Virtual Machines
From Linux 101, The beginner's guide to all things Linux.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Virtual machines are guest operating systems that are run on top of host machines. While the virtual OS can access much of the hardware on the host machine, the virtual OS is self-contained, and does not effect the host operating system directly. Virtual machines are used to execute another complete OS simultaneously. They emulate the BIOS, basic hardware access, etc. This means that whatever OS you use, its code runs. It can run nearly all versions of Windows, including the latest ones. Virtual machines are commonly used for testbeds, and virtual hosting. Listed here are several virtual machine software suites that allow users to host virtual machines on the Linux operating system.
- Advantages
- Virtually all software will work with it since it can run the whole Windows OS
- Disadvantages
- Can be costly
- Have to load the whole OS into memory
- Slower than running the operating system natively.
[edit] VMware
VMware from VMware, Inc is popular in the enterprise environment. VMware Player and VMware Server are available to download for free. VMware Workstation has more features although it costs several hundred dollars. VMware Workstation software consists of a GUI application that helps users create new virtual machines and administer existing virtual machines. Users can even pause virtual machines and create "bookmarks" to restore virtual machines to different states.
You can find Vmware here.
[edit] Qemu
You can find Qemu here.
[edit] Xen
You can find Xen here.
[edit] VirtualBox
You can find VirtualBox here.
[edit] Bochs
You can find Bochs here.
[edit] DOSBox
You can find DOSBox here.
