Ubuntu 12.04 Intel i7 Clarksfield Virtualization
Linux virtualization testing under Ubuntu 12.04 with the Linux 3.2 kernel on an Intel Core i7 Clarksfield mobile platform with KVM and Xen and VirtualBox virtualization technologies. Testing for a future article on Phoronix.com by Michael Larabel.


Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal: 

	Processor: Intel Core i7 720Q @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: LENOVO 4318CTO, Chipset: Intel Core DMI, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 160GB INTEL SSDSA2M160, Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M 1024MB (550/790MHz), Audio: Conexant CX20585, Network: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Connection + Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300

	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: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.2 Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1600x900

Core i7 720QM: KVM: 

	Processor: QEMU Virtual 1.0 @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: Bochs, Chipset: Red Hat Virtio, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 35GB, 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

Core i7 720QM: Xen: 

	Processor: Intel Core i7 720Q @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: Xen HVM domU v4.1.2, Chipset: Intel 440FX- 82441FX PMC, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 35GB, 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

Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox: 

	Processor: Intel Core i7 720Q @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: innotek VirtualBox v1.2, Chipset: Intel 440FX- 82441FX PMC, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 41GB VBOX HDD, Graphics: Chromium, Audio: Intel 82801AA AC 97 Audio, Monitor: VBOX monitor, Network: Intel 82540EM Gigabit

	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: vboxvideo 1.0.1, OpenGL: 2.1, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1024x768, System Layer: VirtualBox


Compile Bench 0.6
Test: Compile
MB/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 108.49 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 91.06  |====================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 101.71 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 61.25  |========================


Compile Bench 0.6
Test: Initial Create
MB/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 92.69 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 77.58 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 74.43 |===================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 57.98 |============================


Dbench 4.0
Client Count: 1
MB/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 205.88 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 134.70 |============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 202.98 |==========================================


Threaded I/O Tester 0.3.3
Test: Random Write - Size Per Thread: 64MB - Thread Count: 8
MB/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 92.69 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 23.85 |===========
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 48.20 |=======================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 22.54 |===========


VP8 libvpx Encoding 0.9.7-p1
vpxenc
Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 9.90 |=============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 7.70 |===================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 8.70 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 5.59 |=========================


x264 2011-12-06
H.264 Video Encoding
Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 58.30 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 48.83 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 51.68 |=======================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 29.61 |======================


GMPbench 0.2
Total Time
GMPbench Score > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 1737.30 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 1701.00 |=========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 1063.20 |==========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 1471.90 |====================================


GraphicsMagick 1.3.12
Operation: Blur
Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 73 |===============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 70 |=============================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 45 |=============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 51 |=================================


GraphicsMagick 1.3.12
Operation: HWB Color Space
Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 107 |==============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 104 |=============================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 67  |=============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 76  |=================================


GraphicsMagick 1.3.12
Operation: Local Adaptive Thresholding
Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 41 |===============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 40 |==============================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 31 |====================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 31 |====================================


GraphicsMagick 1.3.12
Operation: Resizing
Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 88 |===============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 84 |=============================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 58 |===============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 60 |================================


GraphicsMagick 1.3.12
Operation: Sharpen
Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 41 |===============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 40 |==============================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 32 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 31 |====================================


Himeno Benchmark 3.0
Poisson Pressure Solver
MFLOPS > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 1072.63 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 1016.47 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 659.29  |==========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 857.32  |==================================


7-Zip Compression 9.20.1
Compress Speed Test
MIPS > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 8840 |=============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 7680 |=======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 7955 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 5299 |===========================


SciMark 2.0
Computational Test: Composite
Mflops > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 734.99 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 649.42 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 465.57 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 544.91 |================================


SciMark 2.0
Computational Test: Dense LU Matrix Factorization
Mflops > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 1226.06 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 1085.13 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 765.75  |==========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 891.40  |===============================


SciMark 2.0
Computational Test: Fast Fourier Transform
Mflops > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 184.22 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 138.35 |================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 149.60 |===================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 120.77 |============================


SciMark 2.0
Computational Test: Jacobi Successive Over-Relaxation
Mflops > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 781.62 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 755.19 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 488.98 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 643.09 |===================================


