Everyday Virtualization

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Up to 32 Virtual CPUs with VirtualBox 3

Earlier this month when I checked in with VirtualBox, I was intentionally priming for the upcoming version 3 release. Currently in beta, version 3 offers what I believe is the highest virtual CPU count for a VM at 32 symmetric multiprocessors (SMP) for mainstream hypervisors using common Intel and AMD processors.

Version 3 is due out soon, probably this month and I am very excited to give it a try. I have been a long time VirtualBox user for select virtualization platforms and will keep you updated on the new version when it is released. The beta user guide has a full list of the new features available at the VirtualBox Web site.

Posted by Rick Vanover on 06/19/2009 at 9:31 AM


Reader Comments:

Fri, Jul 17, 2009 bj79 http://www.userful.com

A really interesting green computer technology I found is Userful Multiplier. It's where multiple people can use the same computer at the same time each with their own monitor, mouse and keyboard. This saves a lot of electricity and e-waste. A company called Userful recently set a virtualization world record by delivering over 350,000 virtual desktops to schools in Brazil. They have a free 2-user version for home use too. Check it out: http://www.userful.com

Tue, Jun 30, 2009 Rick Vanover Grand Rapids, MI

Thomas: Thank you. That is a good picture of what I thought.

I mention VirtualBox as well as other platforms. For some, VirtualBox is a production platform.

Feel free to email me with commentary on what you want in the Everyday Virtualization blog.

Tue, Jun 30, 2009 Thomas Germany

By "production virtualization" I mean the use of VBox for production systems (SQL,any DB, web services, etc). Something that is used by (a lot of) customers, co-workers, etc. Or in my case, I need multiple VMs running in parallel with different OSes, versions of particular software, simulations, etc for development, testing, and QA. These things should just run on the VM so that I can do the work I need to do. I have to rely on the VMs to do what they are supposed to do... That's what I meant :)

Sun, Jun 28, 2009 Rick Vanover Grand Rapids, MI

Thomas: Good point. I ask you - what is your definition of production virtualization?

I use vBox for my desktop virtualization platform on my notebook and for most situations in my private lab. I don't use it for server consolidation or VDI.

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 Thomas Germany

You keep mentioning VirtualBox in you colmns, so I would be very much interested for what primary purpose you/the readers are using it. I'm actually very disappointed by it, because from my experience (which goes back 2 quite some time now)each new release brought more problems than new features! Just a few of my issues: - VBox on OpenSolaris/Solarisx86 didn't support USB (dunno if now) - VBox 2.2 had major memory issues which prevented me from running more than 3 VMs smultaneously (which I could before) - VBox 2.2.4 keeps crashing/hanging for no obvious reasons so that I have to reboot my system to get rid of the VBox processes that run havoc - a lot of essential operations (see vboxmanage)need to be done on command line and are not integrated in the GUI, eg cloning of VMs. All in all I think that VBox is nice for playing but not for production! Thomas Kloeber

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 Rick Vanover Grand Rapids, MI

Hello Jose, VBox is a type 2 hypervisor.

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 Jose Mexico

VirtualBox is not a hypervisor as it requires an operating system to function

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