home › Education › What is the best virtual machine. Overview of virtual machines. The best virtual machine. General information about virtual machines

What is the best virtual machine. Overview of virtual machines. The best virtual machine. General information about virtual machines

To have several operating systems with separate workspace and applications at hand, you don’t need to buy a second (third, fourth, etc.) computer. Because it all fits into your single PC. How? Thanks to virtual machines (VMs) - special programs that create (emulate) imaginary (virtual) computers inside the main operating system.

A virtual PC is almost like a real one. It has its own processor, memory, HDD, network adapter and everything else. Of course, these are not physical devices, but they are made in such a way that operating systems consider them to be just that - real.

Several virtual computers can work simultaneously on one physical computer. Exactly how much depends on the hardware resources: the faster the processor, the larger the RAM, the more spacious the storage, the more. A typical average-performance home PC running Windows 10 can handle three to five lightweight operating systems simultaneously (for example, Windows XP, Android and Lubuntu + the main system). Or two or three relatively heavy ones (for example, the main Windows 10 + virtual Windows 7 and Mac OS X). As you already understand, virtual computer emulator applications allow you to install and run a variety of operating systems on them.

General purpose virtual machines (as opposed to specialized ones, such as the Java VM) use:

To run applications that the main system does not support.
To protect the system from potential harm from untested programs.
As an additional barrier against viruses when visiting dubious web resources.
To create an isolated environment for studying the activities of malware.
As a testing ground for debugging your own developments.
To master network construction technologies.
For double authorization on some gaming portals and much more.

And of course, virtual machines are widely used to distribute server work resources.

Today we will not touch on the industrial use of VMs, but will only consider what can be useful to home users of Windows OS.

Oracle Virtualbox

Let's look at the process of creating a new virtual machine and starting to install Windows 10 on it.

Click on top panel"Create" button.

In the first window of the VM creation wizard, we will indicate the name of the OS (it will be displayed in the list of guest systems), its type (Windows, Linux, etc.) and version. In our example, this is Windows 10 32 bit (you can also install 64 bit, but it will require more resources). To move to the next step, click Next.

Next, we will indicate the size of the VM RAM. By default, Windows 10 x86 is allocated 1 GB, but you can increase this amount by moving the slider to the right. If your PC does not have a lot of RAM, do not give the VM more than 2-3 GB, otherwise the main system will slow down due to lack of memory.

Next we create a virtual hard disk. If you are installing the system for the first time, select the “Create new” option.

Type virtual disk Let's leave it as default.

A storage format is an area on your computer's physical drive that is allocated to a VM. It can have a constant or dynamically expanding volume within the limits that you define further. To save space, we will choose a dynamic format.

Next we indicate the name of the volume (virtual disk C) and its size. The default is 32 GB.

After clicking the “Create” button in the last window, a new virtual machine will appear in the list. Its parameters are shown in the frame on the right.
To go to Windows installation Click the “Run” button in the top panel.

In the window that opens after this, the “Select boot disk" Click on the folder icon and specify the path to the system distribution. This can be an image in .iso format or physical media (DVD, flash drive). After selecting your distribution, click Continue.

The further course of installing the OS into a virtual machine is no different from installing it on a physical computer.

Some VM and guest system settings

Clicking on the virtual machine window will capture the mouse cursor (i.e. it will only move within the virtual screen). To return the cursor to the main OS, press the Ctrl+Alt combination.

To access the full range of features of the guest OS, you need to install special add-ons. Go to the "Devices" menu, click "Mount Guest Additions Disk Image" and follow the further instructions.

To connect a folder to the guest system for exchanging files with the main one, click the “Shared Folders” item in the “Devices” menu. Click on the “folder+” icon in the window that opens and use the “path to folder” field to specify it in Explorer (it shows the directories of the main system).

If you want the setting to work permanently, check “Auto-connect” and “Create permanent folder”. The shared folder will be accessible from the virtual machine explorer as a network folder.

To change the order in which boot devices are polled (for example, to boot a virtual machine from a DVD), shut down the guest OS, open its settings (in the main Virtualbox window) and go to the first tab of the “System” section. In the "Load Order" list, select the desired media and press the arrow buttons to move it to the top.

VMware Workstation Pro

Some Hyper-V virtual machine options

To take a snapshot of a running guest OS, open the top menu of its Action window and click Checkpoint. Or press the combination Ctrl+N.

Access to the settings of an individual virtual machine is available from its context menu in the list of the main manager window and is hidden behind the “Options” button.

Other features of the program are also very simple and can be mastered without much difficulty.

The rapid development of virtualization technologies has had a significant impact not only on the development of the IT infrastructure of large enterprises. Power desktop personal computers have reached a level where one physical machine can support multiple operating systems running simultaneously virtual machines. Just a few years ago, virtual machines were something exotic for end users, who installed them mostly for evaluation purposes. Nowadays, multi-core processors and large amounts of RAM are not uncommon on a home or office computer, and this allows us to come up with new options for using them in the context of virtualization technologies.

Many users are finding a variety of uses for desktop virtualization platforms, both at home and at work. After all, a virtual machine, compared to a physical one, has significantly greater flexibility in terms of portability to another physical platform. In addition, over the past couple of years, the quality of desktop virtualization platforms has increased significantly in terms of functionality, ease of use and performance. The relatively recent introduction of support for hardware virtualization on desktop systems means that leading processor manufacturers such as Intel and AMD believe in the future of virtualization technologies on personal computers.

Of course, such bulky and hardware-intensive operating systems as Windows Vista are capable of absorbing the power of user desktops, no matter how high they are, but progress does not stand still, and further development of desktop hardware platforms will soon make it possible to support several such systems simultaneously , satisfying the performance requirements. However, many users believe that the use of virtualization technologies at home is not necessary and consider virtualization as another specific technology that will not have much impact on them. Mostly, this is due to the fact that they do not see worthy ways to use virtual machines.

