Re: [Xen-users] gaming on multiple OS of the same machine?

[Andrew Bobulsky <rulerof@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Casey,

Quick question!

What's the config file entry for the LVM-type setup you have going on
for the guest disk look like?  Might you be able to point me to a
guide that'll show me how to set up a disk like that?

Thanks!

-Andrew Bobulsky

On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 6:51 PM, Casey DeLorme <cdelorme@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hello Peter,
>
>
> Question #1: Performance
>
> With x86 Virtualization hardware such as CPU's and Memory are mapped not
> layered, there should be almost no difference in speeds from running
> natively.
>
> I am running Windows 7 HVM with an ATI Radeon 6870.  My system has 12GB of
> RAM, and a Core i7 2600.  I gave Windows 4 vcores and 6GB of memory, Windows
> Experience index gives me 7.5 for CPU and 7.6 for RAM.  With VGA Passthrough
> I have 7.8 for both graphics scores.  I am running all my systems on LVM
> partitions on an OCZ Vertex 3 Drive, without PV Drivers windows scored 6.2
> for HDD speeds, with PV drivers it jumped to 7.8.
>
> Scores aside, performance with CPU/RAM is excellent, I am hoping to create a
> demo video of my system when I get some time (busy with college).
>
> My biggest concern right now is Disk IO ranges from excellent to abysmal,
> but I have a feeling the displayed values and actual speeds might be
> different.  I'll put putting together an extensive test with this later, but
> let's just say IO speeds vary (even with PV drivers).  The Disk IO does not
> appear to have any affect on games from my experience, so it may only be
> write speeds.  I have not run any disk benchmarks.
>
>
> Question #2: GPU Assignment
>
> I have no idea how Dual GPU cards work, so I can't really answer this
> question.
>
> I can advise you to be on the lookout for motherboards with NF200 chipsets
> or strange PCI Switches, I bought an ASRock Extreme7 Gen3, great bought but
> NF200 is completely incompatible with VT-d, ended up with only one PCIe slot
> to pass.  I can recommend the ASRock Extreme4 Gen3, got it right now, if I
> had enough money to buy a bigger PSU and a second GPU I would be doing what
> you are planning to.
>
>
> Question #3:  Configuration
>
> Two approaches to device connection, USB Passthrough and PCI Passthrough.  I
> haven't tried USB Passthrough, but I have a feeling it wouldn't work with
> complex devices that require OS drives, such as BlueTooth receivers or an
> XBox 360 Wireless adapter.
>
> I took the second approach of passing the USB Controller, but this will vary
> by hardware.  The ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 has four USB PCI Controllers, I don't
> have any idea how you would check this stuff from their manuals, I found out
> when I ran "lspci" from Linux Dom0.
>
> I had no luck with USB 3.0, many devices weren't functional when connected
> to it, so I left my four USB 3.0 ports to my Dom0, and passed all my USB 2.0
> ports.
>
> Again hardware specific, one of the bus had 4 ports, the other had only two,
> I bought a 4 port USB PCI plate and attached the additional USB pins from
> the board to turn the 2-port into a 6-port controller.
>
> I use a ton of USB devices on my Windows system, Disk IO blows, but
> everything else functions great.  With PCI Passed USB I am able to use an
> XBox 360 Wireless Adapter, 2 Wireless USB Keyboards in different areas of
> the room, a Hauppauge HD PVR, A logitech C910 HD Webcam, and a Logitech
> Wireless Mouse.  I had BlueTooth but I got rid of it, the device itself went
> bad and was causing my system to BlueScreen.
>
> When I tested USB 3.0, I got no video from my Happauge HD PVR or my Logitech
> C910 webcam, and various devices when connected failed to function right.
>
>
> Question #4:  Other?
>
> I am 100% certain you could get a system running 2 Windows 7 HVM's up for
> gaming, but you may need to daisy chain some USB devices if you want more
> than just a keyboard and mouse for each.
>
> Also, if you are not confident in your ability to work with *nix, I wouldn't
> advise it.  I had spent two years tinkering with Web Servers in Debian, so I
> thought I would have an easy time of things.
>
> I tried it on a week off, ended up taking me 2 months to complete my setup.
>  The results are spectacular, but be prepared to spend many hours debugging
> unless you find a really good guide.
>
> I would recommend going for a Two Windows on One Rig, and duplicate that rig
> for a second machine, and I recommend that for two reasons.  If you are
> successful with the first machine, you can easily copy the process.  This
> will save you hours of attempting to get a whole four Gaming machines
> working on one system.
>
>
> As stated, I only run one gaming machine, but I do have two other HVM's
> running, one manages my households network and the other is a private
> web/file server.  So, performance wise Xen can do a lot.
>
> Best of luck,
>
> ~Casey
>
> On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 6:17 PM, Peter Vandendriessche
> <peter.vandendriessche@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am new to Xen and I was wondering if the following construction would be
>> feasible with the current Xen.
>>
>> I would like to put 2/3/4 new computers in my house, mainly for gaming.
>> Instead of buying 2/3/4 different computers, I was thinking of building one
>> computer with a 4/6/8-core CPU, 2/3/4 GPUs, 2/3/4 small SSDs, and attach
>> 2/3/4 monitors to it, 2/3/4 keyboards and 2/3/4 mouses, and run VGA
>> passthrough. This would save me money on hardware, and it would also save
>> quite some space on the desk where I wanted to put them.
>>
>> If this is possible, I have a few additional questions about this:
>>
>> 1) Would the speed on each virtual machine be effectively that of a 2-core
>> CPU with 1 GPU? What about memory speed/latency?
>> 2) Is it possible to split dual GPUs, e.g. drive 4 OSes with 2x Radeon HD
>> 6990 (=4 GPUs in 2 PCI-e slots)?
>> 3) How should one configure the machine such that each OS receives only
>> the input from its own keyboard/mouse?
>> 4) Any other problems or concerns that you can think of?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Peter
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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