Server Virtualization

john_sm · 01-03-2008, 12:58 PM

Hey Folks - We need your help. We were hoping, we could gain from your experience with implementing server virtualization. When should we be using Red Hat Virtualization, Citrix Virtualization, Xen Virtualization, Microsoft Virtualization, Oracle Virtualization and VMWare. I will be very interested in learning from your first hand experince. I will also like to know, under what situations is one virtualization prefered over the other. - Thanks for your help

Skie · 01-04-2008, 10:52 AM

The one you use really depends on what your needs are. Red Hat doesn't make their own virtualization, they use Xen and KVM (depending on which one you install, but both are offered). Xen has been around for some time while KVM is still the new kid on the block. Also, Citrix has purchased Xen Source. If you're looking to resell Virtual Machines, then VMWare may not be an option as I believe their license doesn't allow reselling. This may have changed, but the last time I looked, web hosting companies were not allowed to offer VPS using VMWare. I have used VMWare for personal use and I do like it and it works fairly well from what I've seen. However, it's been a few years since I've used it.

I'm planning on using Xen (directly from Xen Source) and am finishing up some testing with it. While it's not cheap, it has a lot of features. Another option I was considering was Virtuozzo which is based on OpenVZ. The only reason I decided not to use Virtuozzo is because it's not a VM but a Virtualized Environment. The VE's use the same OS as the host OS (you can't offer multiple OS's like you can with Xen or VMWare).

I don't have any experience with other virtualization solutions, so I can't comment on them.

Codeman0013 · 01-04-2008, 11:08 AM

We use VMware here where i work and have an ESX server set up to run them. Very good and very efficient but you have to be careful some apps dont like to run well. We have found that certain apps will not run on a virtual network card for some odd reason and spent hours on tech support just for them to finally say we dont know its strange.... Overall i love Vmware its great but thats just my opinion and i havent used others besides microsoft and not enouch microsoft to know enough to rate it..

01-03-2008, 12:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
john_sm Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8 OS: XP	Server Virtualization Hey Folks - We need your help. We were hoping, we could gain from your experience with implementing server virtualization. When should we be using Red Hat Virtualization, Citrix Virtualization, Xen Virtualization, Microsoft Virtualization, Oracle Virtualization and VMWare. I will be very interested in learning from your first hand experince. I will also like to know, under what situations is one virtualization prefered over the other. - Thanks for your help

01-04-2008, 10:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
Skie Manager, Alternative Comp Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Chicago burbs Posts: 2,194 OS: Gentoo Linux, CentOS, OS X My System	Re: Server Virtualization The one you use really depends on what your needs are. Red Hat doesn't make their own virtualization, they use Xen and KVM (depending on which one you install, but both are offered). Xen has been around for some time while KVM is still the new kid on the block. Also, Citrix has purchased Xen Source. If you're looking to resell Virtual Machines, then VMWare may not be an option as I believe their license doesn't allow reselling. This may have changed, but the last time I looked, web hosting companies were not allowed to offer VPS using VMWare. I have used VMWare for personal use and I do like it and it works fairly well from what I've seen. However, it's been a few years since I've used it. I'm planning on using Xen (directly from Xen Source) and am finishing up some testing with it. While it's not cheap, it has a lot of features. Another option I was considering was Virtuozzo which is based on OpenVZ. The only reason I decided not to use Virtuozzo is because it's not a VM but a Virtualized Environment. The VE's use the same OS as the host OS (you can't offer multiple OS's like you can with Xen or VMWare). I don't have any experience with other virtualization solutions, so I can't comment on them. __________________

01-04-2008, 11:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
Codeman0013 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Decatur Illinois Posts: 257 OS: Windows 7 My System	Re: Server Virtualization We use VMware here where i work and have an ESX server set up to run them. Very good and very efficient but you have to be careful some apps dont like to run well. We have found that certain apps will not run on a virtual network card for some odd reason and spent hours on tech support just for them to finally say we dont know its strange.... Overall i love Vmware its great but thats just my opinion and i havent used others besides microsoft and not enouch microsoft to know enough to rate it..