Mailing List virtualized_ecs_users@2rosenthals.com Archived Message #160

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From: "Doug Bissett" <virtualized_ecs_users@2rosenthals.com> Full Headers Undecoded message Subject: Re: [Virtualized eCS] Virtual box 6.0.14 r 133895, acpi shutdown with AOS 5.0.3 and virtual cpu - 2 cpu success - OK!!! :) Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 16:13:39 -0700 (MST) To: "Virtualized eCS Users Mailing List" <virtualized_ecs_users@2rosenthals.com>

On 2020-01-28, at 21:40:12, Massimo S. wrote:
>
...snip...

>>>anyway let's try to understand if there is something no good
>>>let's take VM1:
>>>
>>>general:
>>>type: IBM OS/2
>>>version: eComStation
>>That is okay for eCS (based on MCP2). ArcaOS is closer to
Warp
>>4.5 (based on warp server). I don't think there is much difference,
>>but it could make wrong assumptions.
>>advanced: shared clipboard: shared
>>Try these disabled, to see if anything changes. I have heard
>>comments about problems with that. I never enable them.
>>system:
>>>memory: 4096 MB
>>Probably way too much (that will also slow down the host). In
fact,
>>OS/2 can only use somewhere near 3500 MB, depending on the
>>exact machine configuration. I would suggest using 2000 MB (not
>>even 2 GB). I find, with my P4 server, which has 1 GB of
memory,
>>that it NEVER uses that much memory. In fact I have never seen
it
>>use more than about 600 MB.
>>boot order: CD and HDD
>>>chipset: PIIX3
>>>point dev: PS/2 mouse
>>>extended functions: I/O APIC on
>>>processors: 2
>>I am still surprised that this doesn't cause problems.
>>execution cap: 100%
>>>estended features: PAE/NX: on
>
>turned OFF
>
>>AH!, Now this might cause problems. The only thing, in OS/2,
that
>>can use PAE, is the QSINIT RAMDISK (the ArcaOS loader, is
>>QSINIT, and the ArcaOS RAMDISK is from QSINIT). Some time
>>ago, the guy who wrote that software has said that there are
>>problems with PAE/NX in VBox. That may have changed, but I
>>doubt it. Try turning it off.
>>Vt-x/AMD-V nidificate: off
>>This setting will be disabled, when you turn off PAE/NX.
>>acceleration:
>>>default
>
>set to legacy
>
>>>VT-x/AMD-V: on
>>I don't see this in the VBox 6.1.2 setup, any more.
>>Paravirtualization Interface should be set to Legacy, which would
>>seem to be the same thing. Of course, VT-x/AMD-V must be
>>enabled in the BIOS too.
>>paging nidificate: off
>
>set to on
>
>
>>Nested paging can (should) be on. This means that the host file
>>system can cache the file that the guest uses as a hard disk. It
may
>>not make a lot of difference, if the host disk is a SSD.
>
>yes, SSD and the OS is on a different hard-disk (2 raid1 hdds          
)
>while the 2 VMs are on a SSD (kingston ssdnow 300v                    
)
>
>the production machine will run on samsung evo pro
>even better SSDs

I would try it on a regular HDD. The VM will be slower than a real
system anyway, and the SSD will deteriorate faster, if you use it for
something that probably won't benefit from the speed. Remember,
that the virtual disk is probably running in the host cache, a lot of
the time, anyway.

>>>screen:
>>>all default values
>>Default should be okay, most of the time. I usually change Video
>>Memory to 15 or 24 MB, depending on how big the host screen
is. It
>>usually insists on more, if it needs more memory to run the guest
in
>>full screen. Apparently, it doesn't actually allocate the memory,
>>unless it is needed.
>>storage: IDE/PIIX4
>>Hmmm. This should be AHCI (but be sure the OS2AHCI driver is
>>configured in CONFIG.SYS, before changing it). CONFIG.SYS
>>should contain:
>>BASEDEV=OS2AHCI.ADD /n /f
>>Put it before the DANI driver line, if you leave both in
CONFIG.SYS
>>(recommended, when changing it).
>
>
>as wrote before if i switch to OS2ACHI + sata
>i see a tremendous drop in perfomances on the files systems
inside the
>VMs

Odd. I see at least 50% faster disk operation. I wonder if the VMDK
is doing that? It is possible, that the virtual disk file needs to be
defragmented. You will probably need to shut down the guest to
defrag the file in the host.

>>>use host cache I/O: yes
>>>type of storage: vmdk file
>>I use VDI, but VMDK is okay.
>
>vmdk is the "raw" format
>must be use in the case you need (like me)
>live bkups
>
>if you use Windows server the service VSS and vmdk as vm
format
>permit to bkup VMs live when they are running

I don't trust backups that are made while something is using a file
(and the virtual disk is just one big file). To do it properly, the host
would need to, somehow, freeze access to the file, while it is
backed up, and that can take some time, depending on how big it is.

>
>>>ide primary master
>>Change that to SATA, so it can work as AHCI.
>>ssd: yes
>>You might try turning this off. I doubt if it will help, but it is
>>something to try.
>>audio: disabled
>>If you do use audio, select the Sound Blaster 16 PNP.
>>lan:
>>>
>>>my architecture need 2 NICs per VM
>>>
>>>nic 1
>>>connection: NIC with bridge
>>>name: Intel I350 Gigabit Network COnnection
>>>advanced:
>>>type: INtel PRO/1000 MT server (82545EM)
>>>mode: permit all
>>>mac ....
>>>cable: connected
>>>
>>>nic 2
>>>connection: NIC with bridge
>>>name: Intel I350 Gigabit Network COnnection 2
>>>advanced:
>>>type: INtel PRO/1000 MT server (82545EM)
>>>mode: permit all
>>I don't know what mode really does. Promiscuous mode is used
to
>>allow a NIC to be used by something like VBox, but you can't run
a
>>VBox inside of a VBox. I would try turning that off.
>>I don't know, exactly, how you connect the networks, but OS/2
>>cannot connect to two networks that are in the same IP address
>>range.
>
>they have different IP classes
>
>
>....Doug, thanks a lot!!
>
>here we go, now i see via ftp a constat datarate of about
>20MegaBytes/sec
>this not wonderful, but *it's enough for my needs*
>
>ok, WS2019+Virtual Box has won, vmware esx free has lost (too
much
>complicated too manage, a number of issues in the web interface
too,
>difficult to schedule bkup tasks)
>
>;-)
>
>massimo

Glad that you are making progress. I think you still have a couple of
problems to work out, but it seems that you got networking fixed,
which would seem to be the most important, for you. I am not sure
that I would bother trying to make "live backups" work. It is much
easier, and far more reliable, to stop the VM, copy the virtual disk
file somewhere, and start the VM again. The time to do that
depends on how big the file is. You do need to pick a time when
nobody is likely to be using it. If you have users, they should be
informed that the server will be down for a few minutes, at the given
time.

Actually, I just tried copying a VDI file (using win 10 host), while
ArcaOS is running (probably not actually using it). The VDI file
copied okay, but I still wouldn't trust it because it could have been
changed part way through the copy. That may appear to be okay,
but it depends on what it really did.

Remember that you also need to back up the VBox configuration
file (*.VBOX) that is associated with the virtual disk file, but that
usually doesn't change.

...snip...

Have fun...
--
****************************
From Doug Bissett's ArcaOS system
dougb007 at telus.net
****************************
... Nothing is so smiple that it can't get screwed up.

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