Gourt Home::Gourt :: Comparison of virtual machines
The table below compares basic information about virtual machine packages, including: creator, guest systems supported, license, etc. Note that these are all Virtual Machines in the 'hypervisor' or 'hardware emulator' sense. None of them are VMs in the application virtualization sense as the Java Virtual Machine or Parrot virtual machine. For those, see Comparison of Application Virtual Machines.
| Name | Creator | Host Processor | Guest Processor | Host OS | Officially supported guest OS | Guest OS SMP available? | Runs Arbitrary OS? | Drivers for supported guest OS available? | Method of operation | License | Typical use | Guest OS speed relative to Host OS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bochs | Kevin Lawton | Intel x86, x86_64, Sparc, PowerPC, Alpha, MIPS | Intel x86, x86_64 | Windows, Linux, OS X, IRIX, AIX, BeOS | DOS, Windows, xBSD, Linux | Emulation | LGPL | Hobbyist, Developer | Very slow | |||
| Colinux | Dan Aloni helped by others developers 1 | Intel x86, others? | (Same as parent) | Windows NT (NT, 2000, XP, Server 2003), Linux? | Linux | some are supported | Porting | GPL version 2 | used as a separate machine for a server or with X11 networking | Native | ||
| Denali | University of Washington* | Intel x86 | Intel x86 | Denali | Ilwaco, NetBSD | Paravirtualization and Porting | Research | Slow | ||||
| DOSBox | Peter Veenstra and Sjoerd with community help | Intel x86, x86_64, Sparc, PowerPC, Alpha, MIPS | Intel x86 | GNU/Linux, Windows, Mac OS Classic, Mac OS X, BeOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, QNX, IRIX | Internally emulated DOS shell | Emulation using Dynamic Translation or interpretation. | GPL | execution of DOS applications, especially games | Extremely slow - though speed is completely irrelevant for targeted emulated applications | |||
| DOSEMU | Community Project | Intel x86 | Intel x86 | Linux | DOS | Hardware virtualization | GPL version 2 | Legacy application support | Native | |||
| FreeVPS | PSoft | Intel x86, AMD x86_64 / EM64T | compatible | Linux | RedHat and its clones (CentOS, WhiteBox and other), Trustix, Debian | n/a | Operating system-level virtualization | GPL version 2 | Hosting, Service separation, Security | Native | ||
| GUSS | guss-hackers | Intel x86 | Intel x86 | GNU/Linux | GNU/Linux | ? | ? | ? | ? | GPL | ? | ? |
| Integrity Virtual Machine | Hewlett- Packard | Itanium | Itanium | HP-UX | HP-UX (Linux, Windows, OpenVMS announced) | (4-way) | Unnecessary | Virtualization | Proprietary | Server consolidation | Near native | (no guest additions necessary)|
| Jail | FreeBSD | Intel x86, | compatible | FreeBSD | FreeBSD | N/A | Operating system-level virtualization | FreeBSD | Hosting, Service separation, Security | Native | ||
| Linux- VServer | Community Project | Intel x86, x86_64, IA64, Alpha, PPC/64, hppa/64, sparc/64, ARM, s390/x, sh/66, MIPS | compatible | Linux | Linux Distributions | N/A | Operating system-level virtualization | GPL version 2 | Hosting, Service separation, Security | Native | ||
| Mac on Linux | Mac On Linux * | PowerPC | PowerPC | Linux | Mac OS X, Mac OS 7.5.2 to 9.2.2, Linux | Virtualization | GPL | Native | ||||
| OpenVZ | Community project, supported by SWsoft | Intel x86, x86_64 | Intel x86, x86_64 | Linux | Fedora Core, Red Hat, CentOS, SUSE, Debian, Gentoo, etc. | Compatible | Operating system-level virtualization | GPL | Virtualized Server Isolation | Native | ||
| Parallels Workstation | Parallels, Inc. | Intel x86, Intel VT-x | Intel x86 | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, eComStation, MS-DOS, Solaris | Virtualization, Lightweight Hypervisor | Proprietary | Hobbyist, Developer, Tester, Business workstation | Near native | |||
| PearPC | Sebastian Biallas | x86, x86_64 | PowerPC | Windows, Linux | OS X, Darwin, Linux | Emulation using Dynamic Translation | GPL | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation | 10% host CPU speed | |||
| QEMU | Fabrice Bellard | Intel x86, x86_64, IA64, PowerPC, Alpha, Sparc 32 and 64, ARM, S390, m68k | Intel x86, x86_64, ARM, Sparc 32 and 64, PowerPC, MIPS | Windows, Linux, OS X, FreeBSD | Changes regularly * | Dynamic Recompilation | GPL/LGPL | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation, Server | 10 to 20% host CPU speed * | |||
| QEMU w/ kqemu module | Fabrice Bellard | Intel x86, x86-64 | Same as host | Linux, FreeBSD, Windows | Changes regularly * | Virtualization | Proprietary | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation, Server | Near native | |||
| QEMU w/ qvm86 module | Paul Brook | x86 | x86 | Linux, Windows | Changes regularly | Virtualization | GPL | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation, Server | Near native | |||
| Name | Creator | Host Processor | Guest Processor | Host OS | Officially supported guest OS | Guest OS SMP available? | Runs Arbitrary OS | Drivers for supported guest OS available? | Method of operation | License | Typical use | Guest OS speed relative to Host OS |
| SVISTA 2004 | Serenity Systems International | Intel x86 | Intel x86 | Windows, OS/2, Linux, FreeBSD | Proprietary | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation | ||||||
