J&P Group > J&P InfoSol > Virtualization
Run one - or more - operating system along another operating system. E.g. MS Windows inside Mac OS X, Linux inside Mac OS X, Windows inside Mac OS X, and so on.
Last updated 2009-09-16 (Document History)
Traditional1 Computer - No virtualization |
More than one OS installed but only run one at the time (select which when booting computer) |
More than one OS installed run multiple at the same time (start second (third, ...) inside the host OS |
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Level | 'components' | Level | 'components' | Level | 'components' |
3. | (Applications, Documents) | ||||
2. | Operating System | 2b. | Operating Systems (e.g. Mac OS X or MS Windows) |
2c. | Guest OS(s) (e.g. MS Windows, some Linux) |
2b. | Virtualization technology (e.g. Parallels or VMware Fusion; on Mac) |
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2a. | Boot loader/manager technology (e.g. Apple's Boot Camp) |
2a. | Host OS (e.g. Mac OS X, or MS Windows, or some Linux) |
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1. | Hardware (some with special support: AMD-V, Intel VT-x) |
1 | First thought of calling it "Standard" [Computer] but as virtualization is becoming more and more popular and for instance Mac OS X include one technology (Boot Camp), what is "standard" changes. (So also "traditional" but still seems more suitable when writing this in Nov 2008.) |
Host Operating System
Guest Operating System(s)
( From CNET's Insider Secrets podcast series (http://insidersecretspodcast.cnettv.com): "Get the inside scoop on how to get more from your technology. Extend that battery life, speed up that PC, go faster, higher, stronger! Our team of editors pass along the best tips and tricks and show you how to make them happen in clear easy steps. "... - Learn more on podcasts including how to subscribe in J&P Multimedia Labs' Podcasts section.)
Product: | Boot Camp | Parallels | VMware Fusion | VirtualBox |
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Type: | boot manager (not virtualization) |
hypervisor | hypervisor | hypervisor |
Manufacturer: | Apple | Parallels | VMware | SUN |
Cost: | Free, part of Mac OS X 10.5 |
~$801 (Nov'08) |
~$801 (Nov'08) |
Free |
Home page: | apple.com/macosx/ features/bootcamp.html |
parallels.com | vmware.com/ products/fusion |
virtualbox.org |
Host OS(s): |
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Guest OS(s): |
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(To the larger degree, Parallels, VMware Fusion, and VirtualBox all support all the most common client- and server- OSs) | ||||
Mac OS as Guest: (more below) |
No | Officially supports (in prod doc):
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Seems to support:
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Inofficial solutions seems to exist for running both desktop and server variants of Mac OS X in VirtualBox environment. (more below) |
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/ | ||||
Version2: | v3, per Mar 2010 (v2.1, rel. 2008-04-24) |
v5, per Mar 2010 (v4.0, rel. Nov 2008) |
v3, per Mar 2010 (v2.0.1, rel. 2008-11-14) |
v3, per Mar 2010 (v2.0.6, rel. 2008-11-21) |
Min requirements: |
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More (below): | Boot Camp | Parallels | VMware Fusion | VirtualBox |
At Wikipedia: | wikipedia Boot Camp | wikipedia Parallels Desktop | wikipedia VMware Fusion | wikipedia Virtualbox |
1 | The list price for both Parallels and VMware Fusion has been around $80 for a long time but as usual - shop around! (E.g. when buying computer from MacMall they often has included virtualization sw for 'free' - after mail-in rebate i.e.) |
2 | updated 2010-03-05 with info on latest generation; previous info per 2008-11-26 |
3 | Requirements as described per each manufacturer; for guest operating systems it more depend on the operating system and what modules are installed than the host os. |
4 | From installed application, no actual req specs found in doc (not looked that much though) |
Boot Camp is not really a virtualization technology but a boot manager utility that allows a Macintosh computer to into an alternative operating system (MS Windows).
Originally developed by Connectix and at that time existed for Mac PowerPC-based computers. Aquired by Microsoft.
Microsoft discontinued development (officially in Aug 2006) for Mac after the introduction of Intel-based Macs in Jan 2006.
I.e. no VirtualPC for Intel Macs exist.
Resources:
One of the primary competing commercial alternatives aside VMware Fusion. Home page: parallels.com.
