Ubuntu 12.04 Virtualization - Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7-3960X benchmarking of various Ubuntu 12.04 LTS virtualization options with the Precise Linux 3.2 kernel. Testing of bare metal, Xen, KVM virtualization methods from this Intel Sandy Bridge Extreme Edition system that was running in the same configuration for the duration of testing. This Linux virtualization benchmarking is for a future article on Phoronix.com. Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal: Processor: Intel Core i7-3960X @ 3.20GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: Intel DX79SI, Chipset: Intel Sandy DMI2, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 240GB OCZ VERTEX3, Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6570 512MB, Audio: Realtek ALC892, Monitor: DELL P2210H, Network: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Connection OS: Ubuntu 12.04, Kernel: 3.2.0-20-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 5.6.0, Display Server: X Server 1.11.3, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.2 Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM: Processor: QEMU Virtual 1.0 @ 3.20GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: Bochs, Chipset: Red Hat Virtio, Memory: 12288MB, Disk: 16GB, Graphics: LLVMpipe, Audio: Generic 1af4 ID 20, Network: Red Hat Virtio device OS: Ubuntu 12.04, Kernel: 3.2.0-20-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 2D 5.6.0, Display Server: X Server 1.11.3, Display Driver: cirrus 1.3.2, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.2 Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1024x768, System Layer: QEMU 1.0 Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen: Processor: Intel Core i7-3960X @ 3.20GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: Xen HVM domU v4.1.2, Chipset: Intel 440FX- 82441FX PMC, Memory: 12288MB, Disk: 26GB, Graphics: LLVMpipe, Audio: Ensoniq ES1370 OS: Ubuntu 12.04, Kernel: 3.2.0-20-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 2D 5.6.0, Display Server: X Server 1.11.3, Display Driver: cirrus 1.3.2, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.2 Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1024x768, System Layer: Xen HVM domU 4.1.2 Compile Bench 0.6 Test: Compile MB/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 429.00 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 312.79 |=========================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 378.65 |================================= Compile Bench 0.6 Test: Initial Create MB/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 220.11 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 159.19 |=========================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 144.09 |======================== Compile Bench 0.6 Test: Read Compiled Tree MB/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 1667.52 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 1310.97 |============================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 1437.34 |=============================== Dbench 4.0 Client Count: 1 MB/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 300.55 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 268.33 |================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 255.00 |=============================== Threaded I/O Tester 0.3.3 Test: Random Write - Size Per Thread: 64MB - Thread Count: 8 MB/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 174.62 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 9.57 |== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 135.89 |============================= VP8 libvpx Encoding 0.9.7-p1 vpxenc Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 23.54 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 19.67 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 23.18 |===================================== x264 2011-12-06 H.264 Video Encoding Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 170.44 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 139.51 |============================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 156.54 |================================== GMPbench 0.2 Total Time GMPbench Score > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 2813.20 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 2797.60 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 2781.50 |==================================== GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: Blur Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 118 |======================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 113 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 98 |================================= GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: HWB Color Space Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 162 |======================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 157 |======================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 146 |==================================== GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: Local Adaptive Thresholding Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 85 |========================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 83 |======================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 77 |===================================== GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: Resizing Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 146 |======================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 138 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 130 |==================================== GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: Sharpen Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 87 |========================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 85 |======================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 81 |====================================== Himeno Benchmark 3.0 Poisson Pressure Solver MFLOPS > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 1357.24 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 1322.15 |=================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 1351.65 |==================================== 7-Zip Compression 9.20.1 Compress Speed Test MIPS > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 25015 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 21319 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 23762 |==================================== SciMark 2.0 Computational Test: Composite Mflops > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 1062.22 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 957.19 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 1050.68 |==================================== SciMark 2.0 Computational Test: Dense LU Matrix Factorization Mflops > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 1941.16 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 1737.26 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 1928.90 |==================================== SciMark 2.0 Computational Test: Fast Fourier Transform Mflops > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 307.91 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 180.14 |====================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 308.62 |===================================== SciMark 2.0 Computational Test: Jacobi Successive Over-Relaxation Mflops > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 966.39 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 960.34 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 958.83 |===================================== SciMark 2.0 Computational Test: Monte Carlo Mflops > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 442.33 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 440.97 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 439.61 |===================================== SciMark 2.0 Computational Test: Sparse Matrix Multiply Mflops > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 1653.30 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 1473.43 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 1617.43 |=================================== John The Ripper 1.7.9 Test: Blowfish Real C/S > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 6562 |======================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 6270 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 5657 |================================== Timed HMMer Search 2.3.2 Pfam Database Search Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 12.14 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 10.67 |================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 9.74 |============================== Timed MAFFT Alignment 6.864 Multiple Sequence Alignment Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 4.89 |========================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 7.45 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 7.64 |======================================= Timed ImageMagick Compilation 6.6.3-4 Time To Compile Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 42.07 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 41.31 |=============================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 50.36 |====================================== Timed Linux Kernel Compilation 3.1 Time To Compile Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 65.71 |===================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 76.52 |======================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 116.75 |===================================== C-Ray 1.1 Total Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 37.37 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 39.42 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 39.49 |====================================== LZMA Compression 256MB File Compression Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 155.28 |============================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 197.93 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 144.33 |=========================== Parallel BZIP2 Compression 1.0.5 256MB File Compression Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 6.06 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 6.42 |======================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 6.38 |======================================= Crafty 23.4 Elapsed Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 90.96 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 93.82 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 92.55 |===================================== FLAC Audio Encoding 1.2.1 WAV To FLAC Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 6.80 |======================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 6.85 |======================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 6.86 |======================================= LAME MP3 Encoding 3.99.3 WAV To MP3 Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 17.80 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 17.94 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 17.94 |====================================== FFmpeg 0.10 AVI To NTSC VCD Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 12.30 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 12.63 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 12.50 |====================================== N-Queens 1.0 Elapsed Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 256.50 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 257.88 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 257.73 |===================================== Open FMM Nero2D 2.0.2 Total Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 708.09 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 715.72 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 713.81 |===================================== Smallpt 1.0 Global Illumination Renderer; 100 Samples Seconds < Lower Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 21 |========================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 21 |========================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 21 |========================================= OpenSSL 1.0.0e RSA 4096-bit Performance Signs Per Second > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 74.98 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 74.85 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 74.98 |====================================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: BT.A Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 16396.46 |=================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 14094.95 |============================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 14979.75 |================================ NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: CG.B Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 3307.14 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 2941.37 |================================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 2841.48 |=============================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: EP.B Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 305.52 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 297.07 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 297.51 |==================================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: FT.B Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 9102.76 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 8589.00 |================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 8693.00 |================================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: IS.C Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 154.57 |===================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 84.97 |==================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 153.99 |===================================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: LU.A Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 15393.08 |=================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 12133.88 |============================ Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 11580.19 |========================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: MG.B Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 10158.85 |=================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 8422.94 |============================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 7698.61 |=========================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: SP.A Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 9340.36 |==================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 7007.17 |=========================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 6944.81 |=========================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: UA.A Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 73.12 |====================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 56.96 |============================== Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 46.09 |======================== NGINX Benchmark 1.0.11 Static Web Page Serving Requests Per Second > Higher Is Better Intel Core i7 3960X: Bare Metal . 17638.33 |=================================== Intel Core i7 3960X: KVM ........ 16675.53 |================================= Intel Core i7 3960X: Xen ........ 17788.74 |===================================