• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Anyone running Linux in Windows 7 host with Virtualbox?

R

rchiu

Diamond Member
I just installed OpenSUSE 12.1 x64 on my Windows 7 machines (i7 3820/16GB) host using Virtualbox 4.1.18. Assigned 2GB mem to the instance. (Intel VM support in bios on)

Noticed the performance is not great. Simple task like opening Firefox takes a few second, opening an office doc takes 10+ second.

It that what people are getting with the newer virtualization technology, or there are some tuning tips out there?

Thanks for any input.
 
I've got Ubuntu 12.04 and Mint 13 installed in virtual machines, my pc doesn't have nearly the horsepower yours does (AthlonII X4 645 w/4gb RAM) but I haven't noticed the delay you describe, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, just that I haven't noticed.

I used all the default settings in virtual box and all the default options when I installed the OS.
 
I always run my vm from a second HDD. Also, are you creating a dynamic disk that has your set size, but only uses what it needs and grows as it fills up? Or are you using a static virtual disk?
 
I've used that setup with both regular HDD and SSD without the delays you describe. Simple tasks like Firefox and office docs were just as fast as if they were native.
 
Played around with the configuration a bit more. Assigned 4 cpu (2 corex2 thread) instead of the default 1 cpu. Much faster now.

Thanks
 
Try installing the guest additions/tools from VB to the guest OS, this typically increases performance. Especially if it can then utilize the VTx
 
Last edited:
Virtualbox kind of sucks (in every possible way).

You should probably check out VMWare Player (also free). The interface kind of blows but it uses all the same stuff as workstation.
 
TheRyuu said:
Virtualbox kind of sucks (in every possible way).

You should probably check out VMWare Player (also free). The interface kind of blows but it uses all the same stuff as workstation.
Click to expand...

Yeah I may try VMWare just to compare. I'd have to say Virtualbox is quite polished and it is open source. I have played with VMWare in the past, not sure what they are doing with the Player vs. Workstation these days, and if the free Player is crippled in anyway......
 
I'm running ubuntu 11.10 as a guest on my Windows 7 system (Phenom 2 x4 955, 8gb) with 2gb of ram and a X25-V 40gb SSD dedicated to the vm and I've never had any performance problems.
 
I was looking to do this as well because I want to run Oracle 11g Express. However, I think I am going to need more RAM to successfully get this to work. I only have 4GB DDR2 memory (4 1GB DIMMs).
 
steelodon said:
I was looking to do this as well because I want to run Oracle 11g Express. However, I think I am going to need more RAM to successfully get this to work. I only have 4GB DDR2 memory (4 1GB DIMMs).
Click to expand...

I run all kinds of Virtual Machines, even a couple at a time with 4GB of RAM in my home PC. Its all about installing the guest OS you want and seeing how much memory it uses, then just assigning a little bit more than it needs. For a "try it out" database server, half a gig or even 1 gig should be sufficient. If youll be hammering on it 2GB would probably be enough and 2GB should be fine for your Host OS as well as long as you arent running every program you have installed.

Of course you could soak up more memory than I do when i run VMs and be an exception, but, it should be fine honestly. Granted I use Workstation 7, but I used VB for a long time before I got a copy of VMWWS and I had no complaints.
 
rchiu said:
Yeah I may try VMWare just to compare. I'd have to say Virtualbox is quite polished and it is open source. I have played with VMWare in the past, not sure what they are doing with the Player vs. Workstation these days, and if the free Player is crippled in anyway......
Click to expand...

Other than perhaps a few restrictions on what virtual hardware you can use (which shouldn't matter for what you need it for) and a restriction on the number of virtual cpu's (it's capped at 4) the 'engine' itself should be identical AFAIK.

I'm not sure I would call VBox polished, their 3d acceleration code sends everyone running into the night.
 
TheRyuu said:
Other than perhaps a few restrictions on what virtual hardware you can use (which shouldn't matter for what you need it for) and a restriction on the number of virtual cpu's (it's capped at 4) the 'engine' itself should be identical AFAIK.

I'm not sure I would call VBox polished, their 3d acceleration code sends everyone running into the night.
Click to expand...

Running into the night? I get more FPS with guild wars in VB than i do in VMware workstation...
 
vtx1300 said:
are you talking about vbox3 or the latest vbox4? For the price $0 - its hard to beat
Click to expand...

VMWare Player also costs $0. It may have gotten better with 4. I just seem to remember it used to drive the linux kernel folks crazy.

Paperlantern said:
Running into the night? I get more FPS with guild wars in VB than i do in VMware workstation...
Click to expand...

That's fine.
I never said it never worked. 😛

All I'm trying to say that as a complete package you're probably better off with VMWare Player than VBox. I'm sure there are cases when VBox may be preferred or vice versa. No one said you couldn't run both if you had corner cases where it was dramatically better in one than the other and you needed that extra bit of performance. But I think you have to be careful about stuff like that because you'll end up asking yourself why am I not just running Windows to begin with...
 
Last edited:
I guess they both have their own good points
but snapshot management is one thing vbox has over vmplayer.
 
Although I suspect most people here are hobbyists, it is worth mentioning VMWare player is free for non-commercial use only. The more recent Virtual Box packages, with the exception of some nifty proprietary features geared towards enterprise users, are available without that restriction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top