- Comparison of VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop (Wikipedia)
(Additions 2009-08-11):
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/pd40_docs
VM conversion function
http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v4/docs/en/Getting_Started_With_Parallels_Desktop/index.htm
VM conversion function - stated 'Yes' for both Parallels and VMware in wikipedia's Comparison of VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop
(Found via google.com/search?q=VM+conversion+parallels)
http://www.google.com/search?q=VM+conversion+parallels.com
http://www.google.com/search?q=converting+VPC+to+parallels
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=297958
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/features/transporter/
One of the primary competing commercial alternatives aside Parallels. Home page: vmware.com/
products/fusion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware_Fusion.
- Comparison of VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop (Wikipedia)
Problems:
(Added 2009-09-16)
OS | RAM | HD | |||||||||||||
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Windows 95 | 4 MB | 55 MB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows 98 | 16 MB | 300 MB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows Me | 32 MB | 400 MB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows NT 3.51 | 8 MB | 90 MB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows NT 4.0 | 12 MB | 110 MB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows 2000 Pro | 64 MB | 650 MB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows XP | 64 MB | 1.5 GB | 1 | ||||||||||||
(Mac OS X 10.5 | 512 MB | 9 GB | 2 Desktop variant; virtual use not allowed by Apple) | ||||||||||||
Mac OS X 10.5 Server | 512 MB/1 GB | 9 GB | 3) | ||||||||||||
Windows Vista | 512 MB/1 GB | 15 GB | 1 | ||||||||||||
Windows Server 2008 | 512 GB | 10 GB | 1 | ||||||||||||
(Mac OS X 10.6 | 1 GB | 5 GB | 4 Desktop variant; virtual use not allowed by Apple) | ||||||||||||
Mac OS X 10.6 Server | 2 GB | 10 GB | 5 | ||||||||||||
Ubuntu 8.1 Linux | 384 MB | 8 GB | 6 | ||||||||||||
Xubuntu 8.1 Linux | 256 MB | 6 GB | 6 | ||||||||||||
Windows 7 | 1 GB/2 GB | 16 GB | 1 | ||||||||||||
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This section is work-in-progress###
Format, Ext | Origin | What | What, Primary Use By | ||
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.dmg | Apple | Disk img | A disk image format; not VM per se. |
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.iso | ### | Disk img | A disk image format; not VM per se but used for (e.g.) CD/DVD optical disk images and sometimes can be mounted and used as such. |
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.hdd | Parallels | ### | Parallels VM hard disk image |
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OVF | DMTF | VM appl. | Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is an open standard for packaging and distributing virtual appliances or more generally software to be run in virtual machines. |
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.vdi | SUN | ### | SUN VirtualBox | ||
.vhd | Microsoft | ### | virtual hard disk, MS Virtual PC |
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.vmdk | VMware | ### | VMware | ||
.vmwarevm | VMware | ### | (Mac) VMware virtual machine |
xxx MB - xx GB |
Format used by MS VirtualPC (MS Windows - only)
search http://www.google.com/search?q=smallest+virtual+machine+with+internet+explorer+6
From www.petri.co.il/virtual_top_5_free_vmware_appliances.htm retrieved 2009-08-30:
What are the Top 5 Appliances I should download today?
- Openfiler - a powerful browser based Network Attached Storage appliance. It runs on top of CentOS Linux and supports iSCSI, SMB, NFS, FTP, and other file transfer protocols. You can download the Openfiler NAS appliance here. Openfiler is a free open-source application.
- Nagios - an excellent free open-source network monitoring application using the Groundwork open source network monitor, MySQL, and Suse Linux. You can find the virtual appliance for Nagios here.
- Cacti - a network performance graphing system. This virtual appliance also offers other applications like syslog and SNMP. You can download the free Cacti appliance at this link.
- Fedora Linux - why wait to download it and install it when you can download it "already installed" at this link?
- Exchange 2007, others - Microsoft offers a number of virtual machines that can be downloaded from the Internet. While these are designed to run on MS Virtual Server, once downloaded, these can be imported into VMware. For more information on this, checkout our article on how to Download Exchange 2007 Virtual Machines.
First, Apple does in general not permit this. First exemption is the Server variant of OS X 10.5 (not Desktop).
(Updated 2009-08-11, more in Document History):
(2009-08-30)
http://www.google.com/search?q=vmware+virtual+appliance+with+windows+98
2009-07-06 | Last edit before adding this section |
2009-08-11 | Added short findings (links) at beginning of document. Added this section. |
2009-08-30 | Quite a few addions in multiple areas including multiple new headings. |
2009-09-16 | Added Sizes, Requirements, ... (, plus various smaller adds/mods elsewhere |
2010-03-05 | Updated and extended Comparison of Some Mac Alternatives table. Continued adding to Virtual Hard Disks, File Formats. |