SciMark 2.0
Computational Test: Monte Carlo
Mflops > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 345.25 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 336.37 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 209.31 |==========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 298.46 |=====================================


SciMark 2.0
Computational Test: Sparse Matrix Multiply
Mflops > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 1137.79 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 932.06  |==================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 714.21  |==========================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 764.77  |============================


John The Ripper 1.7.9
Test: Blowfish
Real C/S > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 2199 |=============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 2090 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 1947 |========================================


Timed HMMer Search 2.3.2
Pfam Database Search
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 35.22 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 28.76 |===============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 30.20 |================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 40.94 |============================================


Timed MAFFT Alignment 6.864
Multiple Sequence Alignment
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 14.62 |=================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 19.72 |=======================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 20.24 |=======================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 38.17 |============================================


Timed ImageMagick Compilation 6.6.3-4
Time To Compile
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 94.34  |===========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 103.35 |==============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 127.77 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 149.54 |===========================================


Timed Linux Kernel Compilation 3.1
Time To Compile
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 184.79 |========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 206.75 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 279.43 |====================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 334.02 |===========================================


C-Ray 1.1
Total Time
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 106.88 |================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 108.76 |=================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 112.64 |==================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 141.48 |===========================================


LZMA Compression
256MB File Compression
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 174.96 |=============================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 225.05 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 231.66 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 259.56 |===========================================


Parallel BZIP2 Compression 1.0.5
256MB File Compression
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 19.57 |===================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 20.43 |====================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 20.82 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 24.74 |============================================


Crafty 23.4
Elapsed Time
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 109.34 |==========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 114.51 |============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 177.66 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 136.15 |=================================


FLAC Audio Encoding 1.2.1
WAV To FLAC
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 10.04 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 10.34 |============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 16.18 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 13.99 |======================================


LAME MP3 Encoding 3.99.3
WAV To MP3
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 24.32 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 24.95 |============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 39.71 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 31.63 |===================================


FFmpeg 0.10
AVI To NTSC VCD
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 15.92 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 16.60 |============================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 25.68 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 21.38 |=====================================


N-Queens 1.0
Elapsed Time
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 361.45 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 368.68 |===========================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 583.99 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 418.92 |===============================


Open FMM Nero2D 2.0.2
Total Time
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 830.21  |==========================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 851.10  |===========================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 1347.62 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 983.69  |===============================


Smallpt 1.0
Global Illumination Renderer; 100 Samples
Seconds < Lower Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 69 |=====================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 70 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 74 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 87 |===============================================


OpenSSL 1.0.0e
RSA 4096-bit Performance
Signs Per Second > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 42.08 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 41.05 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 25.83 |===========================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: BT.A
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 5451.11 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 5158.19 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 5021.54 |=======================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 3620.56 |============================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: CG.B
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 1483.68 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 1359.37 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 1235.88 |===================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 956.65  |===========================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: EP.B
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 92.80 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 90.62 |===========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 83.83 |========================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 79.24 |======================================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: FT.B
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 2667.01 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 2505.97 |=======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 2406.95 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 1990.73 |===============================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: IS.C
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 86.10 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 63.24 |================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 54.71 |============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 50.78 |==========================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: LU.A
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 5194.24 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 4731.30 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 3691.36 |==============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 3430.40 |============================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: MG.B
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 2499.28 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 2449.35 |=========================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 2149.73 |====================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 1898.41 |================================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: SP.A
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 2838.97 |==========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 2563.75 |======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 2386.11 |===================================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 2022.45 |==============================


NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3
Test / Class: UA.A
Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 20.33 |============================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 17.88 |=======================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 12.86 |============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 13.84 |==============================


NGINX Benchmark 1.0.11
Static Web Page Serving
Requests Per Second > Higher Is Better
Core i7 720QM: Bare Metal . 14515.87 |=========================================
Core i7 720QM: KVM ........ 11874.67 |==================================
Core i7 720QM: Xen ........ 10309.62 |=============================
Core i7 720QM: VirtualBox . 4317.10  |============