I have never said this. You are putting words in my mouth. In this case VMWare is probably easier.


Too bad that you answer questions you don't really have the knowledge of. If you would have known that VMWare is based on the linux kernel, then you wouldn't have made such a statement. Furthermore, not all applications written for linux are open source. Which application you use always depends on several things, e.g. support, costs and requirements. You should keep in mind that costs of an application are not only the license fees, but also maintenance (which has to be done by an administrator). Remember the abbreviation TCO? The best software doesn't mean the best solution.


For someone with no experience it is more difficult to configure all this, then answering a couple of questions.


That's what I stated. Please, read before you place a comment...

The OP wanted advice about what is the best solution. In general I would agree with your comment about the community. However regarding virtualization, you need some basic understanding to understand what the community is talking about. Not everybody wants to dive into the technical details. Some of the people around here just want simple advice. Added to that, people like you are making it difficult for inexperienced users.

I don't need your explanation. But people here have more benefits from a good advice, than some one who is preaching and on top of that most people don't need to be convinced that linux is a great product.

maybe for you.


are you certain you know where my knowledge starts and ends?

Have you seen the code for that kernel?

and what does this have to do with the fact that you are suggesting a closed product, in it's free form, meaning - no support, and no possibility to figure things out on your own?

right. if simple solutions are hard for you because they don't necessarily come with a GUI, then of course you are correct. but the last time I checked, free and open solutions had GUI management interfaces, just for the newbies who don't know the command line. This is the beauty of free software - it's free, you can use whatever tools you want, without caring about licenses.

What if tomorrow, the setup grows, the the OP needs to add another server, and will want to use live migration - throw away a 5 figure sum on licensing and lots of time on re-learning another virt solution? Wouldn't it be better to start off at the right foot?


it really sounds like you do.

seriously now, we all have our preferences, but when you offer a closed solution and say that it is the best for the purpose, be ready to face some criticism, especially here.

Not for me, for inexperienced people. Still not reading.



No, but you are not showing your understanding. Just because of the aggressive way you communicate.


Common on, my friend, you can't be this ignorant... Everybody can see the kernel. You can download it!!! This is just why you are so rude against me. To see that VMWare is open for discussion here, one hint was already given by the sticky note from Jeremy in this forum or the title of this forum for that matter.

Since when does it mean that free is no support? Actually most companies creating open source software, give their software away and get paid for service contracts. The company you talked about earlier (Red Hat) is using this business model for ages....


Again I am not talking about me personally, because I already told you that I am using Xen. Anyway, in my personal opinion the GUI's provided with OSS is often lacking the interest of the developer. I know you can disagree about this. But when I go to my customers, they usually have requirements that are not met by these GUI's. Most developers of server software don't like to build GUI's. And I don't blame them, I don't like to do that either. Fortunately that is not a problem for most people managing servers as they have a certain level of experience. To gain this experience you don't start on your company's server, but on a home server or a desktop.
In case the demand changes, which will not happen overnight I hope, you can still choose for a different solution. And it is good to think about. In my planning and architectures, I take in account that this can happen. Therefore you need to think about storage like SAN or about how to migrate VM's to a new hypervisor. But what if this machine is just used for developing software or a website? The way I understood the OP is that virtualization is not his core business, but a means to get his job done. I am not advocating closed source. Actually, now that the industry is moving to the cloud more and more I advise a lot more open source, then in the past. Still that doesn't mean that I don't search for the best solution for my customers. They will need to work with it! And really they don't care about idealism or the preferences of people like us. They only want the best solution for their problem. And solutions cannot be standardized. Everyone has different needs and has different approaches. My interpretation of the OP is that he doesn't care about the solution, but needs something that is easy to use.



Yes, sometimes I advise closed source applications, but just as much or maybe even more I advise open source solution. Just as I explained before. In this world nothing is black or white. There is always gray. And I don't might to be criticized, but I don't like people fighting like teenagers. Here they won't criticize you as this a forum regarding linux, not about open or closed source. They are just not the same. In my previous post I already told you that there is a lot of closed source software for linux as well.

I hope that in your next post you can treat me a bit more respectful with less flaming. I don't mind discussing these subjects as everyone has a different opinion, but I don't see the need for arguing.

Gents, thank you for all of your replies. I have yet to get my server up and running due to some issues with the Raid Card i currently have installed. It was working prior to shipping out the server to the Data Center but when it arrived it couldn't boot up or post. Not sure if it was damaged in transit or the person racking it screwed it up somehow. Either way I am very much PO'd right now. So in order to prevent further down time I've rented a dedicated server to get my project up and running while i wait to get my server back.
So not sure if this is the right place to ask this question but would anyone be willing to help me get all the components up and running? The server I rented is an Intel Quad 9400, with 8GB RAM, and 4x500GB HDD. I have 5 free IP's that come with it and so would like to set up 5 individual VM's running FFMPEG, RED5, Drupal, MYSQL, and one for dev purposes. But keep in mind i would like to use Centos 6 as the base OS.