So Ive just got a new T20 Xeon and I'm deciding how to set things up.

On my old server I used Oracle VirtualBox to host a VM, its fine but not easy to manage.

Everyone talks about ESXi / VMware but I have no idea what it is.

Is it worth the effort to learn? I probably need 2 or 3 virtual machines.

Cheers!

Totally depends on your needs. ESXI isn't really an equivalent of Virtualbox - its a dedicated hypervisor that runs on its own Linux based operating system so requires a dedicated host box. The VMware equivalent to Virtualbox is VMware Workstation which you have to pay for, this will sit on top of an existing OS. I'm not really sure I'd call any of them easier than v.box though - whats the challenge your finding?

If its running on top of your usual OS (on your laptop) - stick to Virtualbox or consider HyperV. If you've got a dedicated bit of hardware sitting purely running the VM's I'd use ESXI.

P

Very useful, thanks.

I've put Win 7 on the server, my intention is to virtualise 2 or 3 environments within Win 7 to perform various tasks.

I've found virtual box difficult to manage remotely, probably just my setup but I cant access any services within a VM from outside it. The fact that it sits as a window has caused me issues with multiple sessions on the same PC unable to see the VMs.

I'd forgotten about Hyper V, I'll have a look at that. 

Looks like it I swap to Win Server 2008 I can run VMs in HyperV from there?

I've got Server 2008 on my Microserver so I should be able to work that out.

Go for it - HyperV on server 2008 is great I've got a substantial amount of our server estate at work running on it. Its been absolutely bulletproof for over 6 years.

Well, for the very poor reason that I couldnt find a USB stick, and I wanted to get going, Ive stuck with Win 7 with a few VMware instances.

If this doesnt prove stable enough I'll start over with Server 2008 and Hyper V.

Thanks for the assistance.