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Sun xVM VirtualBox
Many researchers here need both windows and linux environment in their job. Earlier we either installed two separate computers, installed dual boot system or used remote desktop from another computers. Another option is to use virtual machine software which is running in host computer and you run another os iside that software. Software gives standard PC environment for guest os and it can run 70-90& of speed of host computer if needed.
Pros:
- no need to boot systems when changing os
- can run more than one os same time
- Admins can prepare default os images for users
Cons:
- In practise you need dual core processor if you are going to run more than one os concurrently
- You need RAM memory for all your virtual machines running ex. 512MB-1GB per os
- Hard disk space for every os you are running.
Contact Ilmari Laakkonen if you think that you might need some kind virtual machine in your work.
Sun xVM VirtualBox
and Sun is providing virtual machine software called VirtualBox which is free for personal and educational use. It can be downloaded from Sun servers.
You have choice to use either commercial version or open source version, basic functionality is same but some specific things are available only in commercial version. Commersial version is free for personal and educational use.
Host os supported:
- Solaris 10
- MacosX
- Linux
- Windows
Guest os supported:
- Almost any intel based os
- Windows, Solaris and linux os can use additional guest software and drivers to provide better co-operation between host and guest os.
VM Usage scenarios
- You are using different os than other project members, with virtual machine you can develop, test or demo software without reinstalling/dual boot/change systems.
- Network protocol development environment, run many virtual machines to test your protocols and services without disturbing your company network.
- Software porting/testing in different os environments
Other popular virtual machines
