Re: Talking about Oracle Lab Setup - which VM provider do you prefer?

In my opinion the choice of hypervisor depends greatly on what else you want to do with your laptop. I am using my lab system to run Ubuntu LTS which offers a wide range of options. I can use Linux Containers, KVM and xen hypervisors. I could also use a desktop virtualization software but I don't like any of them particularly. Currently I am very keen on KVM after years of xen usage. KVM offers large pages support and cgroups integration out of the box. LXC sounds interesting but I didn't have the time to explore it properly.

Now using Linux on your lab kit doesn't really suit you if you want to use Windows for email and office software natively. There isn't anything stopping you from using a VM for Windows but it is slightly less user friendly than a native windows (maybe except version 8). I am thinking of printing etc which can potentially be a hassle to set up.

I have tried both mainstream desktop virtualization products and like them both. I really loved ESX as it was beautiful for running Oracle on my hardware. Note that VMware workstation doesn't support shared block devices for RAC. Virtual box does, as does ESX but you will need a client to administer esx comfortably. A CLI interface exists but is not as user friendly as the GUI.

So I guess it all depends. Regardless of what you go for, use a ssd for the VM storage, it really makes a difference.

Martin Bach
martincarstenbach.wordpress.com

Andrew Kerber <andrew.kerber_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>Well, I like VMware workstation. Very few problems with it. Oracle
>VirtualBox is short of features, including support for large pages,
>though
>last I heard that may be fixed. I really havent seen the resource
>problem,
>but I did configure my desktop specifically so I could use Virtual
>machines, 64G RAM with a quad core for my desktop.
>
>With regard to DNS, I was able to find a reference and set up a local
>DNS
>on a VMware workstation using the standard Redhat Software. It did
>take me
>a few hours to figure out the setup, but it was worth the trouble.
>
>I didnt get deep into the details of virtual box, does it have virtual
>network editor like VMware does? Being kind of geeky, I pay for a bank
>of
>5 public IP's from ATT (only using two of them currently), running
>routers
>behind the ATT router allows me to have multiple physical networks, and
>the
>VMware virtual network editor allows me to bind specific virtual NIC's
>to
>specific physical networks, which is really nice.
>
>
>On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Sandip Mukhopadhyay <
>sandip.mukhopadhyay24_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Chris,
>>
>> I will prefer Oracle VirtualBox. I have used both VirtualBox and
>VMWARE
>> workstation product simultaneously with the same resource in same
>laptop.
>>
>> Finding is - Oracle Virtual Box consumes much less resources and much
>> faster. VMWARE workstation may have more exciting features/options
>but it
>> hangs frequently.
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Sandip
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 9:43 PM, Chris Taylor <
>> christopherdtaylor1994_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Mainly out of curiosity - for those of you that setup Oracle VMs on
>>> personal hardware, which vendor do you prefer and what are the
>drawbacks
>>> (if any) that caused you to go with the one you chose?
>>>
>>> For example, if you prefer VirtualBox over Vmware, is there a
>specific
>>> reason and vice versa?
>>>
>>> I've got a new w520 laptop I'm going to be setting up machines on
>and I
>>> remember the last time I did this I ended up picking one over the
>other but
>>> I can't remember why...
>>>
>>> Any virtual machine tips related to setup/configuration you'd like
>to
>>> share about the networking setup or anything? (For example, I would
>>> recommend the Dual DHCP DNS Software from sourceforge to run locally
>as it
>>> will allow you to "fake out" the RAC configuration tool by seeing
>the host
>>> names in your DNS server and doing DNS lookups locally).
>>>
>>> I vaguely remember that either VMWare or Virtualbox was harder to
>get the
>>> network configuration setups the way I wanted them but I can't
>remember
>>> which one was easier to deal with.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Chris
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>--
>Andrew W. Kerber
>
>'If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving.'

-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

--
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l