I'm running evolution algorithm computation on my i7-2600k with Ubuntu x64. I load 8 jobs to utilize hyperthreading, and once the computation starts it takes about 4-5 days to complete.
I used Ubuntu natively but had some issues where the system locks up. It could be from overclocking to 4.5 GHz, or Ubuntu 11.04 software issue, or from using non-server component, or could be even hitting reboot button my mistake. Of course these don't happen often, but it only took me two incidents for me to look for other solutions. So I decided to run the software in VMWare environment, so that I can take snapshots in between (like couple times a day). The good thing about taking live snapshots is that I'm able to restore to that exact point of process execution, so I don't have to restart from the beginning in case something terrible happens.
When I created a VM with 8 cores and full load all 8 threads, the machine felt very sluggish, computation speed also took a huge hit (about 50% slower now in VM), and taking snapshots are taking a long time (more than 5 minutes).
Is there a better way to do things I'm doing? (such as using a different backup system) Should I be only assigning 7 processors (and use only 7 threads) or less for the VM so that 1 can be used to manage the VM? Making backup is not the important thing, I need to be able to continue a live process whenever the system crash, load whatever was going on in the cpu/ram and continue as if nothing happened.