PE2950 and Linux virtualization

[Matthew Marlowe]

> How much of a performance hit, or gain (I'd presume hit), does 
> virtualization cause an application, resulting in what percentage poorer 
> or better (I'd presume poorer) performance vs dealing directly with the 
> OS?
> 

In the case of scientific computing, I'd be a little concerned about the 
overhead of virtualization -- but honestly hardware is so cheap these 
days and the benefits of virtualization so great that you can probably 
get good results if you use mature implementations like VMware ESX and 
you avoid cpu/memory contention in your vm deployment (e.g. focus more 
on partitioning system resources rather than sharing them, divide an 8 
core cpu system into 4 dual-core vm's/etc).  The real hit to 
virtualization performance occurs when the hypervisor has to pause one 
vm temporarily to let another run.  Dedicating 1-2 cpu cores per VM 
should keep that to a minimum.  Ditto for allocating ram/ don't over 
provision.


Regards,
Matt
-- 
DeployLinux Consulting, Inc
Senior Infrastructure Consultant
Tel: 805-857-9144  matt at deploylinux.net
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