Who here virtualizes their servers?

So who here does this? Im currently using my m4400 for my everything server, but I need to add a few more server types and instead of setting up my old e6850 c2d danger den desktop in conjunction I was contemplating virtualizing the linux servers on a windows host and using the windows host as a local file server and video encoder. I fugure this way I can set the encoding I rarely do and forget it and still use the m4600 for work and not have each core maximized. Also the desktop will allow me to utilize all of my drives rather then have to spread them across multiple machines.

 

I Currently us my file server running Virtualbox with a web front end for VMs. Although im thinking of upgrading to a dedicated Visualization server here soon, plus rack mounting all my stuff so it may change.

 

I've tried various things ranging from extremely basic (Microsoft Virtual PC) to extremely complicated (ESXi on a whitebox) since I started consolidating my systems 5 years ago. For now I've settled on Xen on a Core i7 920 box. That said, there's a couple of things you might want to think about:

1) Is VM performance a concern? Type 2 hypervisors (Virtualbox, VMware Workstation, Windows XP Mode, etc.) aren't very efficient since they, by design, rely on a general-purpose OS's unoptimized scheduling algorithms.
2) If yes to #1, do you need the physical host machine to run a full-blown copy of Windows with access to the underlying hardware?
3) If yes to both #1 and #2, would you be OK with Hyper-V's restrictions?

 

Well the specs are from 2007ish:

Intel e6850 (pretty damn potent in its day)
Seagate Constellation enterprise drives x2 @ 1TB each (maybe 3 later)
WD green 2TB
Nvidia 7950GT

So yeah sure its not a high end system but with one core for a VM and the other for a basic windows file server Id be fine. Either way its still a more potent system then the dell precision m4400 Im using as a linux host with windows VM. Plus the advantage to running this box is I can have all of my drives as opposed to only 2 out of 4. Im going to re-test the virtualization on the rig before I yank down my current server. Im pretty sure ssh, ftp and http on a vm with VNC and file server tasks on the windows host. Testing to happen whenever I find the time.

 

Take a look at this article over at data center knowledge. It was posted today.
Hypervisor 101: Understanding the Virtualization Market

 

Yeah Im a "type 2" user. Hopefully tonight Ill find the time to setup and configure the VM tonight and do some testing.

 

Build Your Linux Virtual Dream Machine using HP Power Advisor

Recommended download: HP Power Advisor 2.2, needs Adobe Air 3.3 installed first.
Run the built in tutorial first, then build one. Small 1U size or an HP c7000 blade.
Note: HP Power Advisor 3.0 was Released, but is still under construction
The new version of the HP Power Advisor tool (v3.0) was released. The new version is built on .NET 4.0 and no longer requires users to download Adobe AIR. It also features an entirely new user interface which is intended to make the tool more user friendly.

You can download V2.2 or V3.X at HP Power Advisor.