 JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | Virtualbox, vmware server 2.x, same machine Greetings.
I've become severely disillusioned with VMware Sever 2.x and it's CPU leaking bug that I'm looking at switching to VirtualBox.
I know that it's possible to automagically start VM's on boot, and there is a project for a web interface for the server. What I'm wondering is if it's possible to run the latest vbox and vmware server on the same machine at the same time to make migration from one to the other just that much easier.
Server is currently running Debian Lenny x64 with VMWare server 2.0.2 build 203138
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All hardware sucks, all software sucks, some just suck more than others |
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| I haven't read anything that says you cant. Settings might be tricky though. Virtualbox is a quick install, so I think you should just try it. |
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | said by DJStarfox:I haven't read anything that says you cant. Settings might be tricky though. Virtualbox is a quick install, so I think you should just try it. Me neither. Either my google-fu was weak when I was looking around or it can be done.
Yes, it's a quick install and yes, I am tempted :-D, but the last thing I want to do is disrupt the current VM's.
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All hardware sucks, all software sucks, some just suck more than others |
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 jdongEat A Beaver, Save A Tree.Premium
join:2002-07-09
Rochester, MI
kudos:1 | reply to JTC
CPU leaking bug? |
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | said by jdong:CPU leaking bug? Yep.
Seems to be limited to windows and linux guests running kernel 2.6.x, so far anyway.
Check »communities.vmware.com/message/1···#1327547
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jdongEat A Beaver, Save A Tree.Premium
join:2002-07-09
Rochester, MI
kudos:1 | Hah well if you're seeking low CPU usage, VirtualBox SUCKS at this. Even something like watch top within a VM generates obscene spikes of 20% CPU on the host the last time I used it. In fact I switched to VMWare *from* virtualbox when I ran a mini-VPS.
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | said by jdong:Hah well if you're seeking low CPU usage, VirtualBox SUCKS at this. Even something like watch top within a VM generates obscene spikes of 20% CPU on the host the last time I used it. In fact I switched to VMWare *from* virtualbox when I ran a mini-VPS. It's not so much the CPU usage, but that fact that the UI blows huge donkey phallis (phalli?) and that the CPU/load 'leaks' over time. Look at some of the graphs posted there, that's all but obscene. And VMWare has been dead silent on the problem, even though it's painfully obvious there is a problem.
At least, I've never heard of vbox having any type of problem like this. ESXi may not have this issue as well, but I don't like the lack of management tools that don't run on a *NIX system and the proprietary filesystem it uses.
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All hardware sucks, all software sucks, some just suck more than others |
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If this is a critical production system, then yes, you should test out this scenario on a test machine first. Don't forget you'll need the kernel-headers and c++ compiler installed on the host to install VirtualBox. Really, you need a different machine (but very similar hardware) to do a proper migration. There's no getting around some downtime in your scenario. Ideally, you'd have a test box be the temporary machine hosting VMWare VMs while you reconfigure the primary machine. |
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | said by DJStarfox:If this is a critical production system, then yes, you should test out this scenario on a test machine first. Don't forget you'll need the kernel-headers and c++ compiler installed on the host to install VirtualBox. Really, you need a different machine (but very similar hardware) to do a proper migration. There's no getting around some downtime in your scenario. Ideally, you'd have a test box be the temporary machine hosting VMWare VMs while you reconfigure the primary machine. Agreed on all points. I know there will be down time, but being able to simply copy/image a virtual disk from one filesystem to another locally is much preferable to having to throw several gigs of data across the wire.
Unfortunately, I don't have the funds or spare kit laying around to build a scratch monkey for this (otherwise I wouldn't even be considering doing it this way), so I figured I would ask and see if anyone has tried it and if so, does it work well enough to get the job done. 
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All hardware sucks, all software sucks, some just suck more than others |
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pabloMVM
join:2003-06-23
kudos:1 | reply to jdong
said by jdong:Hah well if you're seeking low CPU usage, VirtualBox SUCKS at this. Even something like watch top within a VM generates obscene spikes of 20% CPU on the host the last time I used it. In fact I switched to VMWare *from* virtualbox when I ran a mini-VPS. Hi,
I use VirtualBox and on my Windows VM's, I don't see any huge consumption of CPU while the VM is relatively idle. I've seen in some lists people reporting high CPU though. Did you ever look at the VBox FAQ which mentions a potential work-around: »www.virtualbox.org/wiki/User_FAQ - see Tickless Linux timer.
