which virtualization technology is right for me?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I need a little help with this getting this sorted out.

• I want to setup a linux virtual server that I can use to run both sever and desktop systems.

• I want a linux system that is minimalist in nature as all the main os will be doing is acting as a hypervisor.

The system I'm trying to setup will be running a file server, windows 7, ubuntu 10.04, windows xp and a firewall/gateway security system. All the client OS'es accessing and storing files on the file server. Also all network traffic will be routed through the gateway guest os. The file sever will need direct disk access while the other guests can run one disk images.

All of this will be running on the same computer so I wont be romoting in to access the guests OS'es. Also if possible I would like to be able to use my triple head setup in the guest OS'es.

I've looked at Xen, kvm and virtualbox but I don't know which is the best for me. I'm really debating between kvm and virtual box as kvm seem to support direct hardware access.

manpreet 2 years ago

Xen is being given a quite cold treatment these days, everyone seems to be migrating to KVM. That said, neither of those two is good at desktop virtualization IMHO. I prefer KVM for server virtualization and VirtualBox for desktop virtualization.