Mathematical Modelling and Case Study with File System Performance Comparison for Linux-based Hypervisors

Abstract

This paper concentrates on comparing the file system performance across various type-1 Linux-based hypervisors. The main contribution of this paper is a mathematical model of the hypervisor-based virtual environment, followed by a real experiment presented as a specific case study. We leverage the model for interpreting the results obtained from the experiment. VMware ESXi, Xen, KVM on Debian-12, and Proxmox VE were selected as the designated hypervisors. Our selection for the benchmark program in testing is Filebench. Recognised for its exceptional flexibility, Filebench enables the simulation of authentic application and server behaviours. CentOS 9, representing the Linux family, fulfilled the role of the guest operating system. The tests in our experiment involved the simultaneous operation of one, two, three, and four virtual machines.