Mastering KVM Virtualization

Chapter 13. Performance Tuning and Best Practices in KVM

In this chapter, we will see how performance tuning can be done on a KVM setup. We will also discuss the best practices that can be applied in a KVM setup to improve performance. We have included steps to tune different components such as CPUs, memory, networking, blocks and time keeping.

Performance tuning is a trial-and-error process. Virtual machines host different type of applications and hence the type of tuning required varies with virtual machines. In most cases default configuration is enough to get a decent performance. Before performance tuning we should understand all the components involved, the options available and the subsystems. Then we can start implementing the options, ...