Virtualbox - 64-bit or 32-bit guests?

tuxgirl · 01-15-2010, 07:31 PM

I've got an ubuntu 64-bit host running virtualbox. I want to setup several linux guests which will only have 1 or 2 GB of RAM. Is there any reason to to install the guests with a 64-bit OS, or can I install 32-bit and not notice any difference?

Thanks in advance!

kirukan · 01-15-2010, 08:50 PM

64bit hardware will support 32bit operating system, hope you can run 32bit guest operating systems

GrapefruiTgirl · 01-15-2010, 08:58 PM

@ tuxgirl -- I've moved your thread to the "Virtualization" area, as it seems to fit better here.

Sasha

lupusarcanus · 01-16-2010, 01:26 AM

Virtualbox has it's own set of drivers and firmware that the host OS uses to virtualize guests. These virtual drivers support 64-BIT OS'es but can just as easily support 32-BIT as well. Just like you can on a real computer.

tuxgirl · 01-17-2010, 03:18 PM

Thank you for the response, but that wasn't quite what I was after. I can run 32-bit guests.

What I'm looking for is what sort of performance difference would I see, if my guest is only using 1GB or less of RAM, running a 32-bit guest versus a 64-bit guest.

I had previously setup the BIOS for 64-bit virtualization, but it still doesn't seem to work, despite being able to grep vmx in /proc/cpuinfo. It tells me "This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU. Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU."
uname -a: Linux foo 2.6.28-17-server #58-Ubuntu SMP Tue Dec 1 22:13:36 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I suspect that I need to turn the computer off for a bit rather than just rebooting. As it is very difficult (though not impossible) to access the BIOS again to troubleshoot anything, I am wondering how much of a difference running a 32-bit guest (ubuntu server w/apache) would make versus 64-bit, any?

Thanks!

lupusarcanus · 01-17-2010, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuxgirl

Thank you for the response, but that wasn't quite what I was after. I can run 32-bit guests.

What I'm looking for is what sort of performance difference would I see, if my guest is only using 1GB or less of RAM, running a 32-bit guest versus a 64-bit guest.

I had previously setup the BIOS for 64-bit virtualization, but it still doesn't seem to work, despite being able to grep vmx in /proc/cpuinfo. It tells me "This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU. Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU."
uname -a: Linux foo 2.6.28-17-server #58-Ubuntu SMP Tue Dec 1 22:13:36 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I suspect that I need to turn the computer off for a bit rather than just rebooting. As it is very difficult (though not impossible) to access the BIOS again to troubleshoot anything, I am wondering how much of a difference running a 32-bit guest (ubuntu server w/apache) would make versus 64-bit, any?

Thanks!

Unless your guest is going to have more than 4 GB of RAM, you will see no difference in performance.

asifh.sayed · 08-30-2011, 12:58 AM

Hello sir,

i getting the error when i installation of VM box in xp (This kernal requires an x86-64 cpu, but only detected an i686 cpu unable to boot- please use a kernal appropriate for your cpu ls help me what i do now

please use kernel appropriate for your cpu in xp

asifh.sayed · 08-30-2011, 01:02 AM

Hello sir,

i getting the error when i installation of VM box in xp (This kernal requires an x86-64 cpu, but only detected an i686 cpu unable to boot- please use a kernal appropriate for your cpu ls help me what i do now

jefro · 08-30-2011, 04:02 PM

You should post new questions instead of confusing old topics maybe.

Get the 32 bit app.