In business, virtualization technologies are implemented mainly to maintain the virtual infrastructure of the company's servers and have very little impact on end users. In this article we will show that almost any personal computer user can use virtualization technologies to increase the efficiency of their work on a personal computer at home, as well as for everyday tasks in the workplace.

How to use virtual machines at home

Most personal computer users often face the problem of using potentially dangerous or unstable applications that can either damage operating system, or influence the operation of other programs. Often home computer, which also contains working documents, is used by several people, among whom not all understand how to handle it correctly so as not to damage important data or the operating system. Creating user accounts does not solve this problem, since many applications require administrative rights to install, and using the computer in this mode significantly limits its use. Of course, many also face the problem of porting an operating system and installed applications to another computer when purchasing it. The category of users who actively use laptops is faced with the problem of synchronizing data between it and a desktop computer. After all, not only is file synchronization necessary, but you also need to use the same applications at work and at home. For many people, it is also important to be able to learn how to work with various operating systems, which in this case do not require high performance. In this case, for example, when working in Linux, the user needs to access Windows applications, and to do this he has to restart the computer. And the main problem during training is the impossibility of simulating a real network between several computers if only one is available. All these and many other problems can be solved by using virtual machines in desktop virtualization systems.

The main options for home use of virtual machines are the following:

Creating a personal virtual environment isolated from the host system, which allows you to use several copies of working environments on one computer, completely isolated from each other. Unfortunately, this model excludes the option of using virtual environments for 3D games, since virtualization platform manufacturers have not yet learned to fully support the emulation of all functions of video adapters. Ahead of everyone this moment in this regard, VMware has included features to experimentally support Direct-3D and shaders in the latest versions of its VMware Workstation desktop platform. However, not so long ago, the PCI-SIG company developing the standard PCI Express, has published new specifications for the PCI Express 2.0 standard, which claim support for I/O virtualization features that greatly simplify guest access to physical hardware. Undoubtedly, the time is not far off when we will play games on virtual machines.
Create portable virtual machines that are ready for use on any other architecture-compatible platform. If you need to demonstrate the operation of a program, and it or the operating system environment must be configured in a certain way - virtual machines are the best option in this case. Do everything in a virtual machine necessary actions, burn it to DVD and where you need to show how everything works, install the virtualization platform and start the virtual machine.
Obtaining secure user environments for the Internet. When working on the Internet, which, as everyone knows, is fairly filled with viruses and Trojan horses, running an Internet browser in user-mode is not an acceptable solution for many from a security point of view. After all, there are many vulnerabilities in software, including operating systems, through which malware can damage important data. Virtual machine in this case, it is a more advantageous option, since the malware, after gaining control of the operating system in the virtual machine, can only cause harm inside it, without affecting the host OS. By the way, recently viruses have begun to appear that detect their presence in a virtual machine and do not reveal themselves in this case, but so far there are no such viruses. malware units, and in any case, no harm will be done to important data until the infected objects are transferred to the host OS. Therefore, the use of virtual machines in this case does not at all exclude the use of anti-virus software.
Creating environments for experimenting with potentially dangerous software. In a virtual machine, you can safely try out a new registry cleaner or disk utility. You can also safely install application software that could, under certain conditions, damage your system or your data. In this case, the virtual machine acts as a sandbox in which your programs are played. You can safely observe and study their work without worrying about the safety of your data.
Convenient and simple backup user environments. Ultimately, a virtual machine is just a folder of files on your computer that can be copied to backup media and then easily restored. In this case, there is no need to create images hard drive to do backup copy your system.
Possibility of training to work with operating systems other than your host one. Of course, you can install a second OS in parallel with your main system, but in this case, if you need any application from the main system, you will have to reboot. In this case, the virtual machine perfect option: you run the OS you need in parallel with the host OS and switch between them if necessary. On many systems, sharing files between the guest and host systems is as simple as dragging and dropping files and folders with the mouse pointer.

We have listed only the main options for using virtual machines at home; of course, there are other, more specific areas of their application. But the real prospects for using desktop virtualization systems open up in business, where, above all, accessibility and saving time and costs on purchasing additional equipment are important.

Desktop virtualization platforms in business

For most companies, when it comes to virtualization, this primarily means virtualizing the enterprise server infrastructure. However, there are many VM-based solutions for end users that can significantly improve the productivity of a company's employees. Let's consider the main areas of application of virtual machines in business on virtualization platforms for desktop users:

Creation of repositories of typical templates for user work environments. Depending on the specifics of the organization’s work, its employees need to use a certain set of software. When a new employee joins an organization, he needs to install an operating system, configure it in a certain way, in accordance with the requirements of the organization and security policies, and also install all the necessary application software. When using virtual machine templates, this problem is solved very simply: an employee is installed with a desktop virtualization platform, and a virtual machine from a set of organization templates is launched in it, in which all the necessary software is installed and the appropriate operating system settings are made. This model will significantly reduce deployment time, as well as provide high flexibility when transferring an employee’s virtual desktop to another physical machine. Of course, this use case may require increased hardware resources, but this will more than pay off if the employee has to operate with large volumes of heterogeneous data, the backup of which will require significant time. For example, marketing employees, who install many of the programs they need, try things out every day and work with different documents. In this case, they can copy the folder with files of their working virtual machine at the end of the working day, without fear that tomorrow when installing the next program everything will “break”.
Creation of a virtual desktop infrastructure that allows for centralized storage of user environments on secure company servers. The end users themselves use the tools remote access to the desktop of their environments (for example, Terminal Services) stored in the corporate data center. This option for using virtual machines requires significant costs for its implementation, since in this case it requires support for server virtualization platforms of the company’s data center. However, this method provides the best level of security and availability. Since all work environments are stored and maintained centrally in a secure data center, the likelihood of confidential information leakage is significantly reduced. At the same time, the degree of accessibility of such environments increases significantly, because access to them can be provided from anywhere with a high-speed connection. Strictly speaking, this solution does not apply to desktop virtualization platforms, but it does affect end users. An example of such a solution is VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, based on the virtual infrastructure of an organization’s servers in a corporate data center. The structure of such a model is shown in the figure:
Use of virtual machines protected by security policies. IT professionals who need to ensure the confidentiality of their personal data, as well as frequently demonstrate various software to customers, are ideal for solutions for creating secure virtual machines that provide a means of restricting access to various functions for working with a virtual machine. You can also set the validity period of the virtual machine and thus distribute the software so that a certain circle of people cannot use the virtual machine for more than the permitted time. An example of such a solution is VMware's ACE Manager product.
Simplify user training by creating classrooms with virtual machines running various operating systems and application software. If a group of employees in an organization needs to be trained to use a certain product or program, you can create one virtual machine template and install the virtualization platform on each of the computers in the classroom. Next, the virtual machine can be copied to all computers and launched with all the required number of programs. If you need training on another product, you can create a new virtual machine template and also deploy it to all computers in your classroom.
Development and testing of software in the company. A virtual machine, being an isolated environment, is ideal for software development. Developers and testers can create the operating system configurations and user environments they need to simulate program behavior on various platforms. As part of this use case, it is also possible to model working pairs of virtual machines on the same physical platform that interact with each other through networking. In addition, some platforms, such as VMware Workstation, allow you to create virtual machine state trees, each of which stores a specific user configuration. Each of these states can be rolled back with one click. An example of such a tree:

