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I've got 2 computers : -host in which is installed workstation 12 and a VM called "guest" (linux) - a laptop, in the same room as the host

I get a fine wired connection between the 2 computers (host+a laptop), but, using wifi + VNC, the graphical user interface of the guest OS has a lag, the moves of the mouse cursor are slow, the windows take a long time to be moved too

here is some technical stuff: - host : a barebone with 16Gb of memory, the OS is linux mint 17.3 - guest : fedora x64 - laptop : lenovo + core i3, OS : windows 10 x64. VNC client : realVNC - the wifi connection between host & laptop is in theory of 430 Mb, but the measures give 65 Mb(it passes through the box which slows the connection)

I have 2 questions: -is it possible to have a decent control over the guest through the laptop via wifi? -if so, what is the minimum required speed? -if the connection is too slow, what are the particular points which slow the connection?(the VNC server in host?the speed of the wifi connection?the host hard disk accesses?..)

thanks. olivier

lolveley
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1 Answers1

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I've run VNC sessions over much less bandwidth (<1Mb/s) across links which should have much greater latency than your setup and found it quite usable. I don't think the network is your problem.

"Slow" is not a very good description. That might mean:

  • lag - there is a delay between events being triggered and appearing on screen. This would be particularly noticeable when opening windows. Primarily a latency issue.

  • lumpy - sometimes the redraws seem to keep up, sometimes they stall. Scheduling issue but may indicate high packet loss which which quickly evolve into...

  • progressive - responses start immediately, but take time to render - bandwidth issue.

I suspect that the problem may be between the VM host and VM guest - issues with scheduling runtime for the VM or with passing network interrupts - i.e. the lumpy scenario above. I suggest benchmarking a more measurable protocol available on both the vm host and vm guest to confirm and as a basis for tuning the virtualization, however I suspect that may be difficult with vmware running on the VM host.

symcbean
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  • thank you. I would rather qualify the slowness as "lag" : every graphical change (concerning the mouse, the windows...) is slow on the laptop, but they are fast ("normal") when connecting using the host. Have you got any suggestion? – lolveley Jun 16 '16 at 13:05