View Full Version : looking for virtualisation
p2501
06-18-2008, 12:59 AM
So as the title says I'm looking for a virtualisation solution. I'm running Vista x64 and what I want to do is mainly internet related things like just surfing, mail, etc, so I want to sort of use it as a sandbox. I know a few programs that would do this but what I'm searching for is mainly user input. Which one did you try? Which one should I try? :shrug:
enteon
06-18-2008, 07:39 AM
virtual box open source edition (ose) does fine for me.
xp under linux even without hardware virtualization support or hacking the kernel... at least not by me :wasntme:
create an (empty) image, determine the os to be used (not important) and use it like a real pc...easy if you ask me ;)
p2501
06-19-2008, 11:57 AM
virtual box open source edition (ose) does fine for me.
xp under linux even without hardware virtualization support or hacking the kernel... at least not by me :wasntme:
create an (empty) image, determine the os to be used (not important) and use it like a real pc...easy if you ask me ;)
Did you try and compare it to other solutions in terms of speed and/or reliability? Or did you try just this and were completely convinced by it? Level of complexity to set it up is irrelevant, I just want something solid. :yepp:
ARC1450
06-19-2008, 12:21 PM
I snagged a copy of VMWare Server with a free license. Worked pretty well, actually. :) Just set up the VM how you want it, then grab VMWare Player. :)
p2501
06-22-2008, 07:49 AM
Sounds nice, so for now we have two possibilities, either Virtual Box or VMware Server. Thanks so far, does anyone have good experiences with other solutions?
I played quite a lot with virtualization recently. Used Virtual PC, VirtualBox, VMWare and QEMU (Mostly QEMU Manager).
VMware is the best, definitely one of the most professionally done programs I know, but you can use Workstation for free only for 30 days and then you're stuck with player which doesn't let you change anything with virtual hardware.
Also, it's by far the heaviest one regarding HDD usage and amount of autostarting things, but for modern computer it's no problem.
Unless you want to pay for Workstation, I recommend VirtualBox. Very easy to use, yet powerful enough...unless you need to clone a VM. It's not supported, copying and pasting, some easy changes in it's files don't help.
QEMU has only one advantage. Can run w/out installing a driver, even if you have only user rights. In this mode it's very slow though and when you install the driver, it's not that much faster.
Virtual PC - I found nothing interesting about it.
And, if you care, there are portable versions of all but VMware (AFAIK).
Th3MadScientist
06-22-2008, 09:40 AM
www.sandboxie.com The only program you will ever need in terms of surfing and product testing. Very small footprint, its just an executable that blocks write assignments to your harddrive. I use it everyday and I love it.
Microsoft Virtual PC is garbage. VMWare Workstation is great but I think its a bit overkill for what you plan to do with it.
Ensamvarg
06-23-2008, 03:31 PM
I use VirtualBox. It works for what I like doing which is downloading Linux flavours and seeing which ones I like (looking at at least :p: ) Very easy to use. I haven't tried any others though but I prefer open source apps :D
G.Foyle
06-23-2008, 03:43 PM
I have had serious trouble getting FreeBSD 7.0-RELEASE to work in VirtualBox; other than that it works nice. FreeBSD works perfectly fine in MS Virtual PC.
Speederlander
06-23-2008, 04:14 PM
I use VMWare Workstation. I have VMs for just about everything except graphics intensive applications.
Speederlander
06-23-2008, 04:15 PM
Sounds nice, so for now we have two possibilities, either Virtual Box or VMware Server. Thanks so far, does anyone have good experiences with other solutions?
Get VMWare workstation for sandbox activities, not server.
Th3MadScientist
06-23-2008, 06:26 PM
VMWare workstation is kind of overkill and plus if he wants to run Windows, he's gonna need another OS disk with key.
Speederlander
06-23-2008, 06:47 PM
VMWare workstation is kind of overkill and plus if he wants to run Windows, he's gonna need another OS disk with key.
Well, he said:
Level of complexity to set it up is irrelevant, I just want something solid.And Workstation fits that to a tee. Yeah you have to pay but I recall him requiring it be free. But either way, if the activities are hyper simple then by all means go something free and easy. If not, Workstation is reasonable and not excessively expensive.
ARC1450
06-24-2008, 07:05 AM
Well, he said: And Workstation fits that to a tee. Yeah you have to pay but I recall him requiring it be free. But either way, if the activities are hyper simple then by all means go something free and easy. If not, Workstation is reasonable and not excessively expensive.
In case y'all hadn't noticed, VMWare server was recommended because you can get a free key from VMWare.
http://www.vmware.com/download/server/
You can download VMPlayer after tweaking your VM with VMWare Server, and presto. . .stable VMs, and player makes it light on the resources.
[edit]I forgot to add a while back, don't use VMs for sandboxing. They can be broken.
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1302293,00.html
p2501
06-26-2008, 11:19 PM
First a big thank you for your input everyone! Nice to see that I could choose from a few solutions.. but:
[edit]I forgot to add a while back, don't use VMs for sandboxing. They can be broken.
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1302293,00.html
WTF? I don't of any other way of sandboxing for Windoze, for Linux I do but not Windoze... damn there goes my hope of really secure surfing. :shakes:
Any other ideas?
Edit: Concerning the VMware bug, I could just disable the file sharing feature and go for another approach of copying between them, i.e. FTP.
opieum
07-11-2008, 06:49 PM
VMware server is more than adequate. It is based on both GSX and Workstation code. In a sense it is a blending of the two products. OTOH if you want a thin setup, my advice is download the Server 2.0 beta. You can manage, install, create VMs via your webbrowser. For those who says it sucks they were probably using beta1. Beta2 is out and is MUCH better. Give it a shot.
ARC1450
07-11-2008, 07:21 PM
First a big thank you for your input everyone! Nice to see that I could choose from a few solutions.. but:
WTF? I don't of any other way of sandboxing for Windoze, for Linux I do but not Windoze... damn there goes my hope of really secure surfing. :shakes:
Any other ideas?
Edit: Concerning the VMware bug, I could just disable the file sharing feature and go for another approach of copying between them, i.e. FTP.
IIRC, didn't matter if you have file sharing disabled or not.
Either way, even the "sandboxing" with Linux has been proven to be breakable. Read KernelTrap; the devs went absolutely ape a little while ago about people using jailing for security purposes, because it was never really meant for that. You can break out of them. Das ist nicht sehr gut.
IIRC, didn't matter if you have file sharing disabled or not.
Nope, it does. The hole appears only when it's enabled.
Edit: Concerning the VMware bug, I could just disable the file sharing feature and go for another approach of copying between them, i.e. FTP.
VMWare has sharing disabled by default, so it's a hole in optional part.