Comparative review of desktop virtualization platforms

Leading companies in the field of desktop virtualization platforms have done a lot over the past two years to make them as easy to use as possible and accessible to even the most inexperienced user. The leaders in the production of virtualization systems for end users at the moment are the following companies: VMware with the products VMware Workstation, VMware ACE and VMware Fusion, Microsoft with the Virtual PC product, Parallels, which is promoting its virtualization platform for Mac OS with the Parallels Desktop for Mac product, and the company InnoTek with the free and open source VirtualBox platform. Let's take a quick look at the capabilities of some of these products.

VMware Workstation

VMware is today the undisputed leader in the field of desktop virtualization systems. Its products are easy to use, feature rich functionality and are fast. Almost all manufacturers of desktop virtualization platforms are focused on the product. The process of creating a virtual machine and installing a guest operating system is not particularly difficult: during creation, you must specify the amount of RAM allocated for the guest system, the type and size of the virtual disk, the folder where the virtual machine files will be located and the type of guest OS to be installed. A bootable CD or DVD or ISO image can be used as the guest system installation distribution. After installing the operating system in a virtual machine, you must install VMware Tools and disable all unnecessary emulated devices in the settings in order to optimize performance. You can also create a snapshot of the “clean” state of the guest system, in which all data on the virtual disks at that moment will be saved, and you can return to their saved state at any time. Key features of VMware Workstation include:

Support various types virtual disks (controllers for both IDE and SCSI disks are emulated):
- fixed size (Preallocated) or growing as they are filled (Growing), while the former are optimized for performance, and the latter are convenient because they do not take up much space before they are filled
- Independent disks that are not affected by operating system snapshots. Such disks are convenient for organizing file storage, the changes of which are not required when working with snapshots of the state of the guest system
- support for disks whose state is not saved when the virtual machine is turned off
- possibility of direct recording to a physical disk
Support for various types of network interaction between virtual machines, including combining virtual machines into “teams” (Teams), which allows you to create virtual subnets consisting of virtual machines with a different number of virtual network adapters (up to three). Virtual network interface it can operate in three different modes:
- Bridged Networking- virtual machine shares resources network card with the host operating system and works with a network external to it as an independent machine.
- Host-only Networking- the virtual machine receives an IP address in its own host subnet from the VMware DHCP server. Accordingly, you can only work on the network with other virtual machines on this host and with the OS of the host itself.
- NAT- the virtual machine also operates on the host’s own subnet (but different), however, through the VMware NAT server, it can initiate connections to an external network. It is impossible to initiate a connection to such a virtual machine from an external network. Within the host, network communication is ensured.
- Disks can also be mounted on the host system using the utility vmware-mount and expand using the utility vmware-vdiskmanager(this utility also serves to perform a number of other actions on virtual disks).
The ability to easily exchange files using the Drag&Drop interface, as well as by creating Shared Folders between the host and guest OS.
Support for a large list of guest and host operating systems.

IN latest version VMware Workstation 6 also includes the following useful features:

Full support for USB 2.0 interface
ability to record virtual machine activity
integrated product VMware Converter (for Windows hosts) for importing virtual machines from other manufacturers
running a virtual machine as a service

It is also worth noting that the VMware Workstation product is currently the only virtualization platform that experimentally supports Direct-3D in guest operating systems. The main and perhaps the only drawback of this platform is the fact that it is not free.

Microsoft Virtual PC

Having appeared as a competitor to VMware Workstation, the Connectix product, which was later purchased by Microsoft Corporation along with the company, did not receive worthy development in its hands. As a result, at the moment, in almost all respects it is inferior to the VMware Workstation platform and can only be launched in the host operating system Windows system. However, a fair number of users use it as a desktop virtualization platform because Virtual PC is free and covers the basic needs of using virtual machines. The guest installation process is also very simple and intuitive. After the operating system is installed, you need to install Virtual Machine Additions (analogous to VMware Tools in VMware Workstation), which significantly increase the performance of the guest OS by improving virtualization technology. VM Additions can also be installed on Linux guest operating systems.

