Re: Virtualization preferences

["Kent Borg" <user=107@nabble.blu.org>]

 Daniel Feenberg wrote: 
> 
> Can I bring up avery basic question? Why is virtualization so much 
> better than multi-tasking? I can run dhcpd and bind in one real 
> machine, why would I want to run them in separate virtual machines? 
> The reasons I can think of seem fairly weak or of limited 
> applicability =- 

Possibly the most important appeal for me are versioning and conflict 
issues.  If one service is working inside one virtual machine and I want 
to install something big and exciting inside a different virtual machine 
I can do so without worrying that the first service will be disrupted. 

If my OS has updates available I can install them one at a time on each 
virtual machine without the risk of a single big cutover. 

To get all specific: I am going to play with a mythtv backend on my 
basement server.  I don't know yet, but possibly I will just use 
Mythbuntu--an entire distribution specifically for doing mythtv.  Inside 
a VM I can play, try multiple installations, reboot right and left, all 
with no risk of disrupting other services I am running inside other 
VMs.  Very cool. 

But it *does* seem wrong that instead of running several VMs I don't run 
several programs on a single machine.  Except nothing seems to be a 
simple program anymore.  Everything seems to be dozens of files and 
shared library dependencies scattered all over the place.  So 
complicated that we sometimes retreat into running things in separate 
VMs.  OSs were designed to isolate the running of different processes 
and do so well, but they do little to nothing to help us manage all the 
complexity that surrounds and supports the process that does the work. 


-kb 

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