[hondadude]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I created couple of Win2008 and a XP-Pro VMs on Hyper-V. While Win2008 VMs run like rocket, the XP-Pro VM runs like a snail. What gives? I can't do desktop vistualization if this is the case.

Most probably that is because 2008 VMs have PV drivers while XP-Pro is running in HVM mode which is inherently slow, although I must admit that I am not 100% sure about that.

[given2fly]

My first question would be,

Is Hardware Virtualization assist enabled in BIOS?

Okay, so the answer is yes, or after a modification and reboot, yes. If so, then have you installed VM Additions in Windows XP VMs. Unless they are installed, the VMs tend to be very very slow whereas the only issue is that there is no display driver that can fasten hardware assistance for rendering your requests.

If you are looking to actually dig into Hyper-V and other solutions, this writer "Scott Lowe" is a fantastic place to big at. In-depth Virtualization Evangelist.

VIR367: Hyper-V Security and Best Practices - blog.scottlowe.org - The weblog of an IT pro specializing in virtualization, storage, and servers

VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
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Another solution that you may look forward to deply is install Linux (any version with a RDP Client) and put all the machines inVMware VDI. What will that do is let you have a central storage for your VM flat disks (VMDK for vmware) & one server acting as broker for clients contacting them to bring up machines. With VMware, you also get the ability of online VM migration with vMotion.

Some useful links for you

VMware VDI & VMware VDM2 Demo (A must - This is a demo of how it works)

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Overview

VDI Overview - Virtual Desktop Infrastructure - VMware

VMware: VMTN Blog: Learn about application virtualization and VDI: new blog, podcast

Microsoft Virtualization
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One more option which isn't completely industry accepted yet but fast gaining popularity is SoftGrid Application Virtualization. Microsoft does have another package with enhanced licensing terms for VMs which can also be used with VMware.

Flexible licensing for hosted desktop architectures: Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop

Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) provides unique licensing to run Windows in virtual machines (VMs) on servers. Users are able to access these VMs on either PCs or thin client. Windows VECD supports hosted desktop architectures, also known as centralized desktop or virtualized desktop infrastructures (VDI), and provides customers the flexibility to explore this particular model of desktop deployment. Windows VECD can be used with the Microsoft virtualization technologies or third-party partner solutions.

Some Microsoft webcasts to help you understand your requirements:

Windows Server 2008: Web, Virtualization, Security, and a Solid Foundation for Your Business Workloads

An assessment toolkit from MS

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Solution Accelerator

A link on Citrix (I don't recommend Citrix for cost of licensing - Too prohibitively expensive for relatively small companies)

When to use VDI, when to use server-based computing, and how the Citrix Ardence dynamic desktop fits into all this - From BrianMadden.com

Hope you find out your suitable choice. Ask me for any info you need. Will try my best.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I created couple of Win2008 and a XP-Pro VMs on Hyper-V. While Win2008 VMs run like rocket, the XP-Pro VM runs like a snail. What gives? I can't do desktop vistualization if this is the case.

I've found out thru lab experiments that virtual XP runs best on Virtual Desktop and not Virtual Server - irrespective of a high configuration.