Once the new server is built I plan to revisit virtualization with some new contenders added to the list. Here is the current bare metal line up VMWare ESX Microsoft Hyper-V Citrix XEN RedHat KVM Windows VM VMWare Workstation & Server Oracle / Sun Virtual Box Parallels Workstation Linux VM VMWare Workstation & Server Oracle / Sun Virtual Box Parallels Workstation This will all run on the new server so it will be the same hardware each time around. I might do this before I put in the Raid 50 to make my life a lot more simple when installing and configuring these. If I choose that route I will likely test with a WD Raptor as my main drive to keep the speed up. This will take some time to complete since the new server isn’t built yet and it is going to take a LOT of reloads. Thanks and stick around it’s going to be interesting.
VM Shootout Posted / Incomplete
I posted the VM testing results on the whitebox but put the brakes on the project 3/4 of the way through because I want to retest using a piece of server class hardware. Although alot of people would like to know how well virtualization runs on a whitebox it was evident without even finising testing that using a setup running Windows XP 64 bit and VMware would yeild the best results. Maybe ESXi would be better but unless your whitebox is magically on the infamous HCL you will be SOL. I did post up everything I came up with and hopefully it wont be long before this article is followed up by a full battery of testing on a Dell T300 which is a very affordable and fully supported server by both VMware and Microsoft.
VM Shootout Performance Numbers
!!! — UPDATE — !!! ~~ UPDATE – I will not be contniuing this testing with this machine. I am finding that although I have all the proper drivers and can get everything to work, something still doesnt seem right. At least if anything we can learn that even with all the drivers Hyper-v runs HORRIBLE on an Nvidia chipset or possibly just runs horrible. I am trying to get my hands on a T300 to really make the test fair and then perform all of this testing again. My biggest goal is for a box that is fully supported by ESXi so I dont hear any whinning that the testing was unfair since I can load drivers for virtually anything in Windows but ESXi takes a bit of hacking. I will leave this page posted for general knowledge and to get a taste of whats to come. Sorry the testing is incomplete. Carry on ~~ Purpose – Benchmark Vmware and Hyper-v in several configurations then compair the numbers because numbers dont lie. The testbed-
