Ten Tips for VMware Virtual Machine Optimization
twt enterprise IT community 2018-05-24
In VMware virtual machines (VMware Workstation or VMware Server), we can run multiple Guest OS at the same time. When multiple virtual machines are run in the same Host OS at the same time, it is bound to seriously affect the operating efficiency and performance of the Host OS. So how do we optimize the virtual machine to achieve the best resource utilization? In this article, I will introduce 10 current practices.
1. Increase memory
In my opinion, increasing memory will substantially improve the performance of Host OS and Guest OS, and the cost of memory is the cheapest relative to CPU and disk. By increasing memory, we can allocate more memory to each virtual machine to prevent excessive data and resource exchange between Host OS and Guest OS.
2. Upgrade CPU
Your CPU needs to be able to cope with and handle the computing tasks of the Host OS and multiple Guest OSs. Of course, for any application, a faster CPU will provide a higher computing speed.
3. Upgrade the disk
Upgrading to a higher speed disk rotation speed can greatly improve the performance of the virtual machine. In addition, you may wish to consider RAID arrays to improve redundancy and performance when replacing high-speed hard disks (depending on the RAID type you choose).
4. Change the storage location of the page file
Windows will automatically reserve a small part of the hard disk space for storing the pagefile.sys page file. When the system does not have enough physical memory, the virtual memory page file will be used as a temporary storage space for data and code. By placing the storage location of the virtual memory in a non-system partition, the performance of the Host OS can also be improved, which also achieves the purpose of improving the performance of the Guest OS.
We can change the storage location of the page file through the following steps: Right-click "Computer" on the desktop and select "Properties"-click "Advanced System Settings"-select "Advanced" tab and click "Settings" in the "Performance" item ——Select the "Advanced" tab. As shown below:
5. Distribute virtual disk files to multiple physical hard disks
At any time, we can distribute data on multiple different physical disks to obtain higher disk I/O performance. Of course, this design and thinking also applies to VMware. For example, if you test or operate SQL Server or Exchange Server in the environment, you can store its application, transaction log and database files in 3 different virtual disk files, and then distribute these 3 virtual disk files into 3 blocks Different physical hard disks to obtain higher disk performance. Or, we can also use RAID on physical disks to improve the performance of virtual machine disk file read and write.
6. Disable the optical drive in VMware
Whenever we start, log in, and shut down a virtual machine, Windows and VMware will try to read whether the optical drive has a CD, which will affect the performance of the virtual machine to a certain extent. In particular, VMware will try to read whether there is a CD in the CD drive of the Host OS, which will also seriously affect the operating efficiency, so disabling the CDROM of the virtual machine can also improve its performance.
We can deselect Connected and Connect at Power-On in VM -> Settings (or Ctrl-D). As shown below:
7. Operate the virtual machine in full screen mode
When we do a certain test, most of the operations are performed in the virtual machine window. When we operate in the virtual machine in full-screen mode, higher graphics processing performance will be obtained. To switch the VMware virtual machine to full-screen mode, you can directly press Ctrl-Alt-Enter, and to exit full-screen mode, press Ctrl-Alt.
8. Disable visual effects
There are some general visual effects in Windows. These visual effects make Windows look very cool, and the operations and transitions of various interfaces are very natural. However, in the virtual machine, these visual effects are not applicable. These visual effects need to use too many CPUs and GPUs for processing, which will inevitably slow down the processing and execution of the application by the virtual machine. Therefore, it is recommended that you disable "visual effects" in the virtual machine to achieve a slight performance improvement.
The general steps to disable visual effects in Windows are as follows: Right-click "Computer" and select "Properties"-click "Advanced System Settings"-select "Settings" in the "Performance" area-on the "Visual Effects" tab Select "Adjust for best performance" and "Confirm". As shown below:
Finally, fragments also suggest that you disable the screen saver of the virtual machine, because it is really unnecessary...
9. Organize virtual machine disks
Like other operating systems, disk files will have a lot of fragmentation after a long time of operation, and so does Guest OS. When we add or delete files in a virtual machine, over time, the virtual disk will also produce a lot of fragmentation. In order to maintain the disk performance of the virtual machine, it is recommended that you defragment the virtual machine disk regularly. I personally recommend using a defragmentation tool like Diskkeeper. Of course, you can also use the disk defragmentation program that comes with Windows. As shown below:
Remember, the virtual machine operating system also needs regular maintenance like the Host OS.
10. Install VMware Tools
Installing VMware Tools in a Windows or Linux virtual machine will greatly improve the performance of the virtual machine. First of all, we can use SVGA resolution instead of just standard VGA, which obviously enhances the graphics and image processing performance of the virtual machine. Secondly, the mouse can be synchronized between the Host OS and the Guest OS. You no longer need to use Ctrl-Alt to switch the mouse between the Host OS and the Guest OS, which improves the performance and efficiency of the mouse. Finally, you can implement copy, cut and paste operations between Host OS and Guest OS. The steps to install VMware Tools are also very simple, you only need to click VM -> Install VMware Tools in the VMware management interface.
As shown below:
to sum up
We have briefly introduced 10 methods for improving the performance of VMware Workstation and VMware Server. Among them, there are software optimization methods and hardware enhancements and improvements. Through these 10 methods, I believe you can flexibly and flexibly adjust the virtual The machine is optimized. (Source of this article: Internet)