Menu
I am trying to perform a fair comparison of XenServer vs ESX and one comparison I would like to make is performance with multiple VMs. Does anyone know how to go about benchmarking VM performance in a fair way?
On each server I would like to run a fixed number of XP/Vista VMs (for example 8) and have some measure of how quickly each one runs when under load. Ideally I would like some benchmark of the overall system (CPU/Memory/Disk/Network) rather than just one aspect.
It seems to me this is actually a very tricky thing to do and obtain any meaningful results so would be grateful for any suggestions!
I would also be interested to see any existing reports or comparisons that have been published (preferably independent rather than vendor biased!)
318
What is the VMmark Benchmark? VMmark is a free tool used by hardware vendors and others to measure the performance, scalability, and power consumption of virtualization platforms. The VMmark benchmark: Allows accurate and reliable benchmarking of virtual data center performance and power consumption.
A VM can even run slow if you do have a powerful system. Worst case, it might freeze, shut down, or just disappear altogether. They can also affect the performance of your host machine. While virtual machines have a multitude of benefits and are very versatile tools, they're not if they run so slow you can't use them.
As a general answer, VMware (together with other virtualization vendors in the SPEC Virtualization sub-committee) has put together a hypervisor benchmarking suite called VMmark that is available for download. The VMmark website discusses why this benchmark may be useful for comparing hypervisors, including an FAQ and a whitepaper describing the benchmark.
That said, if you are looking for something very specific (e.g., how will it perform under your workload), you may have to roll your own variants of VMmark, especially if you are not trying to do the sorts of things that VMmark benchmarks (e.g., web servers, database servers, file servers, etc.) Nonetheless, the methodology behind its development should be of interest.
Disclaimer: I work for VMware, though not on VMmark.
139
I don't see why you can't use common benchmarks inside the VMs: WinSAT, Passmark, Futuremark, SiSoftware, etc... Host the VMs over different hosts and see how it goes.
As an aside, benchmarks that don't closely match your intended usage may actually hinder your evaluation. Depending on the importance of getting this right, you may have to build-your-own to make it relevant.
Why do you want to bench?
29
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
