Guide:? More details on hard disk cache

J

Jan Wittrodt

Member
I would like to learn a little bit more about the new hard disk cache settings. So far there seems to be no entry for this new feature in the help index.

* What settings is best for fast and/ or safer (no data loss) use?
* What does cache policy for better performance of virtual machine or OSX actually mean?
* What does this feature exactly do?

* Is PD Tweaker obsolete now?
* Do we need to uninstall PD Tweaker to avoid conflicts with Parallels new hard disk cache feature?
 
Where do I change this setting? I've looked at the VM Setup, Preferences and Parallels Tools and don't see any way to change the disk caching option that was supposed to be added with this beta.
 
It's a new toggle in the VM setup, under "VM Settings". Look down at the bottom of the right-hand side for an option to optimize cache settings for OSX or the guest OS.
 
I found the cache setting...

...no thanks to the user guide index :(

1. Shut down Windows if it's running in your Virtual Machine.
2. In the Property Page view, click on the "Edit" button.
3. In the Configuration Editor, click on the "VM Flags" tab.
4. On the bottom right is the Cache Policy. Choose whether you want better performance of the Virtual Machine or Mac OS X.

Interestingly, my Mac OS X responsiveness was AWFUL when first starting up Parallels and my Virtual Machine under the shipping version of Parallels (MacBook 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM). I installed this Beta today, and even with the cache in its default setting (better performance of the VM), my OS X performance was VASTLY improved!!!

Great job Parallels team!
 
Jan Wittrodt said:
I would like to learn a little bit more about the new hard disk cache settings. So far there seems to be no entry for this new feature in the help index.

* What settings is best for fast and/ or safer (no data loss) use?
* What does cache policy for better performance of virtual machine or OSX actually mean?
* What does this feature exactly do?

* Is PD Tweaker obsolete now?
* Do we need to uninstall PD Tweaker to avoid conflicts with Parallels new hard disk cache feature?
Click to expand...
Jan,

Actually deault cache policy option is use additional Mac OS X cache to speed up guest OS disk IO. As a drawback your VM uses much more Mac OS X memory which could result in slow down of the Mac OS X operations.

In alternative cache policy Mac OS X cache is not used. It is slow down guest OS disk IO, but at the same time leaves more free memory for Mac OS X. This option achieves the similar goal as PD Tweaker, but do it better.

If you have 2G RAM on board and care about virtual disk performance then I suggest to use default setting. If you have <= 1G RAM on board and don't care about virtual disk performance much then better choose alternative cache policy.
 
Can't find it

Hi, I have upgraded to the new beta and when I navigate to the VM Flags tab, I can't see the new option for disabling the mac cache. Is there something I need to do? Thanks.

Great job though Parallels!
 
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