Proxmox on dual processor

G

ggMars

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Mar 8, 2011
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Hello,

I just have installed Proxmox on a dual processor machine. The home page shows that the kernel is "1 SMP", what I interpret as 1 processor. Will the VMs be limited to this only one processor?

Cheers
 
Don't know for sure, but the only 2socket server I can access, that has 2xNO-multithread cpu, shows:
8 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5506 @ 2.13GHz (so is 2 x 4 cores, right)
Linux 2.6.35-1-pve #1 SMP Thu Dec 16 06:05:58 CET 2010 (as your one).
Are you going to install Win2003 or 2008 64 bit as guest? If so, before going to production, please have a look at this thread and if you can, do some test (with kvm 0.13 and then 0.14):
http://forum.proxmox.com/threads/5317-Windows-2003-64-Bit-Random-Crashes-APIC-related
Your help would be very very apreciated.
 
no, you misinterpret.
 
Sorry, not clear. Who misinterprets?

If it's me, that great as it means that Proxmox will use any of the cores of the dual processor. Right?

Does Proxmox make a good/interesting usage of the BIOS flag "logical CPU", aka HyperThreading? Currently I switched it off.

I won't use Proxmox for installing any Windows Server. I am not sure that it is as efficient as HyperV could be, although I am not experienced. My main goal is to run an OpenFiler VM, an occasional computing server and 2 XP dedicated to specific application. Is it OK, especially running OpenFiler in a VM (OpenVZ or kvm)?

Regards
 
Hi, if you are interested in what CPUs the host operating system sees, you can type this command at the terminal: If you notice, I have a AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+.

Code: 
pve1:~# [B]cat /proc/cpuinfo[/B]
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 15
model           : 107
model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 2712.745
cache size      : 512 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow rep_good extd_apicid pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy 3dnowprefetch
bogomips        : 5425.49
TLB size        : 1024 4K pages
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp tm stc 100mhzsteps

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 15
model           : 107
model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 2712.745
cache size      : 512 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 1
initial apicid  : 1
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow rep_good extd_apicid pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy 3dnowprefetch
bogomips        : 5424.91
TLB size        : 1024 4K pages
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp tm stc 100mhzsteps
 
claytonjr said:
Hi, if you are interested in what CPUs the host operating system sees, you can type this command at the terminal: If you notice, I have a AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+.
Click to expand...
Hi, good point. Unfortunately, I only see 4 CPU, which in my case is only one processor.
Thanks.
 
Hi, good point. Unfortunately, I only see 4 CPU, which in my case is only one processor.
Click to expand...
Hi, just an FYI: A CPU is synonymous with processor. So if you see 4 CPUs then you have a quad-processor box.

However, I am assuming that you have a concern with processor affinity. In which case, Proxmox natively supports SMP. If you want to see what processes are running on what processors, then you can use the top program in console.

Please see my screenshot for reference.

processor_affinity.GIF
 
the linux kernel used by proxmox will use all the cores that are advertised by the BIOS of the motherboard. If you turn on HyperThreading, you'll get twice as much processing cores in proxmox.

That is, if you use 2xQuadCore Xeon without HT, you should get 8 processors. If you turn on HT, you'll get 16 of them.
 
jekader said:
That is, if you use 2xQuadCore Xeon without HT, you should get 8 processors. If you turn on HT, you'll get 16 of them.
Click to expand...

I switch off HT because I am not sure of the gain of performance, but this is not the point. But the bi-quad box looks like there is only 4 CPU, ie one and only one QuadCore.

Code: 
~# cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor
processor    : 0
processor    : 1
processor    : 2
processor    : 3
~# uname -a
Linux rm-replica 2.6.32-4-pve #1 SMP Fri Nov 26 06:42:28 CET 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux
What result do you get with those commands ? (full cat below)

Cheers.

