Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

Hi,

1. I am NOT asking when it will be out. It will be when it's ready, very
soon.
2. Is there a good tutorial on how to use Xen with Windows? I have googled
and have not found some nice clear such as step 1,2,3... and why use this
configuration.

--
Thanks
http://www.911networks.com
When the network has to work
_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 8:39 PM, <centos@911networks.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> 1. I am NOT asking when it will be out. It will be when it's ready, very
> soon.

Yep, completly correct :-)

> 2. Is there a good tutorial on how to use Xen with Windows? I have googled
> and have not found some nice clear such as step 1,2,3... and why use this
> configuration.

It is actually pretty simple. Only hardware requirement, your CPU
needs to support the hadware virtualization extensions (recent Intel
and AMD cpu's have that). If you have that you start the
virtualization manager point it to a .iso image of a Windows install
CD and you are ready. The rest works the same as virtualizing Linux.

Regards,
Tim

--
Tim Verhoeven - tim.verhoeven.be@gmail.com - 0479 / 88 11 83

Hoping the problem magically goes away by ignoring it is the
"microsoft approach to programming" and should never be allowed.
(Linus Torvalds)
_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

>
> It is actually pretty simple. Only hardware requirement, your CPU
> needs to support the hadware virtualization extensions (recent Intel
> and AMD cpu's have that). If you have that you start the
> virtualization manager point it to a .iso image of a Windows install
> CD and you are ready. The rest works the same as virtualizing Linux.
>
> Regards,
> Tim

Tim

When you talk about recent processors in the Intel or AMD realm, do you, or
does anyone else on this list, have practical experience with the
virtualization extentions on HP or Dell or other Quad Xeon or Multi-CPU AMD
boxes ?

I don't know exactly what to ask in terms of best bang for the buck for
processor(s) speed or memory installed, yet I would be interested in hearing
what others are using and how well you are enjoying virtualization on the
boxes

Using XEN or Vmware or Both?

Thanks!

- rh

_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 9:05 PM, Robert - elists <lists07@abbacomm.net> wrote:
>
> When you talk about recent processors in the Intel or AMD realm, do you, or
> does anyone else on this list, have practical experience with the
> virtualization extentions on HP or Dell or other Quad Xeon or Multi-CPU AMD
> boxes ?
>
> I don't know exactly what to ask in terms of best bang for the buck for
> processor(s) speed or memory installed, yet I would be interested in hearing
> what others are using and how well you are enjoying virtualization on the
> boxes
>
> Using XEN or Vmware or Both?

My experience is with dual and quad core Intle CPU's and I don't have
any issues with them since CentOS 5.1. I'm only using Xen and it's
been fine for me.

Regards,
Tim

--
Tim Verhoeven - tim.verhoeven.be@gmail.com - 0479 / 88 11 83

Hoping the problem magically goes away by ignoring it is the
"microsoft approach to programming" and should never be allowed.
(Linus Torvalds)
_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

Robert - elists wrote:


Tim

When you talk about recent processors in the Intel or AMD realm, do you, or
does anyone else on this list, have practical experience with the
virtualization extentions on HP or Dell or other Quad Xeon or Multi-CPU AMD
boxes ?

I don't know exactly what to ask in terms of best bang for the buck for
processor(s) speed or memory installed, yet I would be interested in hearing
what others are using and how well you are enjoying virtualization on the
boxes

Using XEN or Vmware or Both?

Thanks!

- rh

_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

With Dell, your best bang for the buck will probably be Inspiron
530/Vostro 400 with the Q6600 2.4Ghz Quad Core CPU. With the latest
BIOS these support up to 8GB of RAM. (Of course get the ram elsewhere,
not from Dell).


Russ
_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

Tim Verhoeven wrote:

> It is actually pretty simple. Only hardware requirement, your CPU
> needs to support the hadware virtualization extensions (recent Intel
> and AMD cpu's have that). If you have that you start the
> virtualization manager point it to a .iso image of a Windows install
> CD and you are ready. The rest works the same as virtualizing Linux.

