Virtual Machine OS

[tsegreto]

What OS is recommended to run virtual machines? I heard good things about ESXi.

[Sniperfox47]

3 minutes ago, tsegreto said:

What OS is recommended to run virtual machines? I heard good things about ESXi.

Personally I use a stripped down version of Fedora Server and use KVM as my hypervisor, but there are a lot of good options available.

 

Is there some specific thing you want to accomplish with virtualization?

[tsegreto]

2 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

Personally I use a stripped down version of Fedora Server and use KVM as my hypervisor, but there are a lot of good options available.

 

Is there some specific thing you want to accomplish with virtualization?

First time, trying to learn all I can and know my options.

[brwainer]

Really depends on what you're trying to do. I have used HyperV Server extensively, I'm currently migrating everything to ProxMox, I've tested out ESXi. I've heard good things about Xenserver but never used it. Each has strengths and weaknesses, and can generally accomplish any task.

1. what OS(s) will the guests run?
2. What storage options do you have, and what would be your ideal way to configure and use it?

[Sniperfox47]

3 minutes ago, brwainer said:

1. what OS(s) will the guests run?
2. What storage options do you have, and what would be your ideal way to configure and use it?

Just want to add something on to this since it can be important if you pick certain hypervisors:

 

Do you have any acceleration hardware that the guest will need to leverage (e.g. Graphics Card), and does it need to be accessible to one guest or all the guests?

[NelizMastr]

If you're not comfortable with command line work, ESXi and XenServer are the easiest to manage. Proxmox needs quite a bit of command line edits for configuring various settings like storage volumes and whatnot. HyperV Server is easier to use than Proxmox but still requires some powershell edits.