I have a Windows VM set up on my TVS-672XS. Unfortunately, it seems to run so slow that it is barely usable. I thought that with an i3 CPU that perhaps it would run better on the TVS-672XS than on my TS-873A. I’ve got plenty of memory on both units. Linux VMs seem to run acceptably (not super zippy but not mind-bogglingly slow either).
Anyone have any tips for speeding up the VMs? Or are these NAS units just really not appropriate for doing much VM work?
Are you passing cores down or are you emulating foreign processors?
Maybe that is the problem? I have a Core i3 and I was emulating an i7. I see an “info” button now in Virtualization Station that says passthrough should be used for Windows 11 for best compatibility…
Unless you plan to move VMs accross different systems, always use passthrough
Well, that is significantly faster. Still somewhat slow, but a very noticeable difference. Any other hints for faster speed? I’ve tried to switch the HDD driver to VirtIO but when I do that, the OS fails to load when starting the VM…
I never really touched any of the other IO options besides network controllers (for ESXi tests you have to manually change the options in KVM via virsh)
For some seriously performant KVM based virtualization I switched to a cheapo DELL ultra 7 265 (I had DELL credits so I only paid 200 bucks for a 50k passmark machine) and run proxmox on it.
I’m not running any ESXi devices. Just running a VM created by Virtualization Station.
Thanks.
Your VM inages are on SSD?..Only thing I could think of that could easily be “fixed”
Not on this NAS. I don’t have any SSDs on this one. Probably something to look to add. I have two unused M.2 slots…
VM Speed-Up Tips
Pass through the CPU and give it more cores (like 4 or more).
VM give it plenty of memory (at least 4 GB).
Keep Virtualization Station and the VM on a fast drive (SSD or M.2 is best).
Use a VirtIO controller.
How to set up a disk using the VirtIO controller to boost I/O performance in Virtualization Station? | QNAP (ASEAN)
Need graphics power? Pop in a GPU and set up passthrough.
Thanks, @lukelin. It’s too bad that many of your app notes though are not current with current versions of your products. That VirtIO app note is from 2017 and much has changed with Virtualization Station since then. Still I will try and see if I can make the change.
Frankly, I may just recreate my VM from scratch. That might be easier. There’s not much on it right now as it has been so slow. I’ll probably have to go through the Microsoft license key circus again where I have to call in and tell them I am on a virtual machine and get codes to validate my license. But oh well…