Need a virtual machine program

I need a VM for my microsoft studies so I can lab in them.

What is the best one out there? What would I be looking for? I'm lost.

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Roguetadhg

I use Virtualbox, works great. I boot three Win7 machines, and used to have different Linux Distros (Mint/Debian)

I used to use VirtualPC 2001? Something like that. It was MS' offering into the virtual space for a while.

Jasiono

I need to be able to install Windows Server 2008 R2 and join the Windows 7 machine(s) to an active directory as well.

Roguetadhg

I've never had any issues with VirtualBox. It took everything I threw at it, and it's free. If it doesn't work, then my suggestion sucks!

Jasiono

Virtual box it is!
Thanks

I'll check it out. I was typing the other message just before you posted.

lsud00d

VMWare Player works good too.

ptilsen

I prefer VirtualBox to non-hypervisor alternatives. VMWare Player and Workstation have not shown me any real advantage over VirtualBox, and I've had more problems with them.

sratakhin

Windows 8 Pro with Hyper-V.

yoshiiaki

virtualbox, vmware player, or hyper-v if you have win8 are all free. vmware workstation costs. The only problem I have had is when trying to boot via usb on virtualbox I typically get some problems. Only way is to use plop boot manager and even then it doesn't always work. Where as vmware does it all fine. I run virtualbox on my linux machine and vmware workstation on my desktop. I have no idea why they charge for workstation, as it's not any better than the free alternatives. Other than that, I've never had a problem that wasn't fixable within the settings of the programs, ie; any problem I encountered was just misconfiguration on my end.

sratakhin

Not better? I doubt that you could do something like this on any of the free alternatives:
Installing Citrix VDI-in-a-Box in VMWare Workstation 8

CodeBlox

Virtualbox gets my vote

Psoasman

I used Virtual Box for my studies. Very easy to set up, snapshots are great for rolling back changes.

CodeBlox

But they take up soooo much space after while and it seems like once I start using them on a VM, the VM won't stop getting larger and larger...

Psoasman

CodeBlox wrote: »

But they take up soooo much space after while and it seems like once I start using them on a VM, the VM won't stop getting larger and larger...

That's true. At one point when I had over 10 servers, I had to put in a bigger drive. I do most of my labbing at work, so extra equipment is always available for testing.

Jasiono

Keeps freezing on me.

My whole computer keeps freezing, very often. I dropped the damn thing once when I was returning it to the basement after the hurricane, and ever since then, after I boot up and start a program, it freezes.

I need to reseat everything I believe.

sratakhin

It's your hard drive.

bdub

sratakhin wrote: »

Windows 8 Pro with Hyper-V.

Seconded! With the new dynamic memory enhancements its definitely the best free option.

Jasiono

sratakhin wrote: »

It's your hard drive.

Good thing I have an SSD on stand by.

When I log into my admin account everything works fine though. I'll end up grabbing all my stuff through that account, transferring the OS to the ssd and buying an internal to use as a slave and programs that don't need the speed.

Teacher2013

I like to use Virtualbox.

jdancer

Anyone know if Windows 8 Hyper-V client can support nested virtual machines like VMWare? According to online searches, it does not. This is the only reason I'm running VMWare for it's nesting capabilities.

bdub

jdancer wrote: »

Anyone know if Windows 8 Hyper-V client can support nested virtual machines like VMWare? According to online searches, it does not. This is the only reason I'm running VMWare for it's nesting capabilities.

Well I'm sure you could run virtualbox or vmware player on a VM that is running on hyper-v but you cannot install the hyper-v role on a VM.

Claymoore

I recommend you go with something that you will use down the road in your career, so that means Hyper-V or VMWare workstation. You aren't going to walk into many datacenters and see huge numbers of servers hosted in Virtualbox. Working with Hyper-V or VMWare while you lab is like doubling up on your studies - you are learning the virtualization technology while you are studying something else. If you are pursing multiple MS certs I recommend Hyper-V since you will have questions regarding Hyper-V on the exams. If you use VMWare at work or you are considering a VCP in the future, start with VMWare workstation. You really can't go wrong with either.

I used to dual-boot with Windows 7 and 2008R2 with Hyper-V for testing. Now I am running Windows 8 and using Client Hyper-V. It's working great so far and I got some drive space back by getting rid of the 2008 R2 boot vhd.

Jasiono

Claymoore,

Thanks for that awesome suggestion. I didn't even think about that.

I'm going to dual boot my computer with windows 7 and 8 so I can use 8 for hyper-v, and have 7 for other things.

the_hutch

I've worked with both, and have had better experience with Virtualbox than VMware. I would however, recommend that if you go the VirtualBox route, configure it to work with VHD format (Virtual Hard Disk). VHD is more cross compatible with other software utilities to manage VMs.

Jasiono

I'll use VHDs eventually. Studying for the 70-680. I need to lab my ass off for it since it's what killed me on the exam