Botting with Virtual Machines

[jbj81]

I was thinking about botting with Virtual Machines. Does anyone have experience on this? This is what i was thinking about:

The host PC would have Intel Core i7-3820, 32GB RAM and SSD Drive. Running Windows 7 with VMWare Workstation 9. The VMWare Workstation would run 4 different Virtual Machines Windows XP installed, 10GB hard disk space and 4GB RAM reserved for each. It would bot on 4 different poker networks, one for each Virtual Machine. Can this be done? Does the hardware have enough power to run these Virtual Machines smoothly? Does the bot work on XP Virtual Machine?

 

[jbj81]

I think hardware would run that easily.

I think that too, i just want to be sure before spend 1000+ euros on new computer. And i think ill go with VirtualBox insted of VMWare Workstation. Seems lighter...

[SHARP11]

gosh! I guess i m still BOXING WITH GOOFY!
 

[bbpokepeek]

I've been using virtualbox with an XP VM, and it only seems to need 1Gb RAM for the VM. 2Gb would be plently but 4Gb probably too much - XP wouldnt know what to do with it!
Maybe you could start off with a used quad core Xeon with 8Gb RAM and Windows 7? that won't cost €1000 - more like €300! And RAM is easy to add afterwards.
Similarly with the hard drive. An SSD would be quick for booting the host OS, but with all those VM's you'll probably want a 500Gb traditional disk to store the virtual machine disks on.

[jbj81]

Thanks for your post. Ill probably go for traditional HDD and 16GB ram (2gb for each VM). I have tested a little with my Phenom II and it seems to work fine with one VM (1gb ram). I will try this after few months.

[PartlyAPlayer]

Hey,
I'm planning do to something similar, except I want to bot 3 different iPoker rooms automatically with scheduling on one VM. Is there any data exchange between the rooms in this network that could bust me for botting, like detecting how a few minutes after I disconnect from another poker room my IP connects to a different one with the same IP for another 8 hours of playing?

[jbj81]

I think a lot of botters play almost 24/7 at iPoker just switching to different client after 7-8 hours of play. Should not be problem. And HydraPro has an automatic scheduler for this purpose.

[jbj81]

I noticed that with VMWare you can set your resolution huge! It can be set so big that you can fit 6 tables without overlapping each other. I just want comments from Egor or from someone that has experience how the bot works on huge resolutions (bigger than 1920x1080)? Also i noticed that with VirtualBox your screen resolutions are very limited, you can force the resolution to same as your host but not beyond like in VMWare, any solutions with this? How to make bigger resolutions with VirtualBox?

[funkador]

I was thinking about botting with Virtual Machines. Does anyone have experience on this? This is what i was thinking about:

The host PC would have Intel Core i7-3820, 32GB RAM and SSD Drive. Running Windows 7 with VMWare Workstation 9. The VMWare Workstation would run 4 different Virtual Machines Windows XP installed, 10GB hard disk space and 4GB RAM reserved for each. It would bot on 4 different poker networks, one for each Virtual Machine. Can this be done? Does the hardware have enough power to run these Virtual Machines smoothly? Does the bot work on XP Virtual Machine?

 

 Hi Jbj81, you can run 4 VM even with the oldest / cheapest core i7, with your processor you could run many more   The bottleneck in this case is the hard drive. I would recommed you to place 2 Vms in each hard disk. (more than 2 VMs running in the same hard disk would slow down your system) About the ram: some years ago, when I had a old core 2 duo, I used 512 Mb for the VM, and it worked fine. Now I use 1 Gb and that's more than enough.  

[jbj81]

Hi Jbj81, you can run 4 VM even with the oldest / cheapest core i7, with your processor you could run many more   The bottleneck in this case is the hard drive. I would recommed you to place 2 Vms in each hard disk. (more than 2 VMs running in the same hard disk would slow down your system) About the ram: some years ago, when I had a old core 2 duo, I used 512 Mb for the VM, and it worked fine. Now I use 1 Gb and that's more than enough.  

Thanks for your post funkador! So 1 gb would be more than enough? Ill probably go with 16gb:s anyway and give 2gb for every VM. RAM is cheap. How about SSD for the hosts operating system and traditional HDD's for every 2 VMs? Would that be optimal setup?

[funkador]

Thanks for your post funkador! So 1 gb would be more than enough? Ill probably go with 16gb:s anyway and give 2gb for every VM.

Sure, 1 Gb is enough. I have a laptop with 4 Gb and I use 512 Mb and 768 Mb for the most demanding rooms and it works fine. (6 tables and hopper included). In my deskop I have 12 Gb and I use 1 Gb. In my experience there is no need to use more than 1 Gb.

How about SSD for the hosts operating system and traditional HDD's for every 2 VMs? Would that be optimal setup?

It would be perfect.

[bbpokepeek]

I noticed that with VMWare you can set your resolution huge! It can be set so big that you can fit 6 tables without overlapping each other. I just want comments from Egor or from someone that has experience how the bot works on huge resolutions (bigger than 1920x1080)? Also i noticed that with VirtualBox your screen resolutions are very limited, you can force the resolution to same as your host but not beyond like in VMWare, any solutions with this? How to make bigger resolutions with VirtualBox?

