IT support: Seven alternatives to VirtualBox

1

VirtualBox

Virtualization is a very common way for businesses to save money on server hardware or for home users to run alternative operating systems on a single computer. One of the more popular programs is VirtualBox. It is free for home use and very good at what it does but it isn’t the only kid on the block. Today’s IT support post will explore seven alternative to VirtualBox just in case you feel like a change.

#Virtualization #Cloud Computing #Virtual Machine Management 32 social mentions

2

VMware Workstation

VMware Workstation Pro is an enterprise level application and is one of the most established names in virtualization. It costs money but is very stable and has multiple uses across IT from development, testing to making the most of a server. The system does take a lot of configuration, but once set up, is very reliable and stable. It can emulate mobile or tablets, allows for resource sharing and a range of other advanced features.

#Virtualization #Cloud Computing #Virtual Machine Management

3

Workstation Player

While cheaper than Pro, VMware Workstation Player is still $150 for a license so it only worth the investment if you use virtualization a lot or provide lower level IT support. As an added benefit, if you just want to experiment with virtualization at home, there is a free non-commercial version you can download.

#Cloud Computing #Virtualization #Virtual Machine Management

4

Parallels

Parallels is a MacOS X version of VirtualBox designed specifically to run Windows within a Mac. It is a very accomplished program that works well within the Mac environment and offers a stable shell to run Windows. Parallels is straightforward to configure and is a very polished product. While not as feature-packed as VMware Workstation Pro, it is nowhere near as expensive either.

#Virtualization #Cloud Computing #Virtual Machine Management 5 social mentions

5

QEMU

QEMU is a free, open source virtualization platform that is very powerful in its use. QEMU stands for Quick Emulator and it certainly lives up to its billing. It works with Linux, Mac OS X and Windows either as host or guest and is quite stable. Despite being open source, QEMU is still supported and developed and is very capable. It is simple to install and configure and just works.

#Virtualization #Cloud Computing #Virtual Machine Management 3 social mentions

6

microsoft.com Windows Virtual PC

Windows Virtual PC is exactly what the title says it is. Virtualization software that runs on a Windows PC. Produced by Microsoft, this software runs only in Windows and will only support Windows guests. So no running Mac OS or Linux from this shell. The upside is that it is free and works seamlessly within Windows as it should.

#Virtualization #Windows Virtualization #Virtualization Platform

XenServer is our final alternative to VirtualBox. It is another open source platform that lends itself well to running multiple OS on a single host. Once owned and run by Citrix, the program is now free for home use and has a premium version for more involved environments.

XenServer is our final alternative to VirtualBox. It is another open source platform that lends itself well to running multiple OS on a single host. Once owned and run by Citrix, the program is now free for home use and has a premium version for more involved environments.