Virtualization setup

[nervousDev]

Hi,

 

I'm new around this forum but I follow Linus Youtube channel from quite some time now.

First, excuse me if this is not the right place to ask this. If it isn't, please let me know.

I have this rig:

CPU:           Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (Conroe-2M, B2)
               1866 MHz (7.00x266.7) @ 1863 MHz (7.00x266.2)
Motherboard:   Intel D975XBX
Chipset:       Intel 975X (Glenwood-DG) + ICH7DH
Memory:        4096 MBytes @ 399 MHz, 6-6-6-18
                  - 2048 MB PC6400 DDR2-SDRAM - Kingston                   
                  - 2048 MB PC6400 DDR2-SDRAM - Kingston                   
Graphics:      NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE, 128 MB DDR2 SDRAM

It's quite old now but I think it's still a decent machine for handling server tasks.

 

It has Windows Server 2003 (Yeah I know, please don't beat me. I wasn't the one managing it until now. I added this because it still runs an old version of a accounting software that I need to stay as it is.)

So, finally my question: can I setup virtualization on this machine having at least the current windows image running and a linux server distro?

If you think yes, please guide me into some options because I'm in a dark place when it comes to virtualization (despite being a Software engineer) and, if it not asking a lot, upgrade ideas to give a refresh on this old machine?

Thank!

Rui Freitas.

[3DDude]

So the keyword you are looking for is P2V, which means you have an Hypervisor* setup on another physical host.

You can then 'convert the Physical installation to an Virtual Machine.


Long story short: You would require a secondary host with better capacity in terms of cpu and memory to run this one virtualised and another VM with Linux.

After migration (of course you keep the original as back-up) and a succesfull testing fase after P2V you can turn of the old machine.

 

Please note: This is not server grade hardware you should inform the customer first; That if they dont want to invest and don't purchase server grade hardware; hardware failures is their problem.

 

Cross thy fingers for a proper back-up !

 

 

* Hypervisor can be: VMware ESXi, Citrix Xenserver, KVM, Hyper-V etcetera.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2016 by 3DDude
examples of hypervisors

[nervousDev]

3 minutes ago, 3DDude said:

So the keyword you are looking for is P2V, which means you have an Hypervisor* setup on another physical host.

You can then 'convert the Physical installation to an Virtual Machine.


Long story short: You would require a secondary host with better capacity in terms of cpu and memory to run this one virtualised and another VM with Linux.

After migration (of course you keep the original as back-up) and a succesfull testing fase after P2V you can turn of the old machine.

 

Please note: This is not server grade hardware you should inform the customer first; That if they dont want to invest and don't purchase server grade hardware; hardware failures is their problem.

 

Cross thy fingers for a proper back-up !

 

 

* Hypervisor can be: VMware ESXi, Citrix Xenserver, KVM, Hyper-V etcetera.

Hi,

 

thank you for the fast reply.

 

Can you go specify this part "This is not server grade hardware"? Can you specify what parts should be upgraded and by what?

That is exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

I'll look at what is the Hypervisor that suits better for me.

[3DDude]

As in, it's an desktop everyone can buy at an computer store. But it's not built to run 24/7 @365 days per year. Which means, don't be surprised if an hardware failure occurs.

[nervousDev]

3 minutes ago, 3DDude said:

As in, it's an desktop everyone can buy at an computer store. But it's not built to run 24/7 @365 days per year. Which means, don't be surprised if an hardware failure occurs.

Okey, I understood. 

Any tips or links you wanna give me about upgrading the machine or choosing the Hypervisor?

 

Thank you.