VirtualBox & Multiprocessors

[Gilboa Davara]

On Tue, 2010-09-14 at 15:55 +0200, Luc MAIGNAN wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I want to buy a server to virtualize systems via VirtualBox.
> I can buy a 2-Xeon-processors system.
> 
> My question is : can VirtualBox use REALLY the two processors ? Wil I 
> have more system resources than A single XEON processor ?
> 
> Any help would be appreciated
> 
> BR

Answer: Yes.
Make sure the selected CPU has Intel VT support. (Read: hardware
virtualization).

As for single socket Xeon 35xx vs dual socket Xeon 55xx/56xx, it greatly
depends on the number of VM's you use and if you plan to deploy VM's
with more than one VCPU.

Keep in mind that not only a single socket machine is limited to 6
cores / 12 threads (if you opt to Core7 extreme) compared to 12 cores /
24 threads (Xeon 56xx), it is also severely limited when it comes to the
amount of memory you put on the machine (Usually 8-16GB vs 72-144GB) a
key factor when you start loading multiple VMs on a single machine.

Can you post some additional information about your setup?
E.g. How many VM's you want to deploy for what end, which OS you plan to
use on the host and on the VM's, etc.

- Gilboa