[Lancaster] PC virtualisation

[Ken Hough]

Since Martyn's and Richards comments about software for virtualisation, I've 
been doing some digging (sorry, research :-) )

To begin with I installed VirtualBox under 64 bit SuSE Linux v11.0. I got 
Mythubuntu installed from a DVD, but not working all of my hardware, and Win 
XP installed, again not with all of my hardware. eg, I haven't yet got USB 
working. I need to spend some more time on this.

I did test out what Richard stated wrt 64 bit virtualisation not being 
included and as expected, the system blew a rasberry and stated clearly that 
I couldn't run a 64 bit OS on a 32 bit (virtual) machine.

SUSE Linux includes Xen. Martyn suggested that Xen is more suited to server 
operation. It does have an advantage in that that as of v3.0, 64 bit 
operation is supported.

The site at: <http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenFaq> states that:

"The paravirtualized approach we use to get such high performance has not been 
usable directly for Windows to date. However Xen 3.0 added Intel VT-x support 
to enable the running of unmodified guest operating systems, including 
Windows XP & 2003 Server, using hardware virtualization technology. Xen 3.0.2 
and later support AMD Pacifica technology as well. Check to see if your CPU 
is among the list of HVM Compatible Processors, and if your motherboard is 
among the list of HVM Compatible Motherboards."

and

"Xen currently runs only on the x86 architecture, requiring a "P6" or newer 
processor (that's any Intel or AMD x86 CPU purchased in the last five years). 
Multiprocessor machines are supported, including basic support for 
Hyper-Threading (SMT). Support for x86/64 is available since Xen 3.0. In 
addition a port to the IA64 architecture is approaching completion. We hope 
to add other architectures such as PPC and ARM in due course."

From a brief look at some of the Xen documentation, I guess that Xen would be 
more complicated to set up than say VirtualBox, but the possibilities seem to 
be greater for Xen.

Ken hough