- Turn off hyper threading
- Recommend 2nd Gen Hardware Assist processors
- Upgrade to ESX 3.5 U2
Creating VMs
- Don’t convert physical Citrix servers to virtual servers
- Make use of a clean installation and create templates from that install
Start with only one vCPU
Guest OS
- Make sure the correct OS is selected under VM Settings > Options
- Make sure the HAL matches the # of vCPUs
Use Processor affinity with caution
- Setting affinity correctly may benefit performance slightly
- Caveat: This will limit VMware DRS flexibility
VM Memory – depends upon application working set
- Some tests have reported 2GB as the sweet spot
- Setting min reservation may help
Kernel memory and registry size limits.
- If these were hit long before a dual processor server was used up, virtual machines provide a solid solution
Do NOT disable page sharing
Install VMware Tools
- Do NOT disable memory ballooning
- Do not install shared folders: This can give problems when using roaming profiles in Citrix. VMware KB Article
Virtual Disk
- Use one vmdkfor system partition (C:\or other remapped drive letter) & program files
- Put the page file on the separate vmdk, if possible
- Number of spindles matter
Network
- Use enhanced vmxnet network driver
- Enable Transmit coalescing
Disable unneeded and unused hardware
- COM & LPT ports, USB
- CD-ROM, Floppy