The main advantages of the Microsoft Virtual PC product include the following features:

Full support for Windows Vista as both a host and guest operating system. In terms of performance, Virtual PC 2007 has taken a significant step forward compared to the previous version, and now the performance of Windows Vista in a virtual machine is quite acceptable.
Support for 64-bit Windows host systems.
Improved performance by taking advantage of improvements introduced in Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2.
Availability of different types of virtual disks:
- Dynamically expanding (analogous to Growing in VMware Workstation)
- Fixed Size (analogous to Preallocated in VMware Workstation)
- Differencing - a disk that stores changes from the current state of the virtual disk
- Linked to a hard disk (analogous to direct writing to disk in VMware Workstation)
The presence of various types of network communication between virtual machines and the host:
- analogue of Bridged Networking in VMware Workstation
- Local only (analogous to Host-only in VMware Workstation)
- Shared Networking (similar to NAT in VMware Workstation)

It should be noted that the Virtual PC product is aimed more at home users rather than IT professionals and software developers, while VMware Workstation, with much greater functionality, is able to cover the needs of the latter. At the same time, Virtual PC is free and is intended mainly to simplify migration to new operating systems. Microsoft systems and support for their outdated versions. And, of course, the popularity of the Virtual PC platform is influenced by its free nature, creating a specific niche for the use of this product.

Parallels Workstation and Parallels Desktop for Mac

The product is intended for use on Windows and Linux platforms as a desktop virtualization system. Due to the fact that Parallels (actually owned by Russian company SWSoft) is now focused mainly on the product, the development of this product has currently somewhat stopped and functionality it is inferior to the two leading desktop platforms from VMware and Microsoft. Therefore, we will talk about the Parallels Desktop for Mac platform, which is now the main platform for Apple computers. In addition, at the moment the development of this platform is very dynamic, which is due, first of all, to the fact that VMware seriously intends to invade the virtualization market for Macs with its almost ready for final release VMware product Fusion. Key features of the Parallels Desktop for Mac platform:

Easily create virtual machines in three steps using Parallels Installation Assistant. To create a virtual machine and install a guest operating system in it, no extra effort is required.
The presence of the Parallels Transporter utility, which allows you to migrate from a physical machine to a virtual one.
Full support for Windows Vista guest OS. This ensures simple file exchange between the guest and host operating systems
USB 2.0 interface support
Mac OS X "Leopard" support

Like most products for the Mac OS X platform, Parallels Desktop provides the user with a simple and user-friendly interface. It's no secret that many Mac users often feel the need to use Windows products, and Parallels Desktop provides them with this opportunity, allowing them to feel “in two worlds.”

You can also mention Parallels products such as Parallels Compressor Workstation and Parallels Compressor Server, which allow you to compress disks not only of Parallels virtual machines, but also of VMware, which is a solution to one of the problems that users often encounter.

VirtualBox

InnoTek recently entered the desktop virtualization market with an unexpected free and open source solution. At a time when it would seem new platform It is difficult to bring virtualization to a decent level, InnoTek has achieved unexpectedly rapid success and popular recognition.

Many bloggers loyal to VMware, however, said that on their desktops, virtual machines on the platform run noticeably faster than virtual machines on VMware Workstation. In addition, until recently the VirtualBox platform was available only for Linux and Windows hosts, and at the end of April the first build for Mac OS X appeared, where the platform is planned to compete with such “monsters” of virtualization systems as Parallels and VMware. And, of course, she has every chance of winning. Considering the complete openness of the platform and its free nature, many enthusiasts are ready to take on improving the platform and increasing its functionality, hopefully without compromising its performance. At the moment, VirtualBox does not have such wide functionality as leading platforms; it does not support 64-bit systems and network interaction with Windows Vista, but you can get it on the website operational information, what functions of the system are being worked on. At the moment, the platform has the following main features:

Quite a large list of supported host and guest operating systems.
Support for multiple snapshots of the current state of the guest system (snapshots).
Dynamically expanding and fixed-size disks.
Ability to install Guest Additions (analogous to VMware Tools) to increase the degree of integration with the host OS

Of course, in terms of functionality, VirtualBox is a very immature product, but its performance indicators indicate that the platform has a future, and the Open Source community will make every effort to improve and develop it.

What to choose as a desktop virtualization system?

To summarize, we can say that each of the platforms described above currently occupies its own niche in the field of application of virtualization technologies on desktop computers. Each virtualization system has advantages and disadvantages. Over time, of course, many of them will acquire the necessary functionality that satisfies most user needs. It is also hoped that tools will be provided to convert virtual machine formats between platforms.

Undoubtedly when we're talking about about using a desktop virtualization system at home on Windows hosts, you should choose between the Microsoft Virtual PC or VirtualBox platforms, since they are free and have the necessary functionality to support virtual machines at home. However, when it comes to the use of virtual machines in business, in a corporate enterprise environment, where the deployment of desktop virtualization systems places high demands on functionality and reliability, you cannot do without VMware Workstation, which is significantly superior to other described platforms. The VirtualBox product can also find its place here, as it is the most optimized for performance.

Virtual PC should be used when providing support for older versions of Windows and running Windows Vista as a guest OS. And users of the Mac platform cannot do without the Parallels Desktop product: this is evidenced by the fact that the result of more than 100,000 copies of the product sold was recorded back in 2006. Mac users should also pay attention to the VMware Fusion platform, which in the future claims to be the leader in the field of desktop virtualization platforms.

Virtualization technologies for personal computers are becoming closer to the end user and can now be used both in the daily work of employees of organizations and on home computers to create protected or isolated personal environments. In addition, the use of virtual machines on desktops is not limited to the described options. For example, in a VMware virtual machine, in the windowed mode of the guest operating system console, you can set a resolution higher than that supported by the monitor, and scroll bars will appear in the guest system window. This will allow you to test the website or application on high resolutions in the absence of an appropriate monitor. This example shows that the options for using virtual machines on desktop computers depend on your imagination. And rapidly evolving custom virtualization platforms can help you meet your needs.

At times it becomes necessary to use several operating systems on one computer. The difficulties here are usually predictable. Firstly, it is a mandatory reboot of the PC to launch a new OS, and secondly, if we are dealing with different families, such as Windows and Unix, then each OS will require at least one partition on the hard drive. In addition, due to the different format file systems It becomes difficult to access files from one OS from another. These and other problems can be solved using a “virtual machine”. In essence, it is a regular program that emulates the operation of the main components of a PC, from the processor and video card to the disk drive. As a result, we can run multiple operating systems at the same time and easily switch between them. The main disadvantage of this approach is the relatively low performance of emulated systems.

