Limitation of Linux VM on Windows 2008 R2 Host
Recently I would like to create some virtual machines with more memory on a Dell R900 with 128G Memory and 4 x Xeon X7460 ( 6-cores Xeon) . However, it looks like it’s not easy to do so.
The Final goal will be like supporting both windows 2008 server and Redhat Linux enterprise on the same machine . Both of each should be able to support users running research jobs with higher memory requirement .
Currently , the host OS running on R900 is a Windows server 2008 R2 . At first I tried to install vmware server 2.0 on it , however, I found each guest VM created has restriction on maximum memory of 8G and with 2 logical CPUs . Therefore , I can’t use vmware server.
After that , I tried hyper-V with little hope . It’s because I did learn that hyper-V is rather poor in supporting linux when I attend Tech-days 09 . However, my colleague told me that Redhat linux enterprise does appear on the support list of Hyper-V’s guests. Hence , I give it a try with CENTOS 5.3 x64 . This time , it turns out a better solution than vmware server . It’s because it does not impose any restriction on memory of each guest (probably does , but i didn’t hit the ceiling anyway ) . So it can fulfill one of my goals , like applying 24G or more memory to each guest. Well , but since hyper-V can only allow 1 logical processor for such linux OS, so it will not my final solution afterall .
Side Note :
After installation of CENTOS 5.3 VM in hyper-V , you will find that you can’t make the network card works . To fix that, I have to remove the original network card interface from VM setting, and then add “Legacy Network Adapter” through “Add Hardware” (also in the VM setting.) Ref1 Ref2
Now, I need to leave this machine aside , as the research team need to use it right away . So when I get back it’s control , I will think of running VMWare ESXi 4.0 L. Or , I can try CentOS or RedHat linux enterprise as host OS and run KVM over it. BTW, anyone knows if KVM does impose any restriction on guest memory and no . of logical cpus ?
