ClientAlive
May 9th, 2011, 08:11 AM
Hi,
Lately I've been contemplating a certain project for my computer. I was wondering how you would approach something like this if you were doing it. So I thought maybe I could present my ideas and get some takes on it.
In a nutshell I was thinking it would be nice to run everything (even my daily, bread and butter o/s) in a virtual machine. So first off I guess a guy would be faced with two options: (a) Run a vm that runs as a layer on top of another o/s; or (b) run a bare metal vm.
Personally, I think that a bare metal vm would be better but I think there is a harder learning curve with that and I'm not sure how 'up for it' I am. Also, I'm not sure if running a bare metal vm removes the advantage of safety if you break Linux in there.
On the other hand, running a vm that sits on top of another o/s may require more work to set up; and, to be honest, probably a lot of learning to do with that too (just in a different area) - you'll see what I mean in a minute.
So I'll do my best to share what I'm thinking with regard to the vm that runs on top of a host o/s. That's about as far as I think I'll get since I don't really know anything about the bare metal ones.
So If I were to go with something like Virtual Box I would want to run a host o/s that was extremely extremely stripped down. I mean, like, what . . . a kernel, bash, whatever utils the vm needs to run and that the host o/s needs to maintain, maybe a couple reliable text editors like nano and vim and thats about it.
No gui, maybe not even any desktop environment (since no gui anyway); so no gnome, no kde no xfce, none of that. Certainly nothing like compiz. No special graphics. no apps, no nuthin' - not on the host o/s. Just absolute bare bones minimal - using hardly any system resources at all.
So that, then Virtual Box on top, then whatever o/s or o/ses I want to run in the vm. Problem is I'm not sure I know what to look for. I would consider compiling the kernel, patches, and whatever else needs to go into it but I would still need some starting point before I could even approach that. I can find material on how to carry it out just not sure what parts and pieces I'd need to acquire to put into it.
Then there's the whole micro kernel thing. What about that?
As far as a bare metal vm. I find that more attractive from an ignorant (read: simple lack of knowledge) sort of standpoint. Just that it's another thing I'd at least need a jumping off point to get started learning about it. I hear VM Ware is a bare metal vm. Seems like I've heard the name Itanium but not sure if it is a commercial, paid, or even server type vm.
Any ideas folks? Assuming you had determined to do something like this with your computer - how would you do it?
Lately I've been contemplating a certain project for my computer. I was wondering how you would approach something like this if you were doing it. So I thought maybe I could present my ideas and get some takes on it.
In a nutshell I was thinking it would be nice to run everything (even my daily, bread and butter o/s) in a virtual machine. So first off I guess a guy would be faced with two options: (a) Run a vm that runs as a layer on top of another o/s; or (b) run a bare metal vm.
Personally, I think that a bare metal vm would be better but I think there is a harder learning curve with that and I'm not sure how 'up for it' I am. Also, I'm not sure if running a bare metal vm removes the advantage of safety if you break Linux in there.
On the other hand, running a vm that sits on top of another o/s may require more work to set up; and, to be honest, probably a lot of learning to do with that too (just in a different area) - you'll see what I mean in a minute.
So I'll do my best to share what I'm thinking with regard to the vm that runs on top of a host o/s. That's about as far as I think I'll get since I don't really know anything about the bare metal ones.
So If I were to go with something like Virtual Box I would want to run a host o/s that was extremely extremely stripped down. I mean, like, what . . . a kernel, bash, whatever utils the vm needs to run and that the host o/s needs to maintain, maybe a couple reliable text editors like nano and vim and thats about it.
No gui, maybe not even any desktop environment (since no gui anyway); so no gnome, no kde no xfce, none of that. Certainly nothing like compiz. No special graphics. no apps, no nuthin' - not on the host o/s. Just absolute bare bones minimal - using hardly any system resources at all.
So that, then Virtual Box on top, then whatever o/s or o/ses I want to run in the vm. Problem is I'm not sure I know what to look for. I would consider compiling the kernel, patches, and whatever else needs to go into it but I would still need some starting point before I could even approach that. I can find material on how to carry it out just not sure what parts and pieces I'd need to acquire to put into it.
Then there's the whole micro kernel thing. What about that?
As far as a bare metal vm. I find that more attractive from an ignorant (read: simple lack of knowledge) sort of standpoint. Just that it's another thing I'd at least need a jumping off point to get started learning about it. I hear VM Ware is a bare metal vm. Seems like I've heard the name Itanium but not sure if it is a commercial, paid, or even server type vm.
Any ideas folks? Assuming you had determined to do something like this with your computer - how would you do it?