Dave's new laptop - Virtual PC or Virtual Server?
Well I'm running Vista, so my only options are Virtual PC 2007 or Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 (both of which are in beta - but also both very stable). They both support 64-bit hosts, so they're even so far.
Virtual PC runs all its virtual/guest machines in the same single thread. Virtual Server runs each guest in its own thread. So on my dual-core laptop, Virtual Server wins. Even though Virtual PC has some nice "easy of use" features, I have to go for the option that performs the best.
Virtual Server 2005 R2 offers me SCSI support and the ability to create clusters, both of which I will use. I can't say I really understand why a virtual SCSI disk is any quicker than a virtual IDE disk - but it is (if anyone knows, please share).
Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 (beta 2) offers me some new features (some of which I will also use):
- Hardware assisted virtualization
- Host clustering whitepaper
- Larger default size for dynamically expanding virtual hard disks
- Support for greater than 64 virtual machines on x64-based hosts
- Virtual SCSI fix for Linux guests
- Interoperability with Volume Shadow Copy Service
- VHD Mount command-line tool and APIs
- Support for hardware-assisted virtualization
- Service Publication using Active Directory Service Connection Points
- VMRC ActiveX control and Internet Explorer Security Zones
Let me get installing, and I'll let you know how I get on...
Dave.
