VMWare server 100% CPU usage on Windoze XP host

you can try disabling hyperthreading (if applicable) for the vmware host, we had the exact same problem using esxi
 
Might not be causing issues, but you need loads more memory. 1GB is not enough - your running XP which takes up a few hundred MB and that will only leave very little left for the VM image.

IF your only going to use the machine for VM's (ie a spare machine) have a look at ESXi (free)
 
gregmcc said:
Might not be causing issues, but you need loads more memory. 1GB is not enough - your running XP which takes up a few hundred MB and that will only leave very little left for the VM image.

IF your only going to use the machine for VM's (ie a spare machine) have a look at ESXi (free)
Click to expand...

A-hyup. 2Gb's or more should be sufficient.

The idea behind virtualization is to build a mongo PC (quadcore stuff, lotsa RAM etc) and use that PC as a VMWare server which will run four or more VM's at the same time.
 
RAM isn't the problem, here. A VM won't use more than you tell it to, and Windows XP only needs 256MB to run well... (Although you won't be able to run anything too hectic on top of the OS with only 256MB. :p )

But I don't think a single-core CPU is really ideal for virtualisation.
 
general_koffi said:
RAM isn't the problem, here. A VM won't use more than you tell it to, and Windows XP only needs 256MB to run well... (Although you won't be able to run anything too hectic on top of the OS with only 256MB. :p )

But I don't think a single-core CPU is really ideal for virtualisation.
Click to expand...

Sorry to disagree. If you set a vm's ram too high, you will cause the HOST machine to start swapping. Once this happens you will be pretty much locked outof both host and vm. try it.
 
gregmcc said:
IF your only going to use the machine for VM's (ie a spare machine) have a look at ESXi (free)
Click to expand...

Odds are your hardware will not be supported by ESXi and if you are only running smoothwall and 1 VM I don't think a hyper visor would make that much of a difference. Smoothwall also uses a tiny amount of RAM so you could easily drop your memory for the VM.
 
Are you using VMware 3.5 or are you using the latest version 4. I am running 3.5 and am not having any problems. I have not personally used Xen but I have heard many good things about it. It can be fiddly to configure so I have heard.
 
mbp said:
What is the diffs between ESXi and Server?
Click to expand...

In mainstream OS virtualisation there there are two broad types of Virtualisaton, each with its own benefits.

The first type (hardware assisted) runs on a machine with an OS already installed, i.e. you install a host OS (Vista, XP), install the Virtualisation software, and then create Virtual machines. Examples of this type are MS Virtual PC, VMWare Server and VirtualBox.

The second type (paravirtualisation), runs on bare metal, and uses a hypervisor to provision virtual machines, i.e. the software does NOT require a base OS. So you install the virtualisation software directly onto the hardware, and then provision Virtual Machines. Examples include MS HyperV, VMWare ESXx, and Citrix XenServer (there are various flavours of Xen, all free).

The first type is useful for installing additional OS'es on your primary PC or laptop for testing etc. The downside is that if your Host crashes, then your VMs will crash too. You also require additional resources on your machine, since your host uses memory etc.

The second type is useful for enterprise level Virtualisation (server consolidation etc), because you do not have to manage a host OS, and the VM performance is better since it runs (almost) directly on hardware. The downside is that you need additional machines to manage the VMs.
 
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