Virtualization Picks
Let me preface this by saying that I’m making recommendations for virtualization based on:
- Cost
- Robustness
- Ease of use
- Performance
You’ll note I put performance as the last item since it generally is not a huge differentiator for most virtualization needs. However, you individual criteria may vary, and you should make your own decisions.
The “thumb nail” information below should help you in evaluating virtualization solutions; and the links at the bottom will help you locate solutions.
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If you need cross platform virtualization, and will move virtual machines from one host to another, the only realistic choice is VirtualBox. While vmware and Parallels will run on most host operating systems. While vmware offers some free solutions, I’ve found their new version of Fusion (for the Mac) could have used ten minutes of QA before shipping; on my MacBook Pro, my Mac Pro, and my Mac Minis it crashes when shutting down a virtual machine that used to work just fine under the previous version (yes it was converted), and even worse, it crashes OS-X on my MacPro. Parallels is just too expensive, not only is the acquisition cost high, but he maintenance cost is high; it’s very nicely done, but simply not worth the investment.
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For Windows Server 2008 on both 32-bit and 64-bit the uncontested choice should be Hyper-V, unless you’re running on a processor/motherboard that lacks hardware virtualization (and even then I’d say you should upgrade your hardware).
For Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP on both 32-bit and 64-bit the uncontested choice should be Virtual Server 2005 R2. You should always use Virtual Server over Virtual PC.
For OS-X on an Intel machine you should use VirtualBox (if you feel you need to purchase a commercial product, choose Parallels over vmware; it works well, and has good performance and stability).
For Linux on an Intel machine you should use either VirtualBox, or if you’re a more savvy user Xen.
For BSD on an Intel machine you should use either VirtualBox, or if you’re a more savvy user Xen.
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There are other virtualization solutions, but they tend to be rather expensive. And yes there are non-Intel virtualization solutions that allow you to run Intel guests on non-Intel hosts (other than older Macs, that’s probably not a very common requirement, and outside the scope of my recommendations; the only product I’ve ever used on a G4/G5 is Microsoft’s Virtual PC for Mac).
Hyper-V and Xen use a very modern approach to virtualization, and overall have the greatest potential for future growth. The OpenSource version of Xen; however, needs a fair amount of polish before the average computer user (not to be confused with computer professional / geek) finds it very usable.
Companies like vmware and Parallels might have nice solutions for large deployments, but I see little advantage in smaller deployments; and for single machines why not use something that’s free and works (well).
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- Microsoft Hyper-V
- Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2
- Parallels
- VirtualBox
- vmware
- Xen — see your distribution for information
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