VmWare is the best platform to test software on, and I have 16 GB and 8 cores (2x8 GB / 2 x 4 XEON cores) to play with at home. 8 GB is not very much RAM when you play with virtual systems, so I'm planning to get a new server with 4 or 6 cores and 12-16 GB of RAM. Very good and useful information in this thread. You have taken your time writing this.
Love your setup, unfortunately just have a quad core and 8 GB, but still is kind of enough to create a small company with 1 DC, 1 Exchange, 2 Clients, will try coupling SharePoint too and check...
wow.. what a tremendous system you have .. if i had that .. i wouldn't need to worry about performance I am running everything from an HP Pavilion DV4 laptop with an ancient Dual Core CPU & 4 GB of RAM .. this is why i have to go out of my way to tweak & squeeze every drop of performance i can in order to run VMware thanks for the tip .. i added a foot note in Step 8 it's not even a thought for me.. if i had the money.. i would def. invest in SSDs .. Comparatively Speaking my current Hard Disk: 4mb/sec SSDs: 800mb/sec that would improve my system dramatically
Disk performance is always a problem with running several virtual computers on the same server. If I had the money, I had invested in a SAS or something like that. Currently I'm using 8 internal and 2 external disk in my main server, and 3 internal disk in my second server. On my main server I have three disk dedicated to VMVare computers (1.750 GB of diskspace) and on my second server I have 1.000 GB dedicated to VmVare computers. I have a total of 8.000 GB on my two servers. Lots of backups, CD images, files etc etc. (To compare I have a MediaCenter computer I'm using to my TV with 15.500 GB (15.5 TB) diskspace.) My total with all of my computers at home is 25.500 GB, so I have some disk space I like the idea of running Vmware servers on SSD disk, and maybe I'm getting a SSD disk to test with this summer. The drawback is the price compared to disk space...
impressive stuff you have that's so true about the SSDs .. this is why i am holding off .. an 80GB SSD goes for $250 - $300 .. compare that to 1TB HD goes for $80 - $100 .. although.. i was really considering purchasing one just for the Operating System.. and use HD for my other Partitions for Data Storage .. Why do you have your setup? for business? Do you have any Web Space to spare?
It's not business no, I'm using my computers to test software on, run different servers (web server, RDC server, fileserver, sandboxes etc). I worked over 6 years with computers, and have always liked computers. So always buys some more stuff when I have some money left over. About Web space - My own web server is only used for me to access install files, stats etc when I'm helping people with their computers. My websites is hosted on a VPS in the UK, and it do not have more then 30 GB of disk space. The main problem for me is my Internet connection. I have 25 mbit/s down but only 2.5 mbit/s out. So it's no good for a real webserver for all my websites.
You're kidding ? you have nothing else to say ? LoL! you want to complain that this has not been invented by me? come on dude.. stop crying! stop hatin' ! why you so worried about what i post? is this about my Intelligence or helping people with Performance? But if i may ask.. where did i copy this verbatim ? i would like to know..
There's an old time saying from the islands. If you fling stone inna pig pen, the first one squeal is the one it hit. You would not have asked, If I was wrong. Do you want me to post the site...Jan,09
Why thanks a bunch appreciate the name calling. Singing my way over to chit chat Bob Marley Who The Cap Fit Lyrics "Some will hate you, pretend they love you now, Then behind they try to eliminate you. But who Jah bless, no one curse; Thank God, we're past the worse. Hypocrites and parasites Will come up and take a bite. And if your night should turn to day, A lot of people would run away. And who the cap fit let them wear it! Who the (cap fit) let them (wear it)! And then a-gonna throw me corn, And then a-gonna call no fowl, And then a-gonna "Cook-cook-cook, cluk-cluk-cluk."
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." from Hamlet by William Shakespeare F.Y.I. East coast just like you You got served
Things that people forget (and often don't use) - Floppy and Peripheral (COM/LPT) ports... If you did not add or assign these in your VM settings, then make sure you enter the VM BIOS and DISABLE THOSE ITEMS (the Floppy requires you to set the drive type to None, and also disable the Floppy controller). By removing these, you free up interrupt requests which are unnecessary. Make sure you also disable or remove these items from your operating system as well (e.g. uninstall/disable in device manager for Windows operating systems).
Nice stuff. I am appreciated of your way for performance of VMWare. I often used VMWare and to start the virtual machine I have suffered from lot of problems. But due to your knowledgeable stuff most of problems are solved.