Bob Cochran wrote:
On 9/21/11 9:35 AM, Bill Davidsen wrote:
Bob Cochran wrote:
I want to build a new computer system that features dual processors, a lot of memory, and is able to run Xen virtualization. Install Fedora and Xen as the host on such a machine, and then start running a variety of other operating systems as virtual machines.
What dual processor hardware configurations work well with Xen? For example will any Supermicro brand dual processor motherboard be hardware compatible with Xen? I am thinking of Supermicro boards with Xeon processors. Or is there a better brand of motherboard?
With 2-4-6 core CPUs out there, do you really need that level of cost and complexity? I run an x58 ASUS Sabertooth board with i7-950 CPU and 24GB ram, and it seems up to most of what I even plan to do. With eight threads I can handle lots of VMs, although I am running most with KVM rather than xen. Newer boards will go to six (hyperthreaded) cores, but I believe only support four sticks of mempry.
I recently started working with a dual processor workstation bought from Dell. My role is to support the hardware and get the software installed. It is set up with two, Xeon E5645 6-core processors. Based on only about 2 hours of working with it -- they seem to make a significant speed difference difference. This is with a mere 12 Gb of registered DDR3 memory (6 Gb per processor.) Unfortunately we can only do 12 Gb for now, we were hitting the budget limit. I have a question out to my customer asking about the actual experience with applications. My impression is there is a lot more speed.
I have a second person who really maxes out cpu performance and I think that person needs to go beyond the single processor stage. Maybe it is time for multiple processors, each with loads of cache and cores, and some serious memory.
There's no question that if you are CPU bound and have lots of tasks more is better. But that's an unusual case, the load type seen in scientific calculations and rendering images. For more common loads memory, storage, or network are often the limiting factor. Since the original question didn't really make it clear what the load would be or what budget was available I thought it was worth suggesting an option leaving more budget for things which may be bottlenecks.
General questions often get general answers.
On 9/21/11 9:35 AM, Bill Davidsen wrote:
Bob Cochran wrote:
I want to build a new computer system that features dual processors, a lot of memory, and is able to run Xen virtualization. Install Fedora and Xen as the host on such a machine, and then start running a variety of other operating systems as virtual machines.
What dual processor hardware configurations work well with Xen? For example will any Supermicro brand dual processor motherboard be hardware compatible with Xen? I am thinking of Supermicro boards with Xeon processors. Or is there a better brand of motherboard?
There's no question that if you are CPU bound and have lots of tasks more is better. But that's an unusual case, the load type seen in scientific calculations and rendering images. For more common loads memory, storage, or network are often the limiting factor. Since the original question didn't really make it clear what the load would be or what budget was available I thought it was worth suggesting an option leaving more budget for things which may be bottlenecks.
General questions often get general answers.
I'm sorry that my original question....
"What dual processor hardware configurations work well with Xen? For example will any Supermicro brand dual processor motherboard be hardware compatible with Xen? I am thinking of Supermicro boards with Xeon processors. Or is there a better brand of motherboard?"
...lacks specificity.
One person did mention an older Asus motherboard as working well.
I hope someone out there has Supermicro experience. Perhaps I should check the SuperMicro website more carefully and see if specific boards are also sold by Amazon. Those might have buyer reviews.
Bob
xen@lists.stg.fedoraproject.org