Recommended Test Virtualization software and hardware??
Hi,
I am planning on setting up a Test Virtual Network so that I can experiment with Windows 2003 servers, DB Servers, Web Servers etc.
To be portable I plan to build a Micro ATX box which would contain an Intel Q66 Quad processor on Intel board with 8GB RAM (4 X 2GB). In addition I plan to have two SATA 2 500GB 7200rpm drives.
The host O/S could be windows 2003, XP or WIndows 2008. I have all of the MS stuff, so fairly flexible here.
Currently I use VirtualPC 2007 SP1, but I guess I could use Virtual 2005 Server or Hyper V. I have even considered Sun's VIrtualBox due to its speed and Linux support. I want to create a virtual network for testing and training purposes as well as for developmental purposes. I also plan to RD into the virtual machines.
What are your thoughts on this? What would be the best setup ?
Thanks,
Sam
I am planning on setting up a Test Virtual Network so that I can experiment with Windows 2003 servers, DB Servers, Web Servers etc.
To be portable I plan to build a Micro ATX box which would contain an Intel Q66 Quad processor on Intel board with 8GB RAM (4 X 2GB). In addition I plan to have two SATA 2 500GB 7200rpm drives.
The host O/S could be windows 2003, XP or WIndows 2008. I have all of the MS stuff, so fairly flexible here.
Currently I use VirtualPC 2007 SP1, but I guess I could use Virtual 2005 Server or Hyper V. I have even considered Sun's VIrtualBox due to its speed and Linux support. I want to create a virtual network for testing and training purposes as well as for developmental purposes. I also plan to RD into the virtual machines.
What are your thoughts on this? What would be the best setup ?
Thanks,
Sam
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I am not very good with Linux. I have had problems with installing Linux distros under Microsoft virtualization technologies (Virtual Server, Virtual PC) because of hardware detection issues and then X configuration issues. I believe that Microsoft's video driver is 32 bit or 16 bit color only. You will need to edit xorg.conf to switch your color depth to 16 bit or the display will be all wrong. Suse is officially supported with VMadditions. Other distros are not supported.
ASKER
Kevin,
Thanks for this.
Out of interest do you have any experience with running several VM solutions on the same machine. I am thinking of possibly using Hyper-V and VirtualBox for the Linux stuff.
Sam
Thanks for this.
Out of interest do you have any experience with running several VM solutions on the same machine. I am thinking of possibly using Hyper-V and VirtualBox for the Linux stuff.
Sam
I looked at VirtualBox, and it looks like a full software based emulation like Virtial Server, Virtual PC, VMWare Server/Workstation. It may run inside/along another virtualization environment. You can probably also use KVM or Zen (with paravirtualized guests).
ASKER
Kevin,
Thanks for your help. Really appreciated. I will close this off now.
Have a great week.
Sam
Thanks for your help. Really appreciated. I will close this off now.
Have a great week.
Sam
ASKER
Thanks for your comment. I have some friends using Hyper-V with good results. I do have Windows 2008 so could install it. I went for 8GB RAM since I was struggling to find a board that suppored more. Perhaps I was not looking hard enough, but I am plannign on using a ASUS/Gigabyte type board costing around £100 ($170).
Out of interest is Linux a no-no for Hyper-V?
Thanks for your help,
Sam