[mdlug] Moving to Debian 64bit - Lessons Learned?

[Joseph C. Bender]

Robert Adkins wrote:
>   I think that there is another Open Source Virtual Machine package out
> there too. I don't recall the name at the moment, if I have some time later,
> I'll look it up.
 >
	There's KVM, which is somewhat Xen based, but really requires the 
processor extensions (AMD-V or VT) being available and on in order for 
that to work.

>   You will not be able to get decent quality performance for 3D
> Applications, from what I understand. There has been some serious work
> towards making that possible though.
> 
	Yes, great leaps and bounds on that have been made.  VMware workstation 
(the pay-for) has had DirectX support for a little while, but 
performance is still nowhere near where it would be with the application 
running natively.  VirtualBox does great with 2D, still really slow with 
3D without a AMD-V/VT extension environment.

	Fully native access to the raw devices themselves, including the 
graphics subsystems won't be prevalent until machines capable of the 
recently released IOMMU specs by AMD and Intel hit the market.

>   Intel and AMD both have features in their newer multi-core processors
> designed specifically for VM applications. These need to be activated in the
> BIOS and supposedly, with a properly written VM host application, the VM can
> access the underlying hardware in the PC and utilize accelerated 3D
> Graphics.
> 
	Yes.  This is the previously mentioned VT extensions.  It does have to 
be turned on in the BIOS, and for virtualization, it really, really 
helps.  These extensions are what make running Windows in Xen work 
correctly without resorting to a pile of gross ugly workarounds.	


>   I have only started reading about this as being a feature built into the
> new Microsoft Virtual Machine software that is designed to be
> used/integrated with Windows 7 Ultimate Edition. I think that I may actually
> have that feature in my rig and I have been playing with the 64-bit Win7
> Ultimate and will be giving that a look. 
 >
	This isn't just for Microsoft products.

	Xen uses the AMD-V or VT extensions.
	
	The recent versions of VirtualBox can use the AMD-V or VT extensions 
(though it has to be turned on in the config to work).
	
	For desktop virtualization these days, I highly recommend VirtualBox, 
especially if you have newer AMD-V/VT capable hardware.  You can't beat 
free, and I've been very pleased with the performance of it, and I've 
been a long-time VMWare user.

-JCB