[CentOS] VMWare vs Parallels, and Zen

Mon Apr 9 20:56:00 UTC 2007
Ross S. W. Walker <rwalker at medallion.com>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: centos-bounces at centos.org 
> [mailto:centos-bounces at centos.org] On Behalf Of Luciano 
> Miguel Ferreira Rocha
> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 4:46 PM
> To: centos at centos.org
> Subject: Re: [CentOS] VMWare vs Parallels, and Zen
> 
> On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 04:32:18PM -0400, Ross S. W. Walker wrote:
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: centos-bounces at centos.org 
> > > [mailto:centos-bounces at centos.org] On Behalf Of Luciano 
> > > Miguel Ferreira Rocha
> > > Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 4:26 PM
> > > To: centos at centos.org
> > > Subject: Re: [CentOS] VMWare vs Parallels, and Zen
> > > 
> > > On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 04:17:29PM -0400, Miark wrote:
> > > > I've seen several references to running VMWare under CentOS, but
> > > > does anybody know how well Parallels runs under CentOS?
> > > 
> > > Parallels is Mac only.
> > 
> > There is a version of Parallels for Linux too.
> 
> Ah. The google add sent me directly to the mac version (and me a ppc),
> with only a small url to the main page. :/
> 
> > I think the VMware workstation is more mature, but costs more $$$
> 
> Also, if I read the specs correctly, Parallels require VT/Pacifica,
> whilest VMWware doesn't. (Xen also requires those, for HVM guests):

AFAIK Parallels is a fully virtualized hypervisor that requires no
hardware acceleration (maybe it does for OS X though...).

> > Xen is really for those who are willing to get their hands 
> dirty. VMware
> > server is free and runs well.
> 
> I agree completly. Alas, my budget doesn't allow testing of Xen
> enterprise solutions (VirtualIron and Xen Enterprise), so I don't know
> how they compare to ESX.

They are aimed to be ESX equivalents, but I think their user interfaces
need a little work, and I prefer the management software to be hosted
on the server instead of separate Java GUI apps.

At $500/socket they are 1/6th the cost of ESX server.

> Has anyone given those a try?

You can download 30 day trials of either and give them a whirl.

XenEnterprise is CentOS 4.4 with Xen 3.0.4 fully Xen Source patched,
which after trying out OSS 3.0.4 realized that it can take a whole
company to patch it to working condition.

Virtual Iron runs rPath + Xen 3.0.2 plus a whole slew of custom
additions like HVM save/restore/migration. Virtual Iron only does
HVM though, they have done-away with PV and the rPath is fully
embedded so no remote OS access, while with XenEnterprise you can
run CentOS as if you had installed it yourself.

-Ross

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