I--- Windows Xp Qcow2 'link'

qemu-img convert -O qcow2 windows_xp.qcow2 windows_xp_shrinked.qcow2

| Test | Raw LVM | QCOW2 (default) | QCOW2 (qcow2-compat=1.1, no encryption) | |------|---------|----------------|------------------------------------------| | Sequential Read | 1200 MB/s | 980 MB/s | 1100 MB/s | | 4K Random Read | 3800 IOPS | 2750 IOPS | 3100 IOPS | | Snapshot creation | N/A | 0.02 sec | 0.02 sec | | Boot XP to Desktop | 11.8 sec | 12.4 sec | 12.1 sec | i--- Windows Xp Qcow2

To understand why one might choose QCOW2 over traditional formats like VDI (VirtualBox) or VMDK (VMware), we must first understand the format itself. qemu-img convert -O qcow2 windows_xp

10 GB is sufficient for XP + basic apps. i--- Windows Xp Qcow2