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VMs are not distributed across all processors on host

Source: microsoft.public.virtualserver
Sent: 03/08/2008
From: "Van Vangor" <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

Hi. I'm running Virtual Server 2005 R2 on two host systems with multiple
processors using NUMA for memory access. From my observations, Virtual
Server appears to fill up the first node before assigning a VM to the second
node. The net effect is that I'm using half of the processors in my host
systems. Is it possible to manually configure the node to which a VM will
be assigned?

Here's a few more details about my systems.

Host1: HP DL585 G1, 16 GB RAM, two Opteron processors (dual core) = 4
cores
Node Configuration
Node 0: 7600 MB
VMDC1
VMExchange
TermServVM
Node 1: 8123 MB
<no VMs>
Node 2: 0 MB (I don't have a 3rd processor installed in
this system.)
<no VMs>
Node 3: 0 MB (I don't have a 3rd processor installed in
this system.)
<no VMs>

Host3: HP DL585 G2, 32 GB RAM, four Opteron Processors (dual core) = 8
cores
Node Configuration
Node 0: 7646 MB
IIS
FIMS2
Node 1: 8178 MB
TermServVM2
TermServVM3
Node 2: 8171 MB
<No VMs>
Node 3: 8165 MB
<No VMs>

The HP Insight management utilities show me that the 2nd processor on Host1
and the 3rd and 4th processors on Host3 are idle throughout the day. This
information jives with the node configuration above, and means that the load
is not balanced well.

To distribute the processor load more evenly, I want to be able to move the
following:
TermServVM on Host1 from node 0 to node 1
FIMS2 on Host3 from node 0 to node 2
TermServVM3 on Host3 from node 1 to node 3

I found a posting elsewhere on the web where someone experimented with the
<preferred node> setting in the VMC file to manually assign the node for the
VM, but they didn't have any luck. I gave it a try, too, but didn't have
any luck. I placed the following settings as the last paragraph in the
TermServVM.VMC file.
...
<numa>
<memory>
<preferred_node type="integer">1</preferred_node>
</memory>
</numa>
</preferences>
<EOF>

The settings had no effect. However, I may not have placed the
configuration settings in the correct location in the VMC. Heck, I don't
even know if these settings are actually recognized by Virtual Server
because I ripped them off of someone else's post! Does anyone know if this
is legit?

Thanks!
Van

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Related Messages

Re: VMs are not distributed across all processors on host

Sent: 03/11/2008
From: Van Vangor <(email address - cut out)>
Message:

I have a work-around. I made dummy VMs to suck up the memory in each
NUMA node. By loading my VMs in a specific order, I'm able to force
my "real" VMs to be distributed across all of the processors.

For example, on Host3, I have the following VMs:
"Real" VMs:
TermServVM2 (3.5 GB of RAM)
TermServVM3 (3.5 GB of RAM)
FIMS2 (3 GB of RAM)
IIS (3 GB of RAM)
Dummy VMs:
VM1 (3.5 GB of RAM)
VM3 (3.5 GB of RAM)
VM4 (3.5 GB of RAM)
VM5 (3.5 GB of RAM)

Host3 has the following NUMA configuration
Node 0
7646 MB of RAM
first processor
Node 1
8178 MB of RAM
second processor
Node 2
8171 MB of RAM
third processor
Node 3
8165 MB of RAM
fourth processor

I load the VMs in the following order:
TermServVM2
VM1
TermServVM3
VM3
FIMS2
VM4
IIS
VM5

I end up with the following following node configuration:
Node 0:
TermServVM2
VM1
Node 1:
TermServVM3
VM3
Node 2:
FIMS2
VM4
Node 3:
IIS
VM5
Therefore, the true VM load is distributed across all of the
processors.

"But Van, why make VM5? Your last production server (IIS) was
assigned to Node 3 successsfully. Why fill up the last node with
VM5?" Ah, that's because I shut down each VM at various intervals to
backup the VHD file. When I shut down a given VM, sometimes it's
assigned to the last node (Node 3) instead of its original node when I
start it back up. By filling up Node 3 with VM5, I am able to force
Virtual Server to keep each VM in it's respective node no matter how
many times I might shut it down and start it back up.

I'll tell you what! This solutions works, but it sure is hokey!
Surely there is a more efficient way to get Virtual Server to assign
VMs to individual NUMA nodes (processors). As I understand it, VMware
automatically balances the VM load across all physical processors. If
so, VMware has a huge advantage in this area.

Does anyone know where I can find any documentation that shows how to
manipulate which processors are assigned to VMs in a NUMA system? I
can't find any such documentation.

Thanks!
Van

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