VMware ESXi vs. dual-boot

[mfeller2]

I am considering a couple of options.

1. Dual boot Windows and Linux. From Linux, I can make and restore images of the Windows partition in case it gets screwed up. The Windows partition will only have games. I will have VMware workstation on the Linux installation for Photoshop, Office, and a few other Windows apps. The Windows part of the dual-boot will only be used for games...no web browsing, email, etc. I do this for performance reasons.

2. Since VMware ESXi is "lighter" vs. Workstation + Linux, is this an option that I should consider? I wouldn't care about a small (< 10%) performance penalty for gaming.

I used to run only Linux + VMware workstation. Stable, but I wanted to game. I installed only XP, which has since really irritated me with a lot of little issues. Now I'm looking at mix where I can still game if I so choose.

Thanks!

 

[MrChad]

If you want to game in Windows, VMWare is not really a viable option.

 

[RebateMonger]

Unless "gaming" means Solitaire, putting XP under ESXi won't give you the gaming you want. Neither ESXi nor Hyper-V will give a virtualized OS direct access to your 3D video card, which is needed for many modern games.

Simplest is to dual-boot. Personally, I'd boot to a second hard drive containing only XP, avoiding issues with partitioning, MBR, etc. on your primary hard drive.

 

[Goosemaster]

ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor. It designed to host VMs and to be managed by a central server .

ESXi is only a hypervisor and will not allow you to login locally to the VMs.

Dual-boot will allow you to store multiple bootable OS partitions on the same disc that when booted, one at a time, and allows those OS' direct access to all hardware.

Apples and oranges.

For some sort of local gaming you will need a hypervisor that runs on a host OS. Examples are VirtualBox, Vmware workstation, and the Vmware GSX hypervisor (Now called Vmware server 1.0x and 2.x) that will allow hardware acceleration to be passed to the VM. Vmware server isn't designed for Direct X and will fail miserably. Bad example for gaming - but I just wanted to shoot something out there so you understand the technology.

Look at VirtualBox to see if it helps you out. Sadly the only hypervisors that I know of off the top of my head that can pass DirectX and opengl through well are Parallels and Vmware fusion, both of which exist only on the OS X host platform. Not only can those manage VMs and allow 3D but it can actually manage entire live windows partitions (while they are offline) a la OS X's BootCamp.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
You can look at other hypervisors such as VirtualBox to see if they help you out. Sadly the only hypervisors that can pass DirectX and opengl through well are Parallels and Vmware fusion, both of which exist only on the OS X host platform. Not only can those manage VMs and allow 3D but it can actually manage entire live windows partitions (while they are offline) a la OS X's BootCamp.

Workstation 6+ has DirectX 9 support, although it's pretty limited from what I understand.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
You can look at other hypervisors such as VirtualBox to see if they help you out. Sadly the only hypervisors that can pass DirectX and opengl through well are Parallels and Vmware fusion, both of which exist only on the OS X host platform. Not only can those manage VMs and allow 3D but it can actually manage entire live windows partitions (while they are offline) a la OS X's BootCamp.

Workstation 6+ has DirectX 9 support, although it's pretty limited from what I understand.

I wanted to mention that but it is at least $100-179 and is not meant for gaming.

I made some corrections to my pst as well since it was a little confusing.

 

[Parkre]

Mojopac might be what you want to look into. Their "demo" on their website shows the ability to play Crysis.

I like it. I have just been trying out Ceedo and Mojopac.

Ceedo runs on side by side with windows, whereas Mojopac runs off a virtual desktop.