VM's slow and Hight I/O Delay

[joao.martins]

Hello everyone!

I've recently started using Proxmox on a machine with the following specifications:

• Processor: Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1220 v2
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 1TB SATA HDD

I'm only running one virtual machine at a time due to the hardware limitations. However, I'm experiencing some performance issues, especially when interacting with Windows environments. The interaction feels quite sluggish, and I’ve noticed a significant I/O delay.

Since I'm new to Proxmox, I’d appreciate any tips or suggestions on how to improve performance.

 

[kellogs]

based on the hardware spec this is not an issue with Proxmox. Try to install windows on it instead of using Proxmox. You might better off.

 

[joao.martins]

based on the hardware spec this is not an issue with Proxmox. Try to install windows on it instead of using Proxmox. You might better off.

I understand that it might work better with Windows installed directly on the machine. However, the reason I’m using Proxmox is that I need to create multiple VMs for software testing and use them one at a time as needed.

 

[leesteken]

Maybe you can optimize the blocksize between your Windows and your storage? Did you install VirtIO drivers for Windows and followed the best practices? Maybe you have a Windows that uses (nested) virtualization for security, which can be disabled? You shared hardly any information about your drive, storage setup (what filesystem, what virtual disk type), VM configuration (qm config) or even the Windows version. A 1TB SATA SSD (with TLC flash) is not that expensive and would feel much faster probably.

 

[gfngfn256]

You don't provide other HW details, but that single 12 year old processor is simply not up to the job. With only 4 slow cores with compromised slow RAM (I believe DDR3 1333) it is hardly current HV materiel. I'd be surprised if you did not get bottlenecks. I don't think you will get a very good experience even if you run Windows on it directly. Your PCI lanes are probably also not up to much, & if your NW matches the rest - its probably only good for a simple Linux distro or e-waste.

 

[joao.martins]

Maybe you can optimize the blocksize between your Windows and your storage? Did you install VirtIO drivers for Windows and followed the best practices? Maybe you have a Windows that uses (nested) virtualization for security, which can be disabled? You shared hardly any information about your drive, storage setup (what filesystem, what virtual disk type), VM configuration (qm config) or even the Windows version. A 1TB SATA SSD (with TLC flash) is not that expensive and would feel much faster probably.

Yes, I installed the VirtIO drivers on Windows as well as the VirtIO agent. I believe I followed the best practices during setup.

 

[joao.martins]

You don't provide other HW details, but that single 12 year old processor is simply not up to the job. With only 4 slow cores with compromised slow RAM (I believe DDR3 1333) it is hardly current HV materiel. I'd be surprised if you did not get bottlenecks. I don't think you will get a very good experience even if you run Windows on it directly. Your PCI lanes are probably also not up to much, & if your NW matches the rest - its probably only good for a simple Linux distro or e-waste.

I agree with you and share the same opinion. The question was whether I might be doing something wrong and if there was still room for improvement.

 

[gfngfn256]

The only thing I notice is that the PVE instance can be updated to the latest kernel.

 

[kellogs]

I understand that it might work better with Windows installed directly on the machine. However, the reason I’m using Proxmox is that I need to create multiple VMs for software testing and use them one at a time as needed.

I am sorry my friend ... i am afraid this server is not suitable for multiple VMs.

 

[_gabriel]

HDD is the bottleneck, even bare metal Win10 is slow, even more when Windows Update active.
switch to SSD is mandatory.
mitigations=off as kernel will help old cpu.