RAM needed for a snap VMware perfomance?

Will be using different OS's like Server2008, Linux and some others to learn some hospital related information system applications (mostly databases and similar software) in that environment.
I'm new to VMware and I was just wondering how sensible it is to RAM? Is it necessary to upgrade to 16Gb RAM to have several VM's (2-4) on my T520 laptop?
Thanks.

 

If you plan to run them simultaneously then 16GB RAM is not a bad idea for smooth performance since Virtual Machines can easily swallow a chunk of RAM if you allocate a decent amount to each guest OS. My friend who is a software engineer runs multiple VM's simultaneously for his daily work and found 8GB RAM to be lacking, he actually ran out of resources on some occasions so he had to upgrade to 16GB RAM in the end and never had a problem since.

 

That's good to know, thanks.
What about CS5 package like Illustrator, Photoshop e.t.c. do they also require as much RAM as possible?

P.S. It's around $125 for 2x8Gb 1333Mhz or 1600Mhz, so I could go for it.

 

Software engineers require a lot more memory then the typical person wanting to learn on VM's with Server2k8

With 8gb you can be fine, just allocate 1024 or 2048 per guest OS. If you are running Server 20008, you can put upto 4096 memory and it will be fine, but that is if you are running Windows server by itself. If you have more then one VM (2-3) you can get away with 2096 per each guest. If you need more then 3, then you need to do 1024mb.

Linux can run fine with under 768 depending on what you want to do with it. At one point of my course I had two instances for server 2008 r2 running, one Windows 7, and one XP client. These 4 were within VMware and didnt have issues.

You just need to assign memory to the OS that requires it, the others can handle less.

 

Thanks, I'll think about it - maybe I don't need to spent extra $ after all.

 

If you have 8gb, you are fine. If you have 4gb and don't mind spending the money go for 16gigs...its only better in the long run.

 

I not a software engineer and i did find 8gb lacking, i would easily eat up 6 or more gb with only a few vms open, however i would look at how much ram is being used up by your VM, also remember not to over perversion resource, only add as much ram as needed.

As to the adobe software, it depends on the res of the images and how many layers and such, i can use high res images with 80+ layers just fine in 8gb, it can get little tight but it does fit.

When choosing the amount of memory you need it really comes down to how much you use, if 8gb is getting tight then upgrade, ram is the easiest thing to upgrade on a computer.

 

I had no issue with 8GB - but I'd recommend 16GB since the price is very very minimal.

SSDs will offer a bigger boon to running VMs these days. But it's quite a bit pricier than 16GB of RAM.

 

Oh i would also make sure vt-x is turned on in the bios and VMware, as that will give you near native performance, i say this because my w520 had it turned off when i got it for some reason.

It really can make a difference, C2Ds did not have it and i could only run one vm or it would lag like crazy (although i still had problems with only one.)

 

I managed to eat through about 10gb of RAM today between running a VM, having about 30 tabs open in Firefox, and rendering a video in the background (I think that's an all time high for me), so I can definitely see the possibility of running out with only 8gb if you're doing to be running multiple VMs. It also depends on what you need those VMs to do, and how much RAM you allocate to them, of course.

 

Fortunately 2x8GB sticks are now down to approximately $110 versus $2500 like they were last year.

So you can load a T420 with 16GB for $110 or a W520 with 32GB for $220. This is a no brainer for anyone using virtualization.

 

Thanks guys!
BTW, I assume power consumption difference between 8Gb RAM vs 16Gb RAM is negligible?
(I just don't want it to eat an hour or two more of my battery time)

 

Shouldn't matter at all in the long run of things. Unless you're loading all that RAM up with extra programs that are in turn eating CPU cycles and so on...

 

Will only be noticeable for sleep mode as far as I know.


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Just remember that hibernation will dump all that 16GB into the HDD every time.

 

powercfg /hibernate off

 

Hey, some of us need hibernate when running marathons between outlets!