Virtual Machine options

B

Bernie

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I have a PC runnining Kubuntu 6.06 up and running.

I want to load virtual machines on this server. I want to have a XP professional and FreeBSD virtual machines loaded.

In your experience what is best to use and why, VMware or Xen

In terms of ease of use, installation, performance etc.

Or anything else thats free. :p

This is not a mission critical setup, just for personal home use.

The PC has 2GIG Ram, 2 x 160 SATA HDDs and a pentium 4 (3.2)

Any tips, pointers, traps to avoid etc, greatly appreaciated.
 
Without VT-X or AMD-V you will need to run vmware to get XP working as a VM. But be prepared for a serious performance loss going that route. With hardware assisted virtualisation (IMO) it'd be best having FreeBSD as the host OS and the others as guests using Xen.

I wouldnt do this if you dont like reading, then go the VMWare route.
 
My vote is for VMWare Server because:

1. Its easier than Paris Hilton.
2. Easy to move VM's around
3. Performance is ok when the vmware tools package is installed
4. Its stable

I know of a company where VM's are being used as production servers for heavy load sql/java work. No issues there as it makes distaster recovery and backups really easy even if its not as fast as running the apps native on the OS.

The only reason why I do not like it for home use is because the vmware services will put a constant(minimal) load on the system even when all VM's are off.

If you do not intend to use the guest OS's as servers for other pc's on your home network then http://www.virtualbox.org/ is much better/faster. It does crash sometimes but its not often and its generally very stable.
 
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VMWare server is great - and free.

VirtualBox is an option - think you must pay for it.
 
jsxza said:
My vote is for VMWare Server because:

1. Its easier than Paris Hilton.
2. Easy to move VM's around
3. Performance is ok when the vmware tools package is installed
4. Its stable

I know of a company where VM's are being used as production servers for heavy load sql/java work. No issues there as it makes distaster recovery and backups really easy even if its not as fast as running the apps native on the OS.

The only reason why I do not like it for home use is because the vmware services will put a constant(minimal) load on the system even when all VM's are off.

If you do not intend to use the guest OS's as servers for other pc's then http://www.virtualbox.org/ is much better/faster.
Click to expand...

:D
 
I use virtualbox on ubuntu 7.10 - you don't have to pay for it. There are two versions available, one in the ubuntu repos, and a deb available on the virtualbox website. Go for the one on the website, it has USB support. (Though is not GPL).

TBH I haven't used VMWare or any of the others, so I can't really make a comparison. Virtualbox was the first I tried and everything was pretty straight forward, even for me with no VM experience. I have a folder shared between my host and guest OSes, can copy/paste between them, sound and networking all works.
 
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