Linux KVM Virtualization

**JFSG** · #1 05-23-2009, 03:34 AM

KVM seems to be getting more popular. Any idea about its features? Is it better than Xen?

http://whois.domaintools.com/linux-kvm.org

**RavC** · #2 05-23-2009, 04:15 AM

I believe, but open to corrections, KVM is essentially a module that adds virtualisation features to the Linux kernel. An advantage of that is the 'hypervisor' is essentially Linux and so has a robust and mature foundation. There is also a userspace/emulation part of this for running the VMs.

Definitely it is advancing rapidly, and if you didn't know will supersede Xen in the next version of Red Hat Linux. At 6sync we have been experimenting with KVM, but it requires some infrastructure modifications and we feel a little more maturity so there is no rush. Definitely I would expect VPS providers, well some of them anyway

, to be evaluating KVM.

I am most impressed with the progress BlueRoom Hosting have made with it as they are using it in production: http://blueroomhosting.com/technology.pxl

**JFSG** · #3 05-23-2009, 04:28 AM

Thanks for your post. I know about RH's decision regarding Xen & KVM, however, KVM is so young(<1yr old), so I'm not sure if there are much people who are familiar with it...

So it is better than Xen?

I can't find much information about it on their website... Does KVM have any GUI? Can KVM oversell resource? (I hate this overselling feature)

HivelocityDD · #4 05-23-2009, 04:54 AM

I dont think its better than Xen

nwmcsween · #5 05-23-2009, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaptopFreak

Thanks for your post. I know about RH's decision regarding Xen & KVM, however, KVM is so young(<1yr old), so I'm not sure if there are much people who are familiar with it...

So it is better than Xen?

I can't find much information about it on their website... Does KVM have any GUI? Can KVM oversell resource? (I hate this overselling feature)

Yes, It's better than xen in the sense that it's not a separate kernel and is included in mainline and has quite a bit of good development. KVM doesn't have a GUI it's exactly like xen it provides a virtualized graphics card that can show whatever you want (console...x11). Yes kvm can oversell in the near future with the cgroups patches that are making way into the linux kernel and identical page sharing w/ the virtio ballon driver. Overselling is not a bad thing as long as it's managed as it gives customers a lower cost.

**JFSG** · #6 05-23-2009, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nwmcsween

Yes, It's better than xen in the sense that it's not a separate kernel and is included in mainline and has quite a bit of good development. KVM doesn't have a GUI it's exactly like xen it provides a virtualized graphics card that can show whatever you want (console...x11). Yes kvm can oversell in the near future with the cgroups patches that are making way into the linux kernel and identical page sharing w/ the virtio ballon driver. Overselling is not a bad thing as long as it's managed as it gives customers a lower cost.

If it does not provide a GUI, and obviously HyperVM does not support it, won't we need to develop our own

atariko · #7 05-23-2009, 07:57 AM

Fedora 11 (coming out in 2 weeks?) should come with a management system over KVM that does some fancy things and makes life easier. I havent seen it yet though; this is just what I hear. I guess RH has put some time into this and even if it isnt perfect on release, it will probably give some other virt companies some headaches.

Katatonic · #8 06-30-2009, 09:34 PM

A new version of Virtual Box was released today:
http://www.virtualbox.org/

It has a nice GUI etc

I haven't looked it up and seen how it works though.

I'm using XEN because it allows clients to have their own kernel and dedicated resources (this is good when they knpw what they're doing, but if they don't).

Making the switch to OpenVZ and looking at deploying some test servers with the KVM/VirtualBox etc

hhw · #9 06-30-2009, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katatonic

A new version of Virtual Box was released today:
http://www.virtualbox.org/

It has a nice GUI etc

I haven't looked it up and seen how it works though.

<3 Sun Microsystems.

It's a shame that more people don't buy their stuff when they contribute so much to the community.

Katatonic · #10 06-30-2009, 10:14 PM

Yea but the people that use it, contribute and help debug etc. The more the the better.

A lot of these solutions are tailored for enterprise clients, thus initial software is free but then comes the consultation and implementation.

Open source is great.

dspkable · #11 06-30-2009, 10:35 PM

We have been very successful and happy with the results from using Proxmox as our KVM option. The resources are easy to manage and fast to deploy on demand (no restarting of the container necessary.)

Proxmox has a minimal management interface, but because it allows snapshots of containers for scheduled backups, it is always easy to do a rollback when someone misconfiures a kernel or should something break or get deleted. I am not sure how many companies have begun offering it yet, but the upside for a platform like this is really coming into its time (I beleive).

eming · #12 07-03-2009, 07:50 AM

I think the development of KVM is very interesting, and if I was Parallels I would be a bit concerned - but only a bit, as I think it will be a while before the GUI's made to manage KVM will be at the same quality as theirs or other similar providers.

We are following it closely as well because of our involvement in the cloudhosting scene, we might be looking into adding KVM support in the VPS.NET setup in the future. There might be no way around it.

D

**RavC** · #13 07-03-2009, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eming

We are following it closely as well because of our involvement in the cloudhosting scene, we might be looking into adding KVM support in the VPS.NET setup in the future. There might be no way around it.

The Xen->KVM migration should be relatively painless according to RedHat.. if you built your infrastructure using the right toolchain

Anyhoo it's hit RHEL 5.4 beta; not long now...