What is a good way to have a Linux server with a robust virtual environment?

[kevdog]

Ubuntu Server vs FreeNAS?? Not really an equal comparison. FreeNAS is specifically meant to be a NAS thats its main purpose. However through incorporating the use jails and VMs -- FreeNAS essentially can be anything you want it to be. FreeNAS also runs with ZFS natively (Ubuntu looks like it will in the future). Idk, I'm not trying to argue since there are many ways to skin a cat, but I'm not sure how you could say Ubuntu Server is definitively better than FreeNAS for network storage.

Also on the subject of hypervisors -- the one thing I mentioned about delta backups and such --- it wasn't to say that's the only backup solution there is. What I like about Xen is that it can be run with Xen Orchestra which makes it very easy to manage things. By default I think Xen Orchestra has about 5-6 different backup options available, but since its run on CentOS, if you wanted I'm sure you could probably run whatever you wanted. I unfortunately do IT for a living -- if I did I probably would be exposed to so much more. For Home use however, I really like xcp-ng (open source version of Xen hypervisor) where I can virtualize my pfSense router and also virtualize Ubuntu which runs Xen Orchestra. Although I love working from the command line, managing a lot of VMs can sometimes be tricky so its nice that a GUI is available for things were options can be deployed rather rapidly and its easy to get a feel for whats going on.

I ran proxmox prior to xcp-ng. I didn't think the product was bad, however the documentation isn't all that great, and their forums are very inactive. Many of the user questions go unanswered. For someone not as technical with all the KVM stuff, I really didn't like it all that much.

[milesweb]

I'd like to have Linux-based server with a robust virtual platform, same as ESXI is for Windows. The hardware is a HP Server with 16GB of RAM, 1TB of hard drive and Intel XEON 3.7GHz.

The hosts are going to be sending/receiving Internet traffic and running some security applications (firewalls, IPS-intruder prevention systems...). The traffic will be also analyzed by a commercial tool similar to Wireshark.
Based on what I understood, I may consider these options:

1. Ubuntu Server + KVM + vSwitch
2. CentOS + KVM + vSwitch
3. CentOS + Xen + vSwitch
4. openSUse + KVM + vSwitch
5. Debian + KVM + vSwitch
6. oVirt?

What would be the best option for the applications I want to run?

They would all work quite well. Basically, the operating system is not that important; it's a matter of individual inclination, I'd tell. I don't have an idea about Xen. oVirt is a front-end to KVM with a more convenient administration of virtual machines, virtual networks, and virtual storage.

[kevdog]

I'd take a look at Xen Orchestra in relation to oVirt. Xen Orchestra is a program that can run on top of any linux installation that can manage clusters of Xen hypervisors or xcp-ng hypervisors. xcp-ng is the open source version of Xen. A lot of people in the these forums champion open-source so if they don't like Xen's closed nature they can run xcp-ng as an alternative. xcp-ng is a similar model to Ubuntu in that the product is free and they have a user forum. They also however provide a $$ service model for example if you're running many many machines and need professional help

[johnarnold]

Openstack itself is going to take a lot of your resources and is complex to setup and maintain so I wouldn't suggest that. For a single physical machine stick with something simple such as xcp-ng. Also, there is a free license for VMware ESXi if your physical server has 2 or less CPUs.