A note to myself,
always use virtio drivers for Windows guests in KVM-QEMU, it will improve disk IO greatly.
Here is a quick summary:
- Download ISO from here http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/virtio-win/latest/images/
- For new Windows quest installation prepare the normal qcow2 image
- Boot the installation CD iso alongside the virtio CD iso like so:
kvm -vga vmware -m 1024 -drive file=windows7.qcow,cache=none,index=1,if=virtio -drive file=/PATH/TO/ISO/Win7.64.sp1.iso,index=2,media=cdrom -boot d -drive file=/PATH/TO/ISO/virtio-win-0.1-74.iso,index=3,media=cdrom
- In Windows setup choose to load custom disk drivers from the virtio cdrom
- Install / Reboot
- Boot Windows with following parameter :
kvm -vga vmware -m 1024 -drive file=windows7.qcow,cache=none,index=1,if=virtio
For Existing qcow images with installed Windows system with IDE emulation:
- Boot normally + add virtio iso
- Install legacy hardware (Win7)
- Install driver from virtio cdrom
- Shutdown Windows
- Boot Windows with following parameter:
kvm -vga vmware -m 1024 -drive file=windows7.qcow,cache=none,index=1,if=virtio
The IO performance is much better with the virtio drivers then the default IDE emulation.
Oh and also good luck and all the best in 0x7DE, we will all need it.
