a few may be wiki question

[Farkas Levente <lfarkas-lWVWdrzSO4GHXe+LvDLADg@public.gmane.org>]

hi,
i try to setup a centos host server with kvm and a few guest os for the
first time. imho there is only a very limited docs about kvm (even if i
try to read them:-). so there are a few general questions:
- which is the recommended host config?:
  - should i used x86_64 or i386 host kernel? i don't know in advance,
    but probably most guest os will be 32 bit. is there any advantage or
    disadvantage to use x86_64 as a host os?
  - i'll use kernel-2.6.18-8.1.8.el5, but i read in the announcement
    for kvm-34:
    "running on a host earlier than Linux 2.6.23-rc2 will experience
     a slight performance degradation"
    what does exactly means and how much is the "slight"? or if i use
    older kernel it's better to use kvm-33?
  - i read in faq 3.6:
    "for the host. 1GB is probably a minimum configuration for the host
     OS."
    does this means i have to reserve 1GB for the host os?
    it's strange for me just because eg with xen dom0 we use 256MB and
    it was enough since dom0 don't have any real load. it's not the case
    with kvm?
    who much ram should i use for the guest os?
    eg if i use 6 guest then i need at least 6GB of ram?
  - is dynamic use of RAM for host operating system supported?
  - what is the recommended size for the host disk partition?
  - what is the recommended swap partition size for the host os ?
- which is the recommended guest config?
  - what is the recommended memory for a guest os? same as i would run
    natively?
  - what is the recommended guest disk image format? should i use an lvm
    partition as guest os partition (like in xen)? what is the
    recommended format assuming that may be later i'd like to add new
    guests and what is the performance differences (ie. which is the
    fastest format)?
  - what is the recommended swap partition format and size for the
    guest os ?
- what is the current general state of kvm ie. stability, performance
support etc? i mean for non mission critical production server it's
worth to choose in stead of xen or not?

i know most of my questions are too general, but almost all answer will
start as "it's depend on.." but still a general guideline would be useful.

last but not least may be a kvm-user list would be useful where such
questions can send and not disturbing all the developers.

thank you for your help in advance.

-- 
  Levente                               "Si vis pacem para bellum!"

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