[GLLUG] Virtualization Questions

[Charles Ulrich]

KVM is a very solid technology these days. For someone just starting
to tinker around, another option is VirtualBox
(https://www.virtualbox.org/), which is very easy to install and use.
I don't believe it requires a CPU with the special virtualization
instructions, so you may be able to run it on whatever your latest
machine is. Memory is generally the most important requirement; you
need to make sure that you have enough physical RAM to handle your
host OS and guest OS at the same time or things will get very swappy
in a hurry.

Charles

On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 4:41 PM, Richard Houser <rick at divinesymphony.net> wrote:
> Everything you've stated is possible, although with varying degrees of
> difficulty with each virtualization package.  I suggest reading up on
> KVM and the virt-manager tool, then diving in.
>
> On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 2:23 PM, Chick Tower <c.e.tower at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Since I may someday have a PC capable of running virtual PCs, I've been
>> wondering about it.  I know I could read up on virtualization on the
>> internet, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to boost traffic on our
>> little mailing list.
>>
>> Are there ready-made guest OS packages available, or do we have to create
>> our own?
>>
>> To create a guest OS package (or container or whatever the nomenclature is),
>> is it necessary to create an empty one and then install an OS, or can you
>> clone an existing OS installation?
>>
>> Is it possible to modify the saved version of a guest OS (such as for
>> software updates or configuration changes), or would you have to create a
>> new saved version?  I realize allowing the guest OS to permanently modify
>> itself could be considered a security risk (although normally-installed OSes
>> do it all the time), but it would be convenient.
>>
>> Can a running instance of a guest OS save data in external filesystems?  If
>> so, can those external filesystems be simply mounted like any other, or
>> would it require some trickery?
>>
>> I do not yet need to know the details of how to do the things I've asked
>> about.  I'm just curious as to how flexible virtualization is.
>> --
>>
>>                               Chick
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