Sun VirtualBox 2.0.6

Freeware (for home use)

Developer Sun Microsystems

Size 33 MB

Verdict

Rich functionality; large list of supported systems; a number of unique features

Some instability at work

VirtualBox software German company innotek. This is a relatively young platform, the first public release was released in January 2007. Supported guest systems include Windows, Linux, OS/2 Warp, OpenBSD and FreeBSD. In February 2008, innotek was acquired by Sun Micro-systems, and further development is carried out with its participation. The VirtualBox distribution model has not changed.

In addition to the standard devices necessary for the operation of the operating system (processor, video adapter, hard drive), the program also emulates an audio controller and network adapter. The latter appears as an AMD PCNet interface. In addition, it should be noted that by default the video card is emulated as a standard VESA adapter with 8 MB of video memory and a resolution of 800x600; if this is not enough, you can use Guest VM Additions to increase the performance of the virtual video accelerator and dynamically resize the window. Guest VM Additions - a set of tools supplied with the program to optimize performance and facilitate interaction between the guest and host OS. Among other things, VirtualBox also emulates USB controllers, in this case, devices connected to USB connectors in the host system are automatically picked up in the guest system.

One of the key features is support for RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), which allows VirtualBox to act as an RDP server and be controlled by any client that works with this protocol. Note that before the release of the VMware Workstation 6 platform, this feature was available only in VirtualBox. Also implemented function USB over RDP(if the virtual machine acts as an RDP server, then connected USB devices will also be visible in the client).

Second key feature is the iSCSI initiator component. It allows you to use external devices via the iSCSI protocol as virtual disks in the guest system without additional support on its part.

The process of creating a virtual machine is extremely simple: you need to select the type of operating system and set the amount of RAM and hard drive. The latter can be either a fixed size or dynamically changed as it is filled. After installing the guest system, it is recommended to install the already mentioned Guest VM Additions - they will greatly facilitate the work in the future.

VirtualBox supports network communication between virtual machines, and the user is free to choose one of three types. The first is NAT, in which case the virtual machine is hidden behind the host’s NAT server and can initiate connections to a network external to it, but it is impossible to connect to such a virtual machine from an external network. The second type, Host Interface Networking, allows the guest system to use the resources of the host's physical network adapter, while the guest machine itself becomes accessible from the external network as a regular independent computer. And finally, the third type - Internal Networking - can be used when there is no need to access an external network; in this case virtual network will be built within the host. If the user only needs to exchange files between the guest system and the host, then it is better to use the function Shared Folders, which allows you to create shared folders that are accessible on any system.

Those who use virtual machines to test various software will appreciate the support for a tree of saved states of the virtual machine (so-called snapshots), which can be rolled back from any state of the guest system in case of an unexpected situation or the need to restart it from scratch.

Innotek provides an excellent Software Development Kit for developers, and since the platform's code is open, no additional effort is required to write extensions to the system. In addition to Windows, stable versions of VirtualBox also exist for Linux and Mac OS. In addition, a lot of work is currently underway to port the product to other hosting platforms, and developers are provided with all the necessary tools and interfaces for modifying VirtualBox.

Summarizing all of the above, we can confidently call VirtualBox the best free program in its field and a serious competitor to its paid counterparts.

VMware Workstation 6.5

Shareware, $189

Developer VMware

Size 500 MB

Verdict

The greatest functionality among all programs

High price; huge distribution size

VMware Workstation is perhaps the most famous product for creating virtual machines, and VMware today is one of the leaders in the production of virtualization systems. The list of compatible guest operating systems is simply huge - there is everything from Solaris and Novell NetWare to Linux, FreeBSD and Windows Vista x64 Edition. The platform perfectly emulates all the necessary computer systems. The number of supported devices is impressive - VMware Workstation is capable of working with installed CD/DVD drives, floppy drives, smart card readers, and can mount disk images. In addition, all external devices connected via COM, LPT or USB ports will be available in the guest system (however, it was not possible to configure support for USB 2.0). There is full integration with ACE (Assured Computing Environment - the ability to run another copy of Windows on your computer, intended for sharing) and the so-called unity mode - running virtualized applications on the Desktop of the host machine. As for the traditional weak point - the video accelerator - then, starting from the current version, it supports hardware acceleration 3D graphics. True, with a small caveat - for now this function is only available with using Windows XP as a guest operating system. Also, at this time only DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 2.0 are supported. Still among latest innovations It is worth noting the possibility of streaming a virtual machine, for example, when downloading an image from the Internet.

Data exchange can be organized via virtual local network or using drag-n-drop from the virtual system towards the host. In the case of a local network, there are three standard options: the first using NAT (Network Address Translation), the second - directly to existing network, and the third is a virtual network within the host. Of course, the possibility of creating shared folders has not been forgotten.

For testing software, VMware Workstation implements a mechanism for creating snapshots of the operating system and disks, which can subsequently be used to roll back to one of the previous states. There is also support for trees of such images, which is incredibly convenient when configuring a system with various add-ons (for example, different versions Internet browser Explorer). Besides, in new version Debugging tools have been significantly improved, which allow real-time recording of the entire operation of the machine, including the activity of applications, the processor and other hardware, as well as reproducing saved data.

The program comes with another truly indispensable utility - P2V Assistant, which allows you to literally convert a physical system into a virtual one in just a couple of clicks.

