[CentOS] CentOS 5.0: Xen vs OpenVZ

Lorenzo

lorenzo at gmk.it
Thu May 10 09:23:25 UTC 2007


Hi all,

I've just installed CentOS 5.0 on two brand new server, and it's time 
for me to migrate a few virtual machines from the old servers.
The old servers are running CentOS 4.4 + OpenVZ; I'm quite happy with 
this setup: fast safe and simple (for my experience as of now :) )
Also is very easy to migrate one virtual machine to a server to another 
for maintenance/reboots.
I've also managed to setup a nightly rsync for backups and it's very 
fast (two pass: first rsync with virtual machine up; shutdown virtual 
machine; second rsync; restart virtual machine... all in a matter of 
minutes for a complete backup even on the biggest virtual machine with 
12G of used disk space)

Now the dilemma: should I stay with OpenVZ or should I jump to Xen?

What I don't like of OpenVZ is the non-stock kernel; instead I like the 
easiness of management.

What I don't like of Xen is the slow restart and the disk management 
(either dedicated partition or image file) which can lead to slower 
backup and harder migration; instead I'm attracted by the standard and 
fully supported kernel.

Does anyone have experience on Xen and have advice on which could be the 
best compromise between the two solutions? Of course with Xen I have to 
start all over on learning but... hey I'm a Linux fan, I like to learn!

Many thanks and have a good day

Lorenzo Quatrini



More information about the CentOS mailing list