Need a virtual machine program

JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
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.

Comments

  • RoguetadhgRoguetadhg Member Posts: 2,489 ■■■■■■■■□□
    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.
    In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
    TE Threads: How to study for the CCENT/CCNA, Introduction to Cisco Exams

  • JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I need to be able to install Windows Server 2008 R2 and join the Windows 7 machine(s) to an active directory as well.
  • RoguetadhgRoguetadhg Member Posts: 2,489 ■■■■■■■■□□
    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! :D
    In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
    TE Threads: How to study for the CCENT/CCNA, Introduction to Cisco Exams

  • JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Virtual box it is!
    Thanks

    I'll check it out. I was typing the other message just before you posted.
  • lsud00dlsud00d Member Posts: 1,571
    VMWare Player works good too.
  • ptilsenptilsen Member Posts: 2,835 ■■■■■■■■■■
    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.
    Working B.S., Computer Science
    Complete: 55/120 credits SPAN 201, LIT 100, ETHS 200, AP Lang, MATH 120, WRIT 231, ICS 140, MATH 215, ECON 202, ECON 201, ICS 141, MATH 210, LING 111, ICS 240
    In progress: CLEP US GOV,
    Next up: MATH 211, ECON 352, ICS 340
  • sratakhinsratakhin Member Posts: 818
    Windows 8 Pro with Hyper-V.
  • yoshiiakiyoshiiaki Member Posts: 48 ■■□□□□□□□□
    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.
    2013 Goals: [x] Sec+ [x] CCNA []Proj+ []OSCP
    2013 Stretch Goals: [] CCNA-Sec []Land Sec job
  • sratakhinsratakhin Member Posts: 818
    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
  • CodeBloxCodeBlox Member Posts: 1,363 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Virtualbox gets my vote :)
    Currently reading: Network Warrior, Unix Network Programming by Richard Stevens
  • PsoasmanPsoasman Member Posts: 2,687 ■■■■■■■■■□
    I used Virtual Box for my studies. Very easy to set up, snapshots are great for rolling back changes.
  • CodeBloxCodeBlox Member Posts: 1,363 ■■■■□□□□□□
    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...
    Currently reading: Network Warrior, Unix Network Programming by Richard Stevens
  • PsoasmanPsoasman Member Posts: 2,687 ■■■■■■■■■□
    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.
  • JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
    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.
  • sratakhinsratakhin Member Posts: 818
    It's your hard drive.
  • bdubbdub Member Posts: 154
    sratakhin wrote: »
    Windows 8 Pro with Hyper-V.

    Seconded! With the new dynamic memory enhancements its definitely the best free option.
  • JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
    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.
  • Teacher2013Teacher2013 Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I like to use Virtualbox.
  • jdancerjdancer Member Posts: 482 ■■■■□□□□□□
    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.
  • bdubbdub Member Posts: 154
    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.
  • ClaymooreClaymoore Member Posts: 1,637
    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.
  • JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
    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_hutchthe_hutch Banned Posts: 827
    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.
  • JasionoJasiono Member Posts: 896 ■■■■□□□□□□
    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
Sign In or Register to comment.