It is worth noting that it was WMware that demonstrated the highest performance, although the loading speed leaves much to be desired. Another disadvantage of the program is its price. True, there is free version- VMware Player, which allows you to launch previously saved virtual systems, but cannot create them.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

Freeware
Developer Microsoft
Website microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx

Microsoft Virtual PC could be worthy competitor programs presented in the review, if not for one “but” - support as guest systems only those belonging to the Windows family, which significantly limits the scope of this emulator. If you wish, you can install an unsupported OS by selecting the option during installation Other, however, correct operation in this case is not guaranteed. Like all the programs discussed in this review, Virtual PC contains a set of applications designed to make life easier for the user. In this case, these are Virtual Machine Additions - installing them will not increase the performance of the guest system, but will make the following useful and convenient functions available:

the ability to drag and drop files and folders from the host system to the guest system and back using drag-n-drop technology;
when resizing the window with the guest system, the resolution inside it will be automatically adjusted to the new size;
An improved virtual video adapter driver will allow you to set arbitrary resolution and color depth;
mouse focus will be automatically transferred to the guest system when the cursor enters the console window and returned to the host system when leaving this area. This will eliminate the need to press right Alt in order to transfer focus to the guest system, and will allow you to work with the guest system console window as with a regular application;
Shared Folders can be used to exchange files with the host operating system;
the clipboard of the guest and host systems will also become common, which will simplify the interaction of host and guest system applications;
Time synchronization will appear between the host and guest systems.

Considering that the product is completely free, it can be safely recommended for home use.

Parallels Workstation 2.2

Shareware, $50

Developer Parallels

Size 21 MB

Verdict

Large list of supported systems; work with Intel-VT and AMD-V

In terms of functionality it is inferior to analogues

Parallels is another fairly large player in the virtualization software market. Its product Parallels Workstation offers almost all the functionality necessary for work. First of all, this platform virtualizes a full set of standard computer hardware, such as a processor corresponding to the real one, motherboard based Intel chipset i815, RAM up to 1.5 GB, VGA and SVGA video card with VESA 3.0 support. In addition, a 1.44 MB floppy drive with the ability to connect a real device or a floppy image and two IDE controllers with connection to either virtual HDDs (from 20 MB to 128 GB each) or CD/DVD-ROM (in direct access mode) are supported the drive of a real computer can be directly used). In addition, there is support for various peripheral equipment (printers, scanners, as well as various PDAs based on Windows Mobile 2005 and cameras).

Compatible Guest Systems: All Family Microsoft Windows, from version 3.1 to Vista, various builds of Linux, FreeBSD, Syllable, Solaris, OS/2 and MS-DOS.

Installing and configuring the program is not difficult. To make life easier for the user, a set of Parallels Tools applications is available, which optimizes the interaction of the guest OS with the host, for example, improves mouse operation, video mode, and interaction of clipboards (you can synchronize the clipboard of the guest and host operating systems, which simplifies data transfer). In addition, the created machines can be easily combined into a virtual local network or added to an existing one, but for some unknown reason they cannot be connected using NAT. It is also possible to set up shared folders for information exchange. If desired, you can create exact copies of virtual machines (clone them) in Parallels Workstation, plus the new version of the program works with both hardware virtualization technologies - Intel-VT and AMD-V. It was also added USB support and sound. Another interesting feature that appeared in the new version is the ability to stop the guest system without unloading it. In this case, the resources allocated to the guest system are returned to the host system, and restarting the Linux or FreeBSD guest will not take much time.

If necessary, you can connect a second monitor to the guest machine or work with a Wi-Fi network (though for some reason Wi-Fi is only available when using a Linux system as a host).

In general, Parallels Workstation can be a good alternative to VMware Workstation, given its price and stability, but in terms of functionality it is still inferior to the free VirtualBox.

How we tested

For comparative testing of virtual machines, several basic parameters were selected. Firstly, this is the number of supported operating systems and architectures (both guest and host), taking into account both official and unofficial support. Secondly, performance, and both the performance of the guest system and the host running the virtual machine were taken into account. And finally, the third defining parameter is support for a variety of equipment and additional features.

In the first category, the leaders were VMware and VirtualBox. They both support Intel x86 and AMD64 architectures as a host, however, VirtualBox does not allow the use of 64-bit systems as guests, but it can work with Intel VT and AMD-V technologies (enabled in the settings). Parallels Worksta-tion does not support 64-bit systems as a host, however, like VirtualBox, it is compatible with Intel VT and AMD-V technologies. The free VirtualBox has the largest list of officially supported guest systems, but unofficially all three programs support any OS.

To test performance, three identical virtual systems based on Windows XP SP2 were created. Performance was measured using the PCMark05 program, which was run on the guest and host systems simultaneously. The settings of all programs were left at default. VMware performed best, followed by VirtualBox; the last place was taken by Parallels Workstation, which, however, loaded the system the least during operation. But it is worth noting that the difference between these three programs is minimal, and in all cases the performance of the guest system is close to that of the host.

In the last, third category, VMware won by a wide margin, literally stuffed with all sorts of additional functions, ranging from copying a finished system to video accelerator support. Apparently, it is for this reason that the size of its installation package is several times larger than that of its competitors.

Do you need to run applications developed for Mac on Windows? I really want to be one of the first to try Windows work 10 TP, but it’s no longer possible to allocate a separate partition on your hard drive for it? Nothing is impossible; virtualization, the most complex and useful technology, will help you with all this.

There is no perfect operating system. No matter what operating system we install on our PC, be it Windows, Linux or Mac, we will all find something in it that does not suit us. The imperfection of the system becomes especially noticeable when, in addition to working with documents, we have to solve more advanced tasks on a PC. If we are compulsive, then due to dissatisfaction with one already installed OS, we can easily initiate the installation of another, despite the fact that this is not the easiest and fastest procedure.

Most users, especially those who are still at the stage of mastering computer literacy, are intimidated by the task of installing several operating systems on one computer at once. Almost everything begins to confuse them: partitioning the hard drive, solving boot problems, and, not least important, they know that in order to enter the second or third installed OS, they will have to constantly restart the computer. But not everything is as bad as it seems at first glance. Such an interesting, useful and at the same time extremely complex concept as virtualization technology comes to the rescue.

The goal of virtualization is to ensure the existence and simultaneous operation of several operating systems on one computer.

