Dual Boot Vs. Virtualization

BlackBeret

It's been a while since I've considered this and most articles on it are fairly old. Once upon a time virtualization wasn't as mature as it is now and dual-booting was often a better option for performance if you wanted to run multiple OS's. It seems now that everyone virtualizes everything and doesn't consider dual-booting anymore.

I'm wondering how much is lost in virtualization when it comes to certain things. Even with VMware tools installed I have some linux machines that I can't get the display options to show properly. I know that each guest is limited to what resources I give it access to. I don't know how much slower it accesses resources like the hard drive, RAM, CPU, etc. 3D display never seems to work properly when originating in the VM. I haven't even tried to get CUDA working from within a VM.


Does VMware or another site maintain a list of performance comparisons between standard OS, Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors? Does anyone else have things that have been compared or ways of benchmarking this?

beads

If you have a really beefy machine VM workstation can handle most needs. CUDA has been a problem in the past haven't tried lately. So enter at your own risk.

Keep in mind that VMs generally emulate one CPU even on mult-core machines. So some things just don't work well or at all. For example if your testing general malware you can assume 30 percent are VM aware and will not run in a VM environment.

Video intensive applications generally don't work well in VM environments as they tend to need full access to the physical bridge itself (PCI, NIC, etc).

Memory can be an issue as well, if you have an app that really wants or needs all 16GB available, etc.

In the end it all depends on how much raw power do you have and how much you really need. A little like the security manta: Security is a trade off to convenience. High security is generally less convenient to deal with.

- b/eads

GreaterNinja

I'd say the biggest bottleneck of VMs until recently has been GPU/video intensive applications such as CAD, ANSYS, Bitcoin mining, Script mining, etc. I would still guess that there are still incompatibilities. As far as dual booting, I no longer see a need with type 1 and 2 hypervisors. And if absolutely necessary, a VM can be converted back to physical via imaging software or a converter. Consequently, dual boot can be enabled. However, I don't see much of a use for it anymore unless its a must-have primary OS for yourself.

examples: gaming, war mode, applications