS  is the latest for that server, which is old.

OS for the host server is Windows 2008 R2.

At this point I believe the performance issue may be related to slow graphics card on the server, and I am bringing up the virtual machine on the VM Workstation console on that server.   I need to connect to the VM by Remote Desktop on a computer with better graphics and then I'll have a better idea of where the performance bottleneck lives.

-- Will
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