Re: Running KVM on a Laptop

[David Ahern <dsahern@gmail.com>]

Jorge Lucángeli Obes wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 11:56 PM, Ross McKay <rosko@zeta.org.au> wrote:
>> dnjap wrote:
>>
>>> I'm looking for a laptop on which I can run KVM.
>>>
>>> 1. Does anyone have a list of AMD-V or VT-x capable laptop CPU's?
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors

A handy reference link is
http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/index.htm
I use this link a lot cross-referencing  features of various processors.

As for a laptop example, I just acquired a Dell Latitude E6500 with a
Core 2 Duo T9550 @ 2.66GHz. The link for Core 2 Duo is:

http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/chart/core2duo.htm?iid=pn_ov+list_c2d

which shows it has VT capability (which of course I confirmed before
ordering this laptop).

> 
> The header before each chart lists which processors have VT-x.
> Something similar must be available for the laptop version of Intel's
> Nehalem and for AMD.
> 
>> Is it not as simple as checking for the svm or vt flags?
>>
>>        egrep '(vt|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo
>>
>> Take a bootable LiveCD into your local computer shop and check.
>>
>>> 2. It seems Turion 64 X2 and some of Core 2 Duo processors can run KVM.
>>> Does anyone know which of these CPU's implement Nested Page Tables or
>>> Extended Page Tables? (Xen's compatibility list doesn't provide such
>>> details: http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/HVM_Compatible_Processors)
> 
> You will probably have to verify that in the manufacturer's web site.
> I recall a discussion not long ago regarding the addition of NPT and
> EPT to /proc/cpuinfo.

As I understand it you want a laptop with a Core i7 processor to get
EPT. I am not as familiar with AMD's offerings. I did not see the Core
i7 offered on Dell laptops as of late January.

> 
>>> 3. If you're running KVM on your laptop, could you share the
>>> information? Does your laptop's BIOS support AMD-V or VT-x?
>> FWIW, I have KVM running on my ASUS laptop, with the following CPU:
>>
>>        AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-55
> 
> I have a Dell XPS 1210 with:
> 
> Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83GHz

As I mentioned above I have Dell Latitude E6500 with a Core 2 Duo T9550
@ 2.66GHz. So far (one whole week) I have not had any kvm related
problems (the intel_drv xorg module is a different matter), and the
performance has been nice.

david


> 
> Regards,
> Jorge
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