Yes in virtualbox under File, prefernces, display set maximum guest screen size to <<none>>. Then under the VM settings check you have enough Video Memory allocated e.g. 32 Mb+. Now when you boot up the VM you should be able to increase desktop res.  Probably best that it is still a 4:3 res

[jbj81]

Yes in virtualbox under File, prefernces, display set maximum guest screen size to <<none>>. Then under the VM settings check you have enough Video Memory allocated e.g. 32 Mb+. Now when you boot up the VM you should be able to increase desktop res.  Probably best that it is still a 4:3 res

Have to try this. Thanks!

[jbj81]

I got this setup in my mind right now:

PSU: Seasonic G-360, 360W ATX, 80 Plus Gold
Motherboard: ASRock B75 Pro3-M
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K
Cooler: Noctua NH-L12
RAM: G.Skill Ares DIMM Kit 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1333MHz
HardDrive1: SSD (Host operating system, Windows 7)
HardDrive2: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB (2 x Virtual Machines, Windows XP Pro)
HardDrive3: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB (2 x Virtual Machines, Windows XP Pro)

This setup will cost me 750 euros without the operating systems. I will buy OEM Windows 7 for this and i have working XP Pro license that can be installed in multiple PC's.
I calculate that i can run with this setup around 12k-15k hands per day (only playing primetime sessions 8-10 hours each), thats around 400k hands per month. Imagine the rakeback if i can write a profile that plays at least brake-even at NL10? Or if i can make it play 1bb/100 hands profit!? That would be 400 dollars + rakeback per month. Not bad!

[Noname81]

Hi. i am running fusion on my mac book pro. I am able to increase my resolution to 2560 1920. Everything runs smooth with no  issues once the tables are loaded. What I find to be the problem is the loaders. I assume you are going to be using loader/hoppers with 4 vms. In the loader/hopper manual they suggest 2gb  to run the software. I find if you use less than 2gb with the 888 sng loader it does not function properly. The register for tournament pop up window appear, then the loader clicks on the button but doesn't register for the tournament.The logs show you are registered for a tournament  but it did not actually click on the  register button. It then sits there still you manually click the button. If you're going for volume and with 4 vms this is a extreme headache. I found I can run 2 vms with 8gb fine but if I try 3 it a waste of time. I found 2gb per vm works fine leaving 4 for the host. Any less on each vm and I run into problems.

I found the cash hoppers run fine with less than 2gb. Its just the 888 loader I have to babysit if I dont give it what it needs.

This is my personal experience

[jbj81]

Thanks Noname81.

Im planning to run each VM with 2gb ram using Hydra hopper. My host will have 8gb ram. Thats total of 16gb ram on the rig. I have not decided which cpu i will buy for this. Probably i5-3570K.

[jbj81]

Yes in virtualbox under File, prefernces, display set maximum guest screen size to <<none>>. Then under the VM settings check you have enough Video Memory allocated e.g. 32 Mb+. Now when you boot up the VM you should be able to increase desktop res.   Probably best that it is still a 4:3 res

This worked. I dont get all the resolutions i want. I would like to use 2560x1920 which is 4:3. I only get 1920x1440 (the highest) and up to 6400x1200 (the widest). And the 1440 width is only in that one resolution. I cannot get a resolution where 6 tables wont overlap each other. The 1200 pixel height is just enough for the tables fit but they will overlap like 5-10 pixels anyway. I could use 6400x1200 and just put the tables in a row but i dont think the bot or Hydra would like that. Any suggestions? I need 2400x1200 area for 6 tables not to overlap and i need more than 1200 hieght because its really not that much free desktop space with that resolution so 2560x1920 would be ideal for not overlapping and still be 4:3 aspect ratio.

[GloWood]

I know this probably isn't much help to you but you can get this resolution with VMware Workstation.
No overlapping tables and there is room for the lobby too.

[jbj81]

I know this probably isn't much help to you but you can get this resolution with VMware Workstation.
No overlapping tables and there is room for the lobby too.

VMware is my secondary option. If i get things running with VirtualBox im really happy, if not, i'll use VMware.

[TPBJP]

ive been lurking this thread for a bit and will offer my 2 cents
VMware is far greater than Virtualbox.
my i5-3570k can run 4 VM's of 888 4 tables using the free 200hands no problem. CPU loads were always under 50% and usually around 15-30% including windows7.
I did the above 4 VM's using 2gb each, i have not tried 1gb as i have plenty of ram (32gb) and am confident i could get 10VM's going (if i were so greedy- which i am)
I ran the same VM on an old quad core q6600 with a geforce gtx520 and it was a little laggy with 1 VM running 888. i found that when the table was up it ran slow but when the table was minimized it performed well. I haven't put a lot of time in to this yet but i believe its related to video memory (my i5 has a high end gaming card in it, vs the slightly better than onboard video my q6600 has) also the VM taxed my q6600 which is 2.4ghz to 18-25% (one full core basically) this system also ran bodog (which uses screen scraping)
if i were to make a purchase of a new system today i might get an i7 because there may be instances where hyperthreading can come in handy to punch through a laggy situation in a card room
-pps ive only been botting a week so im not an expert, but i do believe i am a fast learner and if you build a 3570k system it can probably run 10VM's plus on its cpu, and IMO more ram is always better than not enough