Hello all,
I am currently using two physical machines (one for testing, one for
developing) and kernel debugging using 1394 firewire. Performance is
great, but the problem I am having is that in order to test, I have to
keep switching mouse/keyboards back and forth. It is very annoying.
Also, it takes a long time to re-ghost my machine after each testing
session. I was thinking of using vmware workstation on my development
machine and creating a guest machine for kernel debugging. I am sure
there will be a performance degradation, but how much performance?
My other option was to use ESXi 4.0. I was reading that the
performance of ESXi 4.0 is better than workstation. I like the idea
of using ESXi 4.0 on one machine and then on my development machine,
connecting to one of the VMs on the ESXi machine since my development
machine isn’t that powerful and I could offload some of the work to my
other machine. Are there any better ways to kernel debug? All
suggestions are welcome! I just need performance + convenience! 
J
If they suit your development environment, VMs are great. Makes it easy to
switch your test O/S, copy new versions of your drivers, take snapshots,
etc.
I feel like a broken record, but the real win for me is VirtualKD
(http://virtualkd.sysprogs.org/). Try it once and you’ll never go back.
One of the downsides to VMWare Workstation is the two CPU limit, it’s just
not going to beat your code like an 8+ way will. So, what I end up doing is
development and initial testing using a VM, with actual testing being done
on real machines in the lab.
-scott
–
Scott Noone
Consulting Associate
OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc.
http://www.osronline.com
“Jonathon” wrote in message news:xxxxx@windbg…
> Hello all,
>
> I am currently using two physical machines (one for testing, one for
> developing) and kernel debugging using 1394 firewire. Performance is
> great, but the problem I am having is that in order to test, I have to
> keep switching mouse/keyboards back and forth. It is very annoying.
> Also, it takes a long time to re-ghost my machine after each testing
> session. I was thinking of using vmware workstation on my development
> machine and creating a guest machine for kernel debugging. I am sure
> there will be a performance degradation, but how much performance?
>
> My other option was to use ESXi 4.0. I was reading that the
> performance of ESXi 4.0 is better than workstation. I like the idea
> of using ESXi 4.0 on one machine and then on my development machine,
> connecting to one of the VMs on the ESXi machine since my development
> machine isn’t that powerful and I could offload some of the work to my
> other machine. Are there any better ways to kernel debug? All
> suggestions are welcome! I just need performance + convenience!
>
> J
>
If you’re writing USB or software only drivers, VmWare + Virtual KD work
great. It allows restoring snapshots in just a few seconds. btw latest
version 7 supports up to 4 CPUs or cores.
//Daniel
“Jonathon” wrote in message news:xxxxx@windbg…
> Hello all,
>
> I am currently using two physical machines (one for testing, one for
> developing) and kernel debugging using 1394 firewire. Performance is
> great, but the problem I am having is that in order to test, I have to
> keep switching mouse/keyboards back and forth. It is very annoying.
> Also, it takes a long time to re-ghost my machine after each testing
> session. I was thinking of using vmware workstation on my development
> machine and creating a guest machine for kernel debugging. I am sure
> there will be a performance degradation, but how much performance?
>
> My other option was to use ESXi 4.0. I was reading that the
> performance of ESXi 4.0 is better than workstation. I like the idea
> of using ESXi 4.0 on one machine and then on my development machine,
> connecting to one of the VMs on the ESXi machine since my development
> machine isn’t that powerful and I could offload some of the work to my
> other machine. Are there any better ways to kernel debug? All
> suggestions are welcome! I just need performance + convenience!
>
> J
>
wrote in message news:xxxxx@windbg…
>btw latest version 7 supports up to 4 CPUs or cores.
Good to know. And here I thought I had no reason to upgrade…
Thanks,
-scott
–
Scott Noone
Consulting Associate
OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc.
http://www.osronline.com
wrote in message news:xxxxx@windbg…
> If you’re writing USB or software only drivers, VmWare + Virtual KD work
> great. It allows restoring snapshots in just a few seconds. btw latest
> version 7 supports up to 4 CPUs or cores.
>
> //Daniel
>
>
>
> “Jonathon” wrote in message news:xxxxx@windbg…
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I am currently using two physical machines (one for testing, one for
>> developing) and kernel debugging using 1394 firewire. Performance is
>> great, but the problem I am having is that in order to test, I have to
>> keep switching mouse/keyboards back and forth. It is very annoying.
>> Also, it takes a long time to re-ghost my machine after each testing
>> session. I was thinking of using vmware workstation on my development
>> machine and creating a guest machine for kernel debugging. I am sure
>> there will be a performance degradation, but how much performance?
>>
>> My other option was to use ESXi 4.0. I was reading that the
>> performance of ESXi 4.0 is better than workstation. I like the idea
>> of using ESXi 4.0 on one machine and then on my development machine,
>> connecting to one of the VMs on the ESXi machine since my development
>> machine isn’t that powerful and I could offload some of the work to my
>> other machine. Are there any better ways to kernel debug? All
>> suggestions are welcome! I just need performance + convenience!
>>
>> J
>>
>
Jonathon wrote:
I am currently using two physical machines (one for testing, one for
developing) and kernel debugging using 1394 firewire. Performance is
great, but the problem I am having is that in order to test, I have to
keep switching mouse/keyboards back and forth. It is very annoying.
Also, it takes a long time to re-ghost my machine after each testing
session.
Why on earth do you re-Ghost the machine after each testing session? I
have Ghost, but I use it VERY rarely. The uninstall process is now
pretty reliable. It’s good to do some testing on a virgin machine, but
in the real world, most user computers are filled to capacity with gunk,
so you miss some scenarios when you start from scratch.
Now, if you’re writing a file system filter, so that every test session
trashes the file system, then I have a clue.
–
Tim Roberts, xxxxx@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
“Jonathon” wrote in message news:xxxxx@windbg…
>… It is very annoying. Also, it takes a long time …
> Are there any better ways to kernel debug? All
> suggestions are welcome! I just need performance + convenience!
The best way to kernel debug? Have someone else to do it for you.
– pa