Solved: How do I increase bandwidth between two VMs on the same host?

Problem / Question

Our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application consists of a Database server (Microsoft SQL Server) and Application server, and clients that run on Personal Computers (PCs). Both servers are virtual machines (Hyper-V) on the same host and connected to a Hyper-V External Virtual Switch (see diagram below).

I am inquiring if there are any available options to increase the connection speed from 1GB to 10GB or even faster. What steps can be taken to optimize the bandwidth between two virtual machines (VMs) residing on the same host?

Solution / Answer

For tools to check the packet loss: WANem and iPerf

For network:

• The maximum allowed MAC address values for each port can be increased, allowing more devices to connect to the switch and consequently increasing bandwidth availability.
• By increasing the number of virtual network adapters connected to an adjustable switch, it is possible to enable communication between more devices or machines, thereby increasing the available bandwidth.

For hardware:

• In order to reduce contention and improve performance, it is recommended to resize both virtual machines (VMs) such that they are using an equal amount of resources, particularly if one VM is using more resources than the other.
• It is recommended to use Solid-State Drives (SSDs) instead of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) for storage devices, as it will enhance data transfer speeds and optimize throughput between Virtual Machines (VMs).
• Increasing the Random Access Memory (RAM) for each virtual machine (VM) can help to optimize performance and reduce latency when sending large amounts of data through high-bandwidth connections.