Most often, virtualization is used to solve problems of the following type:

Specialists large companies use virtualization for the best and most efficient distribution of large computing power of servers;
Home users use virtualization (virtual machines) to simultaneously run several applications from different operating systems. With the help of virtual machines, the user can run Windows XP and programs written for it in another operating system, say, running on the Linux kernel. Or create a virtual Windows 8 OS on an Apple Macintosh computer.

Virtual PC – virtual machine from Microsoft

Microsoft, the developer of the most popular operating system, has developed its own virtualization system, which is designed to work exclusively in the Windows environment - this is Virtual PC 2007 for Windows XP and Vista, as well as a relatively new virtual machine Virtual PC for Windows 7. In addition to the latest version of the virtualization program, the developers have created Windows tool XP Mode, which is virtual version XP Professional. This tool allows you to run legacy applications and programs on the newer Windows 7 OS.

In Windows 8 and test Windows 10, Virtual PC was replaced by the newer Hyper-V technology, borrowed from Windows Server. This technology has a lot of differences from ordinary virtual machines, so we will devote a separate review to it.

Microsoft is not actually the developer of Virtual PC. Initially, this program was created by another company and was designed to work on Windows and Mac OS. At that time, OS/2, DOS and OS based on the Linux kernel were used as guest operating systems. When Microsoft became the sole owner of this product, it was decided to refuse support Mac program OS. Thus, all the developers' efforts were focused on the further development of Virtual PC exclusively for Windows OS. As a result, today we have a free tool for creating a virtual environment that works great on Windows as a host and guest OS. However, with all this, this tool is quite mediocre, due to the fact that it lacks various kinds of add-ons designed to interact with all other systems.

You can download it here: www. microsoft. com

VmWare virtual machine

VmWare is a leader recognized by the entire global IT community in the field of creating virtual solutions for specialists. However, the developer company has tools not only for specialists from large organizations, but also for home users - this free application VMware Player. Earlier, free program virtualization VMware Player could only launch previously created virtual machines (their images), but now it has also learned to create them. That is, the application has become a full-fledged virtualization tool. True, unlike its paid counterpart, called VMware Workstation, the functionality of the free application is somewhat limited, but we can safely say that the advanced functions of the paid version are not always needed by a home user.

VMware Player uses Linux and Windows as the main operating system, and DOS, Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and others can be used as guest operating systems. For those who are the proud owner of a Macintosh computer, the developer releases the VMware Fusion application, which in its capabilities is completely reminiscent of VMware Workstation.

One of distinctive features this application is the Unity mode (by the way, the Parallels product also has it, which we will talk about below), which is designed to hide the virtual machine window from the user’s eyes. That is, the user sees, as it were, an OS within an OS. In this case, windows opened in the guest OS of applications are displayed on the main desktop.

You can download it here: www. vmware. com

Parallels Workstation – virtualization for the home user

One of the largest players in the global virtualization market is Parallels. Its main virtualization tools are intended primarily for large service provider companies. But the developer does not disdain the home user either; for machines with Windows and Linux, the company has a virtualization program called Parallels Workstation, and for Apple machines there is a similar solution, Parallels Desktop. Unlike other developers, this company does not offer free solutions; the user will have to pay to create and run a virtual machine.

The functionality and capabilities of Parallels Workstation or Parallels Desktop fully justify the price of the application. For example, using them you can easily import virtual machines, even those that were created in other virtualization programs; in addition, the capabilities of these paid applications allow you to create, and subsequently run on other machines, images of the main virtual systems.

It is also worth noting that the company has mobile version Parallels Mobile applications for iOS. By using this version can be easily configured remote control running Parallels Desktop virtual machine on Mac OS.

You can buy it here: www. parallels.com.ru

VirtualBox – virtual machine from Oracle

One of the most common virtualization programs is VirtualBox. More than one group of developers, and not one well-known company in the IT environment, worked on the creation of this application. Currently, the product is fully owned by Oracle, which acquired it during the acquisition of the previous owner (Sun Microsystems) back in 2010. As a result of all the movements of the VirtualBox program from one owner to another, today we have a virtualization program with a large number of supported operating systems. On the official website of the program, you can download assemblies for installation on your computer for the Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Solaris platforms. By the way, these same OS can be used in VirtualBox as guests.

Overall, VirtualBox is open source, making it completely free to use. However, to obtain more advanced functionality and capabilities, say, to support the RDP protocol or the USB 3.0 standard for the guest OS, the user will need to install additional plugins, which, by the way, are also distributed free of charge, but are closed source.

You can download it here: www. virtualbox. org

From everything described above, we can draw a conclusion and focus, as it seems to us, on two virtualization programs - VirtualBox and VMware Player. These applications are enough to install additional operating systems.

A huge number of programs appearing every day make downloading and installing unknown software on a computer more and more dangerous for the system and important files on the computer. In addition, many programs that have functions necessary for the work of programmers, artists and other PC users are available only for a small number of operating systems. If you previously had to take a big risk by downloading a suspicious file from the Internet, or reinstalling the system just for the sake of one the desired program, then now there is such an OS for this as a virtual machine.

What is a virtual machine

Virtual machine - special program, which is installed on the user’s native operating system and, when launched, begins to emulate, that is, reproduce, the functions of any other operating system specified in the settings. The main convenience of such programs is the absence of the need to switch between operating systems and access to all functions of the system being reproduced. In addition, all actions performed inside the virtual machine will not affect the operation of the main system, which prevents possible computer failures.

At the moment, virtual machine developers have created programs that allow them to emulate any operating system, from early versions of Windows to Ubuntu, OS X and lesser-known axes, and also work with ready-made servers, for example, Bitrix virtual machine.

There is another, narrower understanding of the term “virtual machine”, which is common among musicians - virtual drum machine, which plays the sounds of a drum kit. This program allows you to record parts of drum instruments without using a live setup, but in special recording programs or by “revitalizing” a pre-recorded midi track, placing recorded samples of each beat under the electronic sound.

What is a virtual machine for?

The range of actions that can be performed using a virtual machine is actually very large.