Code: 
~# cat /proc/cpuinfo 
processor    : 0
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 44
model name    : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5620  @ 2.40GHz
stepping    : 2
cpu MHz        : 2393.935
cache size    : 12288 KB
physical id    : 1
siblings    : 2
core id        : 0
cpu cores    : 2
apicid        : 32
initial apicid    : 32
fpu        : yes
fpu_exception    : yes
cpuid level    : 11
wp        : yes
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm dca sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips    : 4787.87
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment    : 64
address sizes    : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor    : 1
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 44
model name    : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5620  @ 2.40GHz
stepping    : 2
cpu MHz        : 2393.935
cache size    : 12288 KB
physical id    : 0
siblings    : 2
core id        : 0
cpu cores    : 2
apicid        : 0
initial apicid    : 0
fpu        : yes
fpu_exception    : yes
cpuid level    : 11
wp        : yes
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm dca sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips    : 4787.98
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment    : 64
address sizes    : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor    : 2
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 44
model name    : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5620  @ 2.40GHz
stepping    : 2
cpu MHz        : 2393.935
cache size    : 12288 KB
physical id    : 1
siblings    : 2
core id        : 1
cpu cores    : 2
apicid        : 34
initial apicid    : 34
fpu        : yes
fpu_exception    : yes
cpuid level    : 11
wp        : yes
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm dca sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips    : 4787.97
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment    : 64
address sizes    : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor    : 3
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 44
model name    : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5620  @ 2.40GHz
stepping    : 2
cpu MHz        : 2393.935
cache size    : 12288 KB
physical id    : 0
siblings    : 2
core id        : 1
cpu cores    : 2
apicid        : 2
initial apicid    : 2
fpu        : yes
fpu_exception    : yes
cpuid level    : 11
wp        : yes
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm dca sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt aes lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips    : 4787.94
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment    : 64
address sizes    : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
 
Thanks. But currently I am concerned with the right number of CPU for a bi-quadcore. With top, I only see 4 at the moment. 'uname -a' command shows me only 1 SMP. I still think it's a bad news.
 
hmm, really strange output. Based on physical id, core id and cpu cores values it seems like two processors with two cores each are advertised.

Do other distros see all the cores?
 
The previous install of VmWare announced 16 CPUS (2 sockets x 4 cores x 2 HTs). I am currently wondering if everything is going right. I will install a stable Debian 64 bits, and come back after letting it run a few hours. Thanks for the help.
 
Just try a ubuntu 10.04 LiveCD - it also contains a 2.6.32 kernel and it should be widely tested and mostly bugfree.
 
jekader said:
Just try a ubuntu 10.04 LiveCD - it also contains a 2.6.32 kernel and it should be widely tested and mostly bugfree.
Click to expand...
I am currently trying to use a LiveCD with testing tools. Inquisitor failed to boot. I am going to test PTS distro which is build onto Ubuntu.
 
Inquisitor LiveCD sounds nice but I only got a command line. PTS LiveCD (build onto Ubuntu 10.10 if I remember well) is nice, except it does not recognize Extreme Network card (same as Debian 6). Nevertheless it allows many tests to be run. Back to the question, it advertised 4 CPUs. Back to the BIOS, I found out a flag that set the number of core to two per socket. I switch it to all. Now, PTS and Proxmox know there are 8 CPU (HT still disabled). As Tom already said, there is no link between the number of SMP showed by uname and the real number of socket taken into account.
Thanks for all your help.
Code: 
# uname -a
Linux rm-replica 2.6.32-4-pve #1 SMP Fri Nov 26 06:42:28 CET 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux
# cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'physical id' | wc -l
8
 
ggMars said:
Hello,

I just have installed Proxmox on a dual processor machine. The home page shows that the kernel is "1 SMP", what I interpret as 1 processor. Will the VMs be limited to this only one processor?

Cheers
Click to expand...

No, #1 is the number of kernel builds from your kernel source and SMP means that your kernel SUPPORTS SMP, but it has no bearing on if your CPU is SMP or not. I have an old 1 GHz PIII that shows SMP because the installed kernel supports it. If you want that number to go up, make a change to your kernel and rebuild it and it will increment by 1.

My quad core AMD 965:

Linux cartman 2.6.32-5-amd64 #1 SMP Wed Jan 12 03:40:32 UTC 2011 x86_64 GNU/Linux


My single core PIII

Linux tweek 2.6.26-2-686 #1 SMP Mon Aug 30 07:01:57 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux

I have not rebuilt the kernel on either of these machines, note the date shows the kernel build time.
 
Last edited:
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