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Virtual Machines: Setup and Benefits

The document discusses using virtual machines and provides information on basics of virtualization, why virtual machines are used, prerequisites for using virtual machines, networking options, and tips for better performance of virtual machines.

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tomypandu laksana
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35 views7 pages

Virtual Machines: Setup and Benefits

The document discusses using virtual machines and provides information on basics of virtualization, why virtual machines are used, prerequisites for using virtual machines, networking options, and tips for better performance of virtual machines.

Uploaded by

tomypandu laksana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Using Virtual Machines

Ole Marggraf

AIfA

Tech Seminar – 05 XII 2014


Basics

Virtualization defines a framework to run an OS within an OS.

Most common solutions today, using full hardware virtualization

Userlevel
I VMWare (commercial), VMWare Player free for private use
I VirtualBox (installed on AIfA workstations)
I available on all OSs

System level
I KVM (runs unmodified system)
I Xen (runs system under own ”Xen kernel”)
Why?
I Run another OS, without full installation on harddisk
(Windows on Linux, Linux on Windows, Linux on MacOS,
etc.)
I Run another distribution or OS Version
(Scientific Linux on Ubuntu, Windows XP on Windows 7,
etc.)
I Run an older/newer version of your distribution
(Ubuntu 8.04 on Ubuntu 14.04, ...)
I Today, even nesting is possible (within limits)
(Windows XP on Debian 8 on Ubuntu 14.04, ...)

I Test different setups quickly


I Can create snapshots to revert back to
I For distributing pre-configured system
Prerequisites

I Low demand on hardware


(typically, overhead by VM engine is <5%), but memory
may be an issue
I Some, like KVM, require special kernel functions for
efficient hardware access
check with cat /proc/cpuinfo for Kernel flags vmx
(Intel) or svm (AMD)
may need activation in BIOS (look for ∼AMD-V/IntelVT)
I VMWare/Virtualbox should run out of the box on any PC
today
Networking

Different networking variants possible

Typically
I NAT (easiest in most cases):
host provides internal DHCP address,
does local NAT mapping to outside world
(comparable to DSL router at home)
I bridged (if fixed IP required):
host passes guest network traffic through to ethernet
device
guest does not see host network, needs to care for
network setup itself (fix IP, DHCP, ...)
I other variants...
For better performance

I Always (!!!) use a local disk for the VM disk image


I Leave some memory to the host system
(on 4GB, leave ∼2GB)
I If possible, use paravirtualized interfaces (aka virtio) for
disk and ethernet
(can be set in the VM configuration)
Careful with disk interface: VM internal device names may
change (sda → vda)
I Install “guest additions” (VirtualBox) / “VMWare Tools”
(VMWare)
Now, let’s play...

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