The simplest thing you can do with it is to use programs that are not available for the user’s operating system or even for the PC in general. For example, an operating room emulator Android systems essentially also a virtual machine with which people run applications or games.

In addition, virtual machines are often used by programmers to test written programs. For example, to check how correctly a written algorithm works in different versions of Windows. The same applies to developers of applications for iOS and Android, who check the functionality of their developments inside emulators. For this purpose, there is a virtual machine on a flash drive, so that you can always check the functionality of the written code.

The machines are also used by less advanced users for such checks. The fact is that when emulating related operating systems, the machine can reproduce all the information contained on the computer. Therefore, if a user has to download a file from the Internet that may contain viruses, he should first check it on a virtual machine. If it plays normally on it, then you can safely open it on your native OS.

In addition, they help in corporate work, say, Bitrix virtual machines.

If we talk about virtual drum machines, they are used to record drum parts with high quality when there is a lack of funds, for example, to rent a studio. Of all the instruments, drums are the most sensitive to recording, and they are the ones that spend the most time on. In addition, the drummer may not have sufficient skill to play them smoothly, which significantly increases the cost of rent. In such a situation, the best way out would be to record the part in the program and then play it back.

What are virtual machines?

Virtual machine for Windows 10

Especially for advanced users familiar with the concept of a “virtual machine,” Microsoft made built-in emulation of other operating systems - . Initially, its functionality is blocked, but its components are easily enabled through the Control Panel.

Go to the Control Panel and go to the subsection " Programs and components" There in the window " Turning components on or off» Check the name of the Hyper-V service. After this, the virtual machine will be installed on the PC, and in the future you can launch it through the menu “ Start».

Key Benefits of Hyper-V:

built into the system, no need to download or search for anything;
has full functionality for emulating different versions of Windows, for example, 98 and other operating systems;
supports Windows versions different bits;
simple and intuitive interface.

In general, thanks to the presence of Hyper-V on Windows 10, users no longer need other similar programs. Although the utility does not require any special skills to configure, you can read more about it in the related article.

Virtual machine for Windows 7

The most popular virtual machine for Windows 7 users is Windows Virtual PC. Initially, its main functionality was intended to emulate Windows XP, so that developers could comfortably transfer programs developed for this OS to the new seven, which was just being released at that time. Subsequently, its capabilities expanded, and now Virtual PC is a separate platform that is capable of reproducing almost all existing operating systems.

Like Hyper-V, this service is built into the system natively. In order to install it, you need to go to " Start" and submenu " Programs" There you need to find a line with the name of the program and click on it. A window will open in which you can freely create, delete and perform other manipulations with the operating system emulator.

Virtual machines for Mac and other OS

In addition to those built into the seventh and tenth Windows virtual machines, third-party developers have created many other, independent utilities that have approximately the same capabilities, but differ in details. The most popular of them is Oracle VirtualBox , about which we'll talk in this part of the article.

This virtual machine can emulate all currently existing operating systems, and is also available for the most popular operating systems at the moment - Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris. You can download it from the developer’s website, having previously selected which system you need it for.

From its other analogues this program Oracle is distinguished by its wide functionality, which includes support for USB ports and their launch from an emulated machine, the ability to save the system state for instant rollback in case a critical error occurs. In fact, from the huge list of all supported features, we can conclude that by downloading Oracle VirtualBox, you can comfortably work on any operating system without any restrictions at all.

For most users, VirtualBox is a very good choice because of its practicality, reliability and functionality.

Once the application distribution is on your computer, double-click on it. This will launch the installer. In it you will need to choose which functions, in addition to the Oracle machines, are installed along with it. The list includes: the possibility of internal programming in Python, configured support for the Internet, as well as integration of USB ports. After this, just follow the instructions in the installation file until the installation of Oracle VirtualBox is completed.

Virtual drum machines

Virtual drum machines are present in the form of additional plugins that are installed and launched through a program for recording or writing music - FL Studio, Ableton, Cubase and others. The most popular drum machine emulators - EZ Drummer And Addictive Drums. Large libraries of samples for every taste, recorded by famous drummers, are freely available to them.

Creating your own virtual machine

In addition, there is also a company VMWare, which also offers users programs to create their own virtual machines. The most famous of them is called Workstation and is distributed on a paid basis. However, there are a lot of resources that offer free use of this virtual machine, both for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu. It is worth noting that the company offers a lot of additional utilities that expand the capabilities of the basic program, adding desktop management functions, broadcasting and much more. Let's look at why this virtual machine is needed.

Workstation allows you to create virtual machines that will be managed from a single center. For the most part, this tool is of interest to large companies that need to configure the same functionality of devices on a large number of computers.

One of the most important features that the VMWare virtual machine has, the so-called vSphere, which allows you not only to create and configure a virtual machine, but also to implement an entire infrastructure of such devices connected to each other. And if you have to choose, then this functionality will be very useful for large companies whose employees need to exchange data and information with each other.

All functionality of programs developed by VMWare is based not on the single use of a virtual machine, but on the formation of a network of them and a single place from where this network is controlled.

Virtualization 1C-Bitrix

Another program created for comfortable work with 1C-Bitrix products - Bitrix virtual machine, this time from domestic developers, which can also work with any PHP applications. Essentially, this program is an emulation of a website server that contains all settings for comfortable work. The finished machine can be opened in VMWare Player or other applications from this developer (there are also versions for VirtualBox and HyperV).

The program allows you to save time and get started immediately after the main platform is ready for use. In this case, the Bitrix virtual machine is installed directly into the main emulation system, integrating into its functionality and operation, which allows you to begin interacting with 1C projects immediately after installation and launch.

Which virtual machine to choose

There is no clear comparison anymore. It all depends on the user and his needs. To emulate games and check third-party software, the usual Hyper-V services and the like, built into the operating system itself, are quite sufficient. A well-tested, reliable and free option is VirtualBox. For organizations, the best virtual machines are definitely VMWare products or the Bitrix virtual machine, since they simplify doing business and interacting with employees.