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Is this possible with virtual machines?

J

jsteinm1

Weaksauce
Joined
May 8, 2011
Messages
101
I'm wanting to get some virtual servers setup, but I'm not sure if what I have in mind is possible. I have a desktop computer with a ton more horsepower than I typically need (most intensive thing is BF3). I am wanting to run a server in my house for some files, domain controller, and offload some work from my HTPC computer. I want to do this on my desktop computer, but I don't want to set it up with a host/guest OS. Is it possible to use something like VMWare Hypervisor to create the two machines on my computer and then run my Windows 7 VM as if it was a desktop computer? Will that work well since I play video games or not well at all? Is there a better way?

My second idea was to just run a server as a guest on my desktop and forget about the domain controller aspect. If I have to do that, is there a way to get a VM to run completely in the background so if I need to connect to it I can just do so though remote desktop?


EDIT: Also considering adding an 8 bay RAID tower in the future for more storage if that would affect my setup. Or if it sounds like I should just add another machine I'm open for suggestions.
 
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Forget running ESXi and running a Windows VM for video games. Your best option is to use a type 2 hypervisor. You can get VMware Workstation which works very well.

I was in the same boat as you a couple of years back and it worked great. Then I realized that I don't really have time for games any longer, sold my beefy desktop and bought server class hardware to run a Type 1 hypervisor, ESXi.
 
I'm somewhat familiar with VMWare from work, there we use workstation, player, and vSphere. The type 2 that you mention, does that mean a host OS level like workstation and player, type 1 being machine level like hypervisor? Would using workstation just be like my option two of running a VM in the background of my host?
 
If you have a gaming box, I suggest that's a bad choice for a VM host. You'll burn lots of power even at idle compared to a dedicated low processor box like a microserver. You'll likely use in the neighorhood of 300 watts at the low power setting. In comparison, an Atom based server with a single hard drive will use only about 40 watts or you could get a HP Micro server with 4 bays that will use a little more.

For desktop vms, I think it's hard to beat Virtual Box.
 
My rig runs round the clock anyway, I don't use a sleep mode so I'm fine with the power consumption.

As for the software, I'd prefer to stick with VMWare since I use it at work, however I'm open to others. What I do want is one that runs entirely in the background. I don't want something open on screen that could be closed by someone else on accident. Do these pieces of software mentioned have that? Bonus: would be they are able to open and run before a user logs into the Host OS.
 
If you really want to use this computer as a sever as well, first check to make sure it has ether vt-d or IOMMU (Intel/AMD dependent). if it does then you could run xen, it is a bare metal hyper visor that runs under linux (domU), you could then use GPU Pass through to give a VM Guest (Dom0) running windows access to the GPU directly. People do this to create multi head gaming rigs where they have 2 or more people playing games on it, each with a dedicated GPU. the Gaming VM will have little to no performance hit, so long as the other VMs are not hogging all the HDD IO, Memory, or CPU.

This will work but like others have suggested, it would be far better to get a low power server for visualization and just keep them separated, your power bill will thank you.
 
I would just load up virtualbox on your Windows install. It's the cheapest solution and it should work fairly well. Using any type of bare metal hypervisor you are going to be losing performance for your games, and having to deal with general oddities. Xen might work okay but unless you have VT-d support it's a moot point. (If you have an unlocked CPU, you do not have VT-d) You can purchase VMWare Workstation if it's more comfortable for your usage.

As for the power consumption it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. If you're already running your box 24/7 then obviously adding another box is only going to increase the bill. With an i7 2600k OC'ed paired with a HD5870 I'm pulling under 130W on idle. It's actually under 100W if the CPU is stock voltage and could downclock. (Runs at 4.2ghz all the time)

@Druneau: That Vbox service setup is nifty. That is probably the best free solution.
 
From personal experience, a primary workstation shouldn't run domain services and things like that. You're better off putting all that stuff on another machine. I use my main rig for virtualization, but only for development and other temporarily on VM's.
 
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