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VMware ESX Server Administration Guide
Using Your NUMA System
ESX Server 2.1 includes additional support for machines that are based on NUMA
(Non-Uniform Memory Access) architecture. NUMA machines are made up of multiple
nodes (also called CECs on IBM eServer machines).
Each node comprises one to four processors and main memory. In a node, each CPU
has the same distance from its “local memory.”
Each processor can access memory on any node, but accessing memory on a
different node (referred to as “remote memory”) is substantially slower than accessing
“local memory” that lies on the same node as the processor. That is, the memory
access speed for CPUs on a node vary, depending on the “distance” of the memory
from the node.
For additional information on NUMA and supported NUMA platforms, refer to the
VMware ESX Server2 NUMA Support White Paper, available at www.vmware.com/pdf/
esx2_NUMA.pdf.
For more information on NUMA management by VMware ESX Server, see the
numa(8) man page.
NUMA Configuration Information
This section describes how to obtain statistics about your NUMA system.
Obtaining NUMA Statistics
This command checks for the presence of a NUMA system. If it finds a NUMA system, it
also lists the number of nodes, the amount of memory, and the physical CPUs on the
NUMA node.
Type the following:
cat /proc/vmware/NUMA/hardware
An example output is:
The absence of the /proc/vmware/NUMA directory indicates that this system is
not a NUMA system.
System type : IBM x445-compatible
# NUMA Nodes : 2
Total memory : 8192 MB
Node ID MachineMem ManagedMem CPUs
0 00 4096 MB 3257 MB 0 1 2 3
1 01 4096 MB 4096 MB 4 5 6 7