Samsung 1TB QVO SSD had performance issues running Windows VMs in VMware ESXi 5.5

I wanted to add some pep to an old ESXi 5.5 system by installing an SSD.  I picked up a Samsung 1TB QVO SSD on a deal and was excited to get it installed.  After it was installed, I went through the process of moving VMs from the old drive to the SSD.  Booted up some Linux VMs and they seemed to run perfectly.  When I got to a Windows VM, the Windows system become unresponsive.  Looking at the performance of the VM in VSphere, the latency was extremely high.  I did not keep any screenshots of the highest peaks, but it was hitting in the hundreds of thousands.  Abysmal.

I tried researching the behavior but came up short.  I tried installing a fresh Windows VM thinking this one was corrupt, no improvement.  In the end, I purchased a Samsung 1TB EVO, cloned the QVO to the EVO, installed and ran the same Windows VM that was performing poorly on the QVO, and it ran perfectly.  Booted up a bunch of VMs to try and impact performance but it was 100x times better than the QVO.  I ended up throwing the QVO into a laptop (running Windows) and it runs perfectly.  I don't know if this was due to the QVO having issues with handling larger files or something else.

tl/dr; The Samsung QVO drive performed poorly (for Windows VMs) on ESXi 5.5 - Replaced with an EVO and no more issues.

How to make a budget - from Dave Ramsey

The biggest challenge I see with people struggling to make ends meet is a lack of budget, or at least an understanding of incoming and outgoing money on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.  Understanding the basics of your finances and establishing an appropriate budget is a great start to getting your head above water.  Here is a quick write up from Dave Ramsey on how to make a budget:

HOW TO MAKE A BUDGET

1. Write down your total income for the month.

This is your total take-home (after tax) pay for both you and, if you're married, your spouse. Don't forget to include everything—full-time jobs, second jobs, freelance pay, Social Security checks, and any other ongoing sources of income.

2. List all your expenses.

Think about your regular bills (mortgage, electricity, etc.) and your irregular bills (quarterly payments like insurance or HOA) that are due for the upcoming month. After that, total your other costs, like food, gas, and entertainment. Each dollar you spend should be accounted for.

3. Subtract expenses from income to equal zero.

This is called a zero-based budget, meaning your income minus your expenses should equal zero. If you're over or under, check your math or simply return to the previous step and try again.

4. Track your expenses throughout the month.

Once you start the budget, you'll still need to stay on top of your expenses.

Here's to 2020: The year you stick to a budget and make more progress than EVER before!!

Reference:  https://www.facebook.com/daveramsey/posts/10156918550530886