On 6/11/08, Ned Slider ned@unixmail.co.uk wrote: <snip>
I've run VMware Server (free, as in cost, not as in open source) on CentOS to host WinXP VMs since it was in beta and have no complaints. There is an RPM package available on VMware's site:
$ rpm -q VMware-server VMware-server-1.0.6-91891.i386
It's only available in i386 package but installs fine on x86_64 and supports 64-bit VMs provided the underlying hardware supports it. I believe VMs are limited to a max of 2 processors each.
I've used VMware Server on systems varying from old AthlonXP, 512MB RAM through to Intel Quad Core Q6600 with 4GB RAM. Note VMware will run on older processors without hardware virtualization. In my experience there's little noticeable difference between software and hardware virtualization (on VMware), and each run at about the perceived speed you would expect if it was on native hardware (I've not conducted any benchmark tests). The main consideration is that you have enough RAM to support the host OS (CentOS) and any VM(s) running on it.
I've not used Xen so can't offer a comparison.
Ned: I was very interested to read that you've run VMWare Server on systems with only 512 MB of RAM. I haven't tried it, because the box I can use only has 512 MB of RAM.
My impression is that Xen is much more demanding about HW. Lanny