Cheers,
-pablo
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openSUSE 11.1/.2;KDE/Xfce
ISP: TekSavvy DSL; backhauled via a 6KM wireless link |
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pabloMVM
join:2003-06-23
kudos:1 | reply to JTC
Hi,
I believe VBox can work with VMware's virtual disks. It may attempt to convert them but I'm not entirely sure as I tend to ignore information about migrating from VMware.
What I'm getting at is you wouldn't need to run both simultaneously ...
Cheers,
-pablo
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openSUSE 11.1/.2;KDE/Xfce
ISP: TekSavvy DSL; backhauled via a 6KM wireless link |
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | RE: nohz=off
Hmm, I think that's been tried by someone, but of course I can't seem to find the post. I'll give it a shot, can't hurt I guess.
As for vbox and vmware vdisks, I know vbox can read them, which is why I was wondering about running them at the same time.
On my setup, being able to take them down and back up one at a time is highly preferred over taking everything down then back up.
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All hardware sucks, all software sucks, some just suck more than others |
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pabloMVM
join:2003-06-23
kudos:1 | Hi,
There was also this gem in the FAQ: `modprobe vboxdrv force_async_tsc=1'
Cheers,
-pablo
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openSUSE 11.1/.2;KDE/Xfce
ISP: TekSavvy DSL; backhauled via a 6KM wireless link |
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jdongEat A Beaver, Save A Tree.Premium
join:2002-07-09
Rochester, MI
kudos:1 | reply to JTC
»www.virtualbox.org/ticket/894
I'm not quite interested in playing the workaround game. All I'm saying is a heads-up that with the same set of virtual machine guests, similar workloads in the guests in my experience have translated to higher CPU usage on the host in VirtualBox compared to VMWare Server. I didn't investigate too much into possible workarounds, I'm not saying that this is a flaw of virtualbox with any level of confidence.
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | Hmm, this looks similar to the vmware server 2.x problem in a way. The difference is that under VMWare the CPU usage on the host grows to crazy levels over time, vs VBox it's high to begin with, but doesn't seem to grow.
However, there does seem to be activity on fixing the issue vs vmware apparently ignoring their issue.
Damned if I do and damned if I don't, eh?
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jdongEat A Beaver, Save A Tree.Premium
join:2002-07-09
Rochester, MI
kudos:1 | Heh "activity" "fixing" and "ignoring" are all perceived effects, IMO.
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pabloMVM
join:2003-06-23
kudos:1 | reply to JTC
Plus that ticket is on a VirtualBox 1.5.[246], is closed and the current version of VBox is 3.1.4
I'd say give it a shot and see what happens. No sense in being a `nervous nelly' ... no harm no foul really to simply give it a shot.
Cheers,
-pablo
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openSUSE 11.1/.2;KDE/Xfce
ISP: TekSavvy DSL; backhauled via a 6KM wireless link |
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jdongEat A Beaver, Save A Tree.Premium
join:2002-07-09
Rochester, MI
kudos:1 | said by pablo:I'd say give it a shot and see what happens. No sense in being a `nervous nelly' ... no harm no foul really to simply give it a shot. Completely agreed.
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JTCAlways Mount A Scratch Monkey
join:2002-01-09
USA | said by jdong:said by pablo:I'd say give it a shot and see what happens. No sense in being a `nervous nelly' ... no harm no foul really to simply give it a shot. Completely agreed. ...unless it takes down the VM subsystem, taking out a subversion server that is used by multiple community run coding projects that has devs across the globe...
which is what I have. Granted, I'm providing it free of charge, but still, I don't want to take a chance with data that isn't mine. So, I'm being paranoid about the whole thing. 
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pabloMVM
join:2003-06-23
kudos:1 | said by JTC:...unless it takes down the VM subsystem, taking out a subversion server that is used by multiple community run coding projects that has devs across the globe... Hi,
Paranoid is a Good Thing [tm] when dealing with a Production(-like) environment. In this situation, I'd copy the VDI('s) and try them with VirtualBox as well. Depending on which VM you start first, you may not get hardware-level optimization (e.g. VT-x/AMD-V and/or Nested Paging) but you should get a pretty good idea of how things work (or not! with VBox.
Cheers,
-pablo
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openSUSE 11.1/.2;KDE/Xfce
ISP: TekSavvy DSL; backhauled via a 6KM wireless link |
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