| TRANGO | TRANGO Systems, Grenoble, France | ARM, XScale, MIPS, PowerPC | Paravirtualized ARM, MIPS, PowerPC | none: bare metal execution, Linux or Windows as dev. hosts | Linux, eCos, µC/OS-II | Paravirtualization and Porting or Hardware Virtualization | Proprietary | Mob. phone, STB, routers, etc. | Native | |||
| View-OS | Renzo Davoli helped by other developers * | Intel x86, PPC, x86_64 (in progress) | (Same as parent) | Linux 2.6+ | Linux executables | N/A | Partial Virtualization through syscall trapping | GPL version 2 | security, isolation, testing, mobility | Near native (better with ptrace kernel patch) | ||
| User Mode Linux | Jeff Dike helped by other developers | Intel x86, others? | (Same as parent) | Linux | Linux | ?? | ?? | Porting | GPL version 2 | used as a separate machine for a server or with X11 networking | Slow | |
| Virtual PC 2004 | Microsoft | Intel x86 | Intel x86 | Windows | DOS, Windows, OS/2 | Virtualization (guest calls trapping where supported) | Proprietary (free from Jul 2006) | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation | Near native with Virtual Machine additions | |||
| VirtualPC 7 for Mac | Microsoft | PPC | Intel x86 | OS X | Windows, OS/2, Linux | Dynamic Recompilation (guest calls trapping where supported) | Proprietary | Hobbyist, Developer, Business workstation | Slow | |||
| Virtual Server 2005 R2 | Microsoft | Intel x86 | Intel x86 | Windows 2003, XP | Windows NT, 2000, 2003, UNIX, Linux | Virtualization (guest calls trapping where supported) | Proprietary (Free) | Server, Server Farm | Near native with Virtual Machine additions | |||
| Virtuozzo | SWsoft | Intel x86, IA64, x86_64 | Intel x86, IA64, x86_64 | Linux & Windows | Fedora Core, Red Hat, CentOS, SuSE, Debian; Windows | Compatible | Operating system-level virtualization | Proprietary | Server Consolidation, Disaster Recover, Service Providers | Native | ||
| VMware ESX Server 3.0 | VMware | Intel x86, x86_64 | Intel x86, x86_64 | none (bare metal install) | Windows, RedHat, SuSE, FreeBSD, Netware | (Add-on) (up to 4 way) | Virtualization | Proprietary | Enterprise Server Consolidation, Business Continuity, Dev/Test | Native | ||
| VMware ESX Server 2.5.3 | VMware | Intel x86, x86_64 | Intel x86 | none (bare metal install) | Windows, RedHat, SuSE, FreeBSD, Netware | (Add-on) (2 way) | Virtualization | Proprietary | Enterprise Server Consolidation, Business Continuity, Dev/Test | Native | ||
| VMware Server | VMware | Intel x86, x86_64 | Intel x86, x86_64 | Windows, Linux | DOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Netware, Solaris, Virtual Appliances* | Virtualization | Proprietary (Free) | Server/Desktop Consolidation, Dev/Test | Near native with VMware Tools | |||
| VMware Workstation 5.5 | VMware | Intel x86, x86_64 | Intel x86, x86_64 | Windows, Linux | DOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Netware, Solaris, Virtual Appliances* | Virtualization | Proprietary | Technical Professional, Advanced Dev/Test, Trainer | Near native with VMware Tools | |||
| VMware Player | VMware | Intel x86, x86_64 | Intel x86, x86_64 | Windows, Linux | DOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Netware, Solaris, Virtual Appliances* | Virtualization | Proprietary (free) | Technical Professional, Advanced Dev/Test, Trainer, End User (Prebuild Machines) | Near native with VMware Tools | |||
| Xen | University of Cambridge, Intel, AMD | Intel x86, x86_64, (PPC and IA64 ports in progress) | (Same as parent) | NetBSD, Linux | Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Windows XP & 2003 Server (needs vers. 3.0 and a Vanderpool or Pacifica-capable CPU), Plan 9 | - NetBSD/Linux Kernel | Paravirtualization and Porting or Hardware Virtualization | GPL | Native | |||
| z/VM | IBM | z/Architecture | z/Architecture and predecessors | None or itself, single or multiple levels/versions deep, e.g. VM/ESA running inside z/VM 4.4 inside z/VM 5.2 inside z/VM 5.1. | Linux on zSeries, z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, z/VM, MUSIC/SP, and predecessors | , both real and virtual (guest perceives more CPUs than installed), incl. dynamic CPU provisioning and reassignment | , but not required | Virtualization (uniquely hardware-assisted and complete) | Proprietary, one-time charge plus optional maintenance/support | All purposes | Best, owing to unique mainframe hardware co-evolution. Common to run thousands of VMs on a single system, one or more per user. | |
| Zones | Sun Microsystems OpenSolaris | Intel x86, AMD64, UltraSparc, Sparc64 | compatible | Solaris | Solaris, Linux (BrandZ) | N/A | Operating system-level virtualization | CDDL (Free) | Business, Development, Enterprise Server Consolidation, Hosting, Service separation, Security, Isolation | Native | ||
| Name | Creator | Host Processor | Guest Processor | Host OS | Officially supported guest OS | Guest OS SMP available? | Runs Arbitrary OS? | Supported guest OS drivers? | Method of operation | License | Typical use | Speed relative to Host OS |
- Requires patches/recompiling
- Native speed occurs because code is being run as if without a VM
"Comparison of virtual machines"