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Fine-tune your virtualization performance management skills
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Article
How do Hyper-V Integration Components affect performance?
What are Hyper-V Integration Components, and are there any recommendations for boosting virtual machine performance? Read Now
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Article
How can testing improve nested hypervisor performance?
Not all hypervisors and OSes can play nice with others. The best method for avoiding complications down the road is to thoroughly test your nested virtualization deployment. Read Now
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Article
How much do server configurations affect hypervisor performance?
Software plays an important role in virtual infrastructure performance, but can you optimize performance by tweaking server configurations? Read Now
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How CPU and memory affect application performance
Application performance will change depending on if you want more cores, better clock speed or what you choose for memory. Read Now
Editor's note
There are many benefits to virtualization, but a key aspect of fully realizing those benefits is ensuring that everything in your data center is performing well. The virtual infrastructure is a complex system made up of many parts -- the hypervisor, VMs, servers, storage, applications -- and if even one of those parts isn't firing on all cylinders, it affects the rest of the infrastructure. As such, it's essential to not only understand what affects virtualization performance, but also how to actively improve performance and successfully troubleshoot any issues.
With this guide, you'll be better equipped to anticipate and prevent virtualization performance problems. Below, you'll find information on how CPU and memory affect performance, how you can benefit from VM performance benchmarking and how to pinpoint application performance problems in a virtual data center.
1How can you improve virtualization performance?
Now that you understand what factors affect performance, you are better equipped to manage the day-to-day operations of your virtual infrastructure. Read on to learn about effective performance monitoring, proper resource utilization and important storage metrics.
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Article
How you can benefit from VM performance benchmarking
Using benchmarks gives the user a head start in troubleshooting if VM performance begins to falter. But how can benchmarking help with resources, hardware decisions and virtual workloads? Read Now
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Proper resource utilization can optimize performance
Optimizing performance on a virtual server can maximize efficiency and savings. Microsoft System Center is an example of one tool that can automate and adjust settings as needs change. Read Now
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Article
Can I improve the performance of a virtual database server?
Virtualizing database servers is no longer taboo, but you can still experience performance problems if it's not correctly configured. Read Now
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Article
Best choice for free Hyper-V performance monitoring
There are plenty of free performance monitoring tools, but take care in how you interpret results to make sure you understand the big picture. Read Now
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Five quick tips for foolproof Hyper-V performance tuning
Master Microsoft's virtualization and hypervisor platform with these five tips to Hyper-V performance tuning. Read Now
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Article
Configuration tweaks to boost Hyper-V networking performance
Hyper-V networking changes can benefit workload performance, but only when they're applied in a careful and systematic manner. Read Now
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Five storage configuration tips to boost VM performance
Correctly sizing and setting up your storage hardware can help eliminate bottlenecks and improve VM performance. Read Now
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Article
How to use esxtop to monitor ESXi storage performance
The esxtop utility provides VMware administrators with valuable performance data, but do you know the most important storage metrics to watch? Read Now
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Article
Improving VM performance through proper disk selection
Improving VM performance starts by speeding up disk access. Consider using these strategies for better allocating and provisioning disk storage. Read Now
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Article
Improve VM performance with server memory configuration
Memory technologies add flexibility, but aren’t appropriate for every workload in the data center. Find out which configurations are worth using. Read Now
2How can you troubleshoot virtualization performance issues?
When managing a virtual environment, you're bound to run into issues, no matter how meticulously you set up the infrastructure and how carefully you monitor it. In this section, learn about common bottlenecks, detrimental background activity and Hyper-V configurations.
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Article
Which VMware esxtop metrics can indicate performance problems?
Built-in performance tools offer VMware administrators several important metrics that can help diagnose performance problems, if they know where to look. Read Now
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Article
Eliminate background activity, boost Hyper-V host performance
There's a lot happening behind the scenes that could be slowing Hyper-V host performance. Keeping the background activity in check can boost performance. Read Now
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Article
Don't let antivirus software affect hypervisor performance
Antivirus software has good intentions of protecting your environment, but sometimes can cause a hiccup in hypervisor performance. Read Now
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Article
Eliminate Hyper-V slow network performance with these tools and tips
Network performance can make or break your virtual environment. With Hyper-V networking tools, you can maintain fast network performance and ensure your resources are distributed evenly. Read Now
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Article
Reclaim Hyper-V configurations for better performance
Certain Hyper-V default configurations should be changed for better performance before using the servers in a production environment. Read Now
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Article
Pinpointing application performance problems in a virtual data center
Hardware performance is relatively easy to monitor, but acceptable hardware metrics do not always translate to smooth application performance in a virtual environment. Read Now
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Article
Consider common bottlenecks when troubleshooting storage performance
Admins should begin troubleshooting storage performance problems by considering the many potential bottlenecks that can limit storage IOPS. Read Now
3What terms are associated with virtualization performance?
An essential part of fine tuning your virtualization performance management skills is knowing the terminology. Read on to familiarize yourself with key terms.
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Definition
virtualization
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual version of something, with the goal of centralizing administrative tasks while improving scalability and workloads. Read Now
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Definition
hypervisor
A hypervisor is a function which abstracts -- isolates -- operating systems and applications from the underlying computer hardware. Read Now
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Definition
virtual machine (VM)
A virtual machine (VM) is a software computer that, like a physical computer, runs an operating system and applications. Read Now
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Definition
Microsoft Hyper-V 3.0
Hyper-V 3.0 is the virtualization feature created for the client version of Windows 8 as well as Windows Server 8. Read Now
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Definition
VMware DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler)
VMware DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) is a utility that balances computing workloads with available resources in a virtualized environment. The utility is part of a virtualization suite called VMware Infrastructure 3. Read Now
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Definition
application
An application, also referred to as an application program or application software, is a computer software package that performs a specific function directly for an end user or, in some cases, for another application. Read Now
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Definition
configuration
Generally, a configuration is the arrangement - or the process of making the arrangement - of the parts that make up a whole. Read Now
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Definition
latency
In a computer system, latency usually refers to any delay or waiting that causes noticeable increases of real or perceived response time. Read our definition of latency for more information about network latency, computer latency, Internet latency and other types, the issues they cause and what you can do about them. Read Now
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Definition
esxtop
Esxtop is a command-line tool that gives you real-time information on resource usage in your vSphere environment. Read Now
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Definition
data storage
Data storage is the collective methods and technologies that capture and retain digital information on electromagnetic, optical or silicon-based storage media. Read Now