You should be able to use the vmware cpu check tool as an easy check
to determine if your CPU has those instructions or not. (sometimes
looking up cpu info to match it with specific features can be a pain)

http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/drivers_tools.html

It says it's for 64-bit compatibility but the same instructions are
needed at least for VMWare.

nate

_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

Robert - elists wrote:


Using XEN or Vmware or Both?

Thanks!

- rh


I've run VMware Server (free, as in cost, not as in open source) on
CentOS to host WinXP VMs since it was in beta and have no complaints.
There is an RPM package available on VMware's site:


$ rpm -q VMware-server
VMware-server-1.0.6-91891.i386

It's only available in i386 package but installs fine on x86_64 and
supports 64-bit VMs provided the underlying hardware supports it. I
believe VMs are limited to a max of 2 processors each.


I've used VMware Server on systems varying from old AthlonXP, 512MB RAM
through to Intel Quad Core Q6600 with 4GB RAM. Note VMware will run on
older processors without hardware virtualization. In my experience
there's little noticeable difference between software and hardware
virtualization (on VMware), and each run at about the perceived speed
you would expect if it was on native hardware (I've not conducted any
benchmark tests). The main consideration is that you have enough RAM to
support the host OS (CentOS) and any VM(s) running on it.


I've not used Xen so can't offer a comparison.

Ned

_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

On 6/11/08, Ned Slider <ned@unixmail.co.uk> wrote:
<snip>
> I've run VMware Server (free, as in cost, not as in open source) on
> CentOS to host WinXP VMs since it was in beta and have no complaints.
> There is an RPM package available on VMware's site:
>
> $ rpm -q VMware-server
> VMware-server-1.0.6-91891.i386
>
> It's only available in i386 package but installs fine on x86_64 and
> supports 64-bit VMs provided the underlying hardware supports it. I
> believe VMs are limited to a max of 2 processors each.
>
> I've used VMware Server on systems varying from old AthlonXP, 512MB RAM
> through to Intel Quad Core Q6600 with 4GB RAM. Note VMware will run on
> older processors without hardware virtualization. In my experience
> there's little noticeable difference between software and hardware
> virtualization (on VMware), and each run at about the perceived speed
> you would expect if it was on native hardware (I've not conducted any
> benchmark tests). The main consideration is that you have enough RAM to
> support the host OS (CentOS) and any VM(s) running on it.
>
> I've not used Xen so can't offer a comparison.

Ned: I was very interested to read that you've run VMWare Server on
systems with only 512 MB of RAM. I haven't tried it, because the box
I can use only has 512 MB of RAM.

My impression is that Xen is much more demanding about HW. Lanny
_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

Lanny Marcus wrote:



Ned: I was very interested to read that you've run VMWare Server on
systems with only 512 MB of RAM. I haven't tried it, because the box
I can use only has 512 MB of RAM.



Yes, assuming you give 256MB to a single VM guest and allow the CentOS
host 256MB, you'll get about the level of performance that you'd expect
for systems with that little RAM. They will run, but they won't be
lightning quick so you will need to think about running services
carefully and minimize memory usage where you can to prevent swapping.


1GB split between the host and gust would probably be a better sensible
minimum given the current price of RAM, and for a new dual or quad core
system I wouldn't really consider installing less than 4 GB given the
current pricing.



_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

Centos 5.2 and Xen
 

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 3:22 PM, Lanny Marcus <lmmailinglists@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ned: I was very interested to read that you've run VMWare Server on
> systems with only 512 MB of RAM. I haven't tried it, because the box
> I can use only has 512 MB of RAM.
>
> My impression is that Xen is much more demanding about HW. Lanny

I was told that for any kind of performance, at least 1G of memory per
VM plus 1G for the host was "a good idea." that was why I originally
upgraded mine to 2G (well, that and I *really* wanted a better CPU,
and this was a great excuse). That might have been for VMWare
Workstation (not free, but I had it at work) not VMWare Server (which
I use at home).

When I had 2G, I only allowed my VM WXP guest to use 768M, but I upped
that to 1G when I replaced my 2G with 4G. I also have a CentOS 5.?
guest on the same box, but I've never actually tried running them both
at the same time.

HTH.

mhr
_______________________________________________
CentOS mailing list
CentOS@centos.org
http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos