The Impact of Meltdown and Spectre Patches on Windows 10
Testing with Login VSI to Solve the Problems Caused by Meltdown & Spectre
Over the last weeks a lot has already been written about the supposedly high impact that the patches of both Meltdown and Spectre will have on the performance of computer systems but even experts do not yet agree how big the impact will be on centralized desktop environments such as Microsoft RDS, Citrix XenApp & XenDesktop and of course VMware Horizon causing a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt.
As Login VSI is considered the Industry standard test for these platforms my mailbox, twitter stream and our company support inbox quickly filled up with requests asking us to share our insights, so we have decided to do just that. However, please keep in mind that results may vary depending on the hardware and software that you use.
I’ll outline these results in a series of articles, starting with this one describing our test-infrastructure and the results of the first performance tests with Windows 10.
VSImax and VSIbase Show the Impact of Test Results
To fully understand the conclusions a basic understanding of the VSImax and VSIbase is recommended, please check the Login VSI documentation if you are not familiar with these numbers.
VSImax = The number of users that can work on a system comfortably before performance is impacted (scale). Higher is better.
VSIbase = The performance of the system when there is little or no stress. If this number increases overall performance decreases. Lower is better.
| Physical Infrastructure | VSImax | VSIbase |
| Standard Windows 10 | ||
| Windows 10 without hotfix | 129,8 | 891,5 |
| Windows 10 with KB4056892 | 121,8 (-6%) | 934,6 (+4,6%) |
| Standard Windows 10 Perormance tuned with VMware OSOT | ||
| Windows 10 without hotfix + performance tuning | 142,6 | 866,6 |
| Windows 10 with KB4056892 + performance tuning | 138 (-3%) | 904,5 (+4,4%) |
These tests show that the impact of Microsoft hotfix KB4056892 is measurable but not extreme. This is as expected as the hypervisor and firmware update of the CPU microcode have not been applied yet.
Reducing Human Error with our VDILIKEAPRO Test Lab
Automate, Automate, automate. In our VDILIKEAPRO test lab we have minimized human interaction (and thus error) by making sure all processes are executed fully automatic for example the base images are created using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit where after PowerShell magic (thanks Henk & Sonny!) takes over and automatically clones the VM’s 180 times, prepares them for use, and runs 10 automated test cycles results are then averaged ignoring the first run.
| Physical Infrastructure | |
4x Dell R630:
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3x Dell PowerEdge R730:
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| Virtual Infrastructure | |
12x Launcher virtual machine:
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180x virtual desktop on:
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1x VSIshare (Fileserver):
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Software:
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Next up: VDI Tests with Windows 7
Tests with Windows 7, the most popular operating system in VDI, are currently on the way and based on the customer data we’ve already seen, I expect the impact on performance will be bigger.
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About the company Login VSI
The company Login VSI provides end-user performance insights for virtualized desktop and server-based computing environments. Enterprise IT departments use flagship product Login VSI (for load testing) and Login PI (for continuity testing) in all phases of their virtual desktop deployment—from planning to deployment to change management—to build and safeguard a good performance, a high availability, and (as a result) a good and consistent end-user experience. For more information about Login VSI or for a free test license contact us.
Tags: Login VSI, Windows, VSImax, Spectre, Meltdown, VSIbase