This is not really a HowTo - its merely describing how easy one can install XEN for usage with windows 2003 on a Vanderpool machine.
I publish it here because one can search for hours for information how to select the right machine and software and howto setup windows in a virtual machine .
Hardware
The hardware is worth about 800 € ( 1000$) - nothing special. See the system configuration in the table below. Be careful to have the newest bios version installed , cause the standard bios does not support vanderpool virtualization.
hardware |
manufacturer |
model |
info |
CPU |
intel |
Pentium D Processor 930 |
3 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2x2 MB L2 Cache Dual-core, Intel EM64T supporting 64-bit computing Intel Virtualization Technology PWM for Fan Speed Control LGA 775 Supports Intel(R) VIIV Requires Intel(R) 945/955X Express Chipset PCG05A Version #: D42728-002 1.3V max. Pack Date: 05/11/06 Data Cache 16KB, Execution Trace Cache 12K Micro-ops Adcanced Transfer Cache 20048 KB |
Mainboard |
Intel |
ATX Form Factor Supports 1066 / 800/ 533 MHz System Bus Supports Dual-Channel DDR2 667 /533 /400 SDRAM Memory PCI Express x16 Graphics Connector Intel(R) High Definition Audio (Enables 5.1 Surround Sound) Supports Intel(R) EM64T Intel(R) Desktop Board D945PSN 49 Celsius |
|
BIOS |
Intel |
Version / BiOS Date |
SN94510J.86A.0077.2006.0619.1530 /19.06.2006 |
RAM |
Kingston DDR2 |
2x 1GB |
750-444 |
Graphic |
AOpen |
GeForce 6600 |
256MB PCI Express support |
Harddisk |
Seagate |
SATA II 250GB |
16MB Cache |
Software :
I used Suse SLES 10 RC 3 which contains XEN in the build from 19.06.2006 SLES 10 can be downloaded from http://www.novell.com/linux/prerelease.html , one have to register before download. I performed a standard install with the xenified kernel. Afterwards i could create virtual machines with YAST. Installation of windows 2003 server went flawlessly with original media out of the box.
Performed a number of performance tests with parallel virtual machines and stress test in a single virtual windows 2003 server machine ( sisoft sandra "burn in" ) which had a runtime of more than two hours for 10 turns and found no stability issues so far. As some parts of the burn in test do not work in a virtual machine ( for instance access to the CDRom) the burn in test performs much faster in the virtual machine - so the burn in test could not be used to compare performance.
The virtual win2003 machines boot much faster than native windows 2003 on the same machine. The graphic performance is roughly a third compared to native win2003 - but this may also be due to VNC.
Performance tests compared to windows 2003 native , performed with freely available tools will be described here in short, we will also perform the same tests with VMware server and Virtual server from microsoft - though we cannot publish the results of the latter two, as they forbid to publish performance tests in their EULA.
Known bugs /onerosities
ACPI Support does not work - may cause problems in the guest OS
bad support of proprietary graphics card : using standard driver
Cloning of a virtual server with YAST leads to two identical MAC adresses. If you start this machines you will consequently get the same IP adress for both mnachines ...
Workaround : create a new machine with yast and enter the created MAC adress from this machine into the cloned config file
