Virtualization for dummies

[Kevin Fenzi]

On Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:47:10 -0400
Sam Varshavchik <mrsam at courier-mta.com> wrote:

> I'm planning on taking a plunge into virtualization. I need to retire
> an ancient server, and I'm about to order a new kit to replace it.
> Given that it's new hardware, I expect to get something that supports
> hardware virtualization (it's going to be a real server, and not some 
> consumer-oriented kit from OEMs that bastardize the BIOS into
> disabling hardware virualization), so rather than setting aside a
> separate partition for Windows, I think I want to try to run it in a
> virtual instance.

Sounds reasonable. ;) 

> Hopefully, nobody will tell me that for some reason or another there
> would be some compatibility problem loading the original CD of Win XP
> Home, then updating it to the current SP3+all patches. Also, can
> someone clarify for me how the virtual display works -- would the
> virtual machine run in an ordinary window, or does it take the entire
> display, with a hotkey to flip between the virtual machine and the
> host OS.

It can do either, depending on which virtuilization product you use and
how you have it setup. 

With libvirt you can use a virt-viewer/virt-manager program that lets
you view it in a window, or go full screen. 

> Also, how does networking work. I'm guessing that the virtual machine
> would have an IP address on a separate netblock that the host OS sees
> as a virtual network interface, so the Fedora host will need to have
> IP forwarding enabled, and other machines on the real LAN segment
> will need an appropriate routing table entry.

Yes, you can do a routed setup, or you could do a bridged setup (so the
guest has an IP on the local network and appears just as another
machine). 

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Virtualization_Quick_Start

and

http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Networking

are a good place to start. ;) 

kevin
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