Virtualization and Performance?

[Quackers]

Our Moodle server is getting used lots now, and its becoming slow when many users are on.

 

The server running it is a dual 3.2Ghz Xeon, and 1 Gig of RAM, Dell Poweredge from late 2006.

 

When i check the server it is the CPU thats always hitting a 100% when users are on, and large SCORM content really kills it.

 

We are looking to virtualise in the next year, if i use a physical to virtual machine converter will i get the benifit of the new CPU's? or will performance gain not be so great?

[SYNACK]

Should do but it will depend on how well the OS takes to its new home, if it has installed as optimized for that specific processor type and made all of the components for that CPU type you may not get the full benifit of all of the new instructions the new CPU offers till any specialized components that are compiled specificly for that pc are rebuild under the new architecture and likewise with the kernel selection.

 

Chances are that the performance difference from these build changes won't be to large and so long as your OS figures out that it has more/better CPUs avalible it will use them to much better effect. I'm thinking that a boost in RAM would give do it no end of good to as then it can cache more leadint to less paging and less CPU wasted on managing swapping stuff in and out or recalculating unchanged database tables.

 

For absolute max performance I am thinking that unless you know the book of sacred words for linux rather well it may be easier to reinstall a new server on the VM box then do a data and app transfer.

Edited May 13, 2010 by SYNACK