2006-07-17 #1

Virtualization Planning

Turns out that Parallels releases a version of their software for Linux (ref: downloads page). The documentation claims this to be a Hypervisor instead of just a virtualizer (ie the original VMWare solution, although the top-of-the-line solution is now a hypervisor as well).

• Parallels Workstation, US$50.
• Parallels Compressor Server, US$180.
• Parallels Compressor Workstation, US$50.

This product will run Windows XP/Pro, although DVD/RW drives are seen only as DVD drives.

Also in the news, VMWare 1.0 is free; although this is a non-hypervisor virtualization product.

So I think we will do this:

• Run CentOS 4.3 64-bit
• install Sun Ray software
• install VMWare 1.0
• install XP into a VMWare virtual server

This should let me do pretty much everything I need to do at the moment. We can also wait for Xen to mature.

At some point it may be worth while getting a free trial key of the Parallels system and doing some comparisons to see if there is anything to be gained for US$50, a trivial amount of money to spend especially considering Parallels will support the virtualization functionality of my Pentium-D processor.