File System Performance Comparison in Full Hardware Virtualization with ESXi, KVM, Hyper-V and Xen Hypervisors

Abstract

This paper focus is the mathematical modeling of the file system performance in virtual environment when using type-1 hypervisors. The modeling provides a set of hypotheses related to the expected behavior. The presented model is validated based on the analysis of a collection of the results obtained for a specific case study. Our case study includes the file system performance comparison, in full hardware virtualization, when examining four dominant type-1 hypervisors: ESXi, KVM, Hyper-V, and Xen. We chose Filebench as a benchmark tool, which guarantees comprehensive and versatile testing of file system performance, whereas for all tested hypervisors we have provided an equivalent environment and testing conditions. For all the examined hypervisors, we have tested the cases with one, two, and three virtual machines that are running simultaneously, whereas CentOS 6.3 Linux is used as the guest operating system. We have further validated the mathematical model and defined hypotheses by the means of the case study benchmark results.

Keywords

• file systems
• operating systems
• performance evaluation
• platform virtualization
• virtual machine monitors