xen discuss - Feb 2008 - Windows 2003 Server in a Solaris-hosted VM?

Hi all,

I (or rather, my client) have a need to run a Solaris machine and
a machine running Windoze server 2003 (don''t ask...).  Obviously
this could be achieved by using two separate servers, but I was
wondering if there was a way to achieve this by running some sort
of VM inside a non-global zone.

So the question is: is it possible to run Windoze 2003 server inside
a Solaris zone (like a Banded Zone), presumably using some sort of
VM technology?  (And what about Windoze XP Pro?)  Would VirtualBox
running in a zone do the trick?

Many TIA,

-- 
Rich Teer, SCSA, SCNA, SCSECA, OGB member

CEO,
My Online Home Inventory

URLs: http://www.rite-group.com/rich
      http://www.linkedin.com/in/richteer
      http://www.myonlinehomeinventory.com

Yes, you should be able to run Windows 2003 or XP in virtualbox. I know 
it''s possible to run virtualbox inside a zone, but there is some
hacking
needed to get initial access to the kernel driver''s pseudo device.

Why do you need to run virtualbox in a zone? The VM provides enough 
isolation from the rest of the system, whereby I''d think that running
it
in the global zone gives enough security from windows activity.

Rich Teer wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I (or rather, my client) have a need to run a Solaris machine and
> a machine running Windoze server 2003 (don''t ask...).  Obviously
> this could be achieved by using two separate servers, but I was
> wondering if there was a way to achieve this by running some sort
> of VM inside a non-global zone.
> 
> So the question is: is it possible to run Windoze 2003 server inside
> a Solaris zone (like a Banded Zone), presumably using some sort of
> VM technology?  (And what about Windoze XP Pro?)  Would VirtualBox
> running in a zone do the trick?
> 
> Many TIA,
>

> Hi all,
>
> I (or rather, my client) have a need to run a Solaris machine and
> a machine running Windoze server 2003 (don''t ask...).  Obviously
> this could be achieved by using two separate servers, but I was
> wondering if there was a way to achieve this by running some sort
> of VM inside a non-global zone.
>
> So the question is: is it possible to run Windoze 2003 server inside
> a Solaris zone (like a Banded Zone), presumably using some sort of
> VM technology?  (And what about Windoze XP Pro?)  Would VirtualBox
> running in a zone do the trick?
>
> Many TIA,
>
> --
> Rich Teer, SCSA, SCNA, SCSECA, OGB member
>
> CEO,
> My Online Home Inventory
>
> URLs: http://www.rite-group.com/rich
>       http://www.linkedin.com/in/richteer
>       http://www.myonlinehomeinventory.com
> _______________________________________________
> xen-discuss mailing list
> xen-discuss@opensolaris.org
>
Hi Rich.

Currently you must use xVM (Xen) on OpenSolaris to run non-modified
guests.  The brand-z guests have been modified to line up with the Solaris
syscalls.  The host must have hardware virtualization support, such as
AMD-V or Intel VT. (AMD Opteron 1218 or better, and Intel Core 2 or
better)

As for VirtualBox, I am unsure how exactly it would run considering the
restriction of privileges and syscalls in zones, as they are not bare
metal.  It would be somewhat similar to trying to run Qemu or Xen under
VMware Server.  You could use Bochs or Qemu to emulate the OS, but the
performance isn''t even comparable to xVM.  xVM''s performance
is not so
great right now, they are mainly focused on making it work properly,
tuning it later.  This will not work in zones as it requires access to the
hardware VT extensions.  Open-source systems which can be modified will
work without VT, and theoretically under a zone with due time.  There are
no guest drivers for Windows, and in addition to bad performance (Mainly
disk I/O issues with the disk format IMHO) there''s no mouse
syncrhonization, no framebuffer.  On a high end system, such as a AMD
Barcelona or QX6600+ with 4GB ram and 10k SCSI''s, the performance will
probably be enough.  For myself, I have a Ultra-20 M2 with 1218 (Dual
core) and 2GB ram with 7200RPM disks, and my main gripe is the access time
for basic usage, it''s terrible.  VirtualBox should be a little better
since it, like VMware is targetted for Windows in the performance aspect. 
xVM is a general-purpose attempt at an emulator/translator/virtualizer and
thus suffers from being too generalized.  There is other options for
virtualization under OpenSolaris/Solaris, at a decent price, but they
won''t run under a zone either.  xVM is still not mature enough and
supported well enough to be comparable to VMware or other solutions, and
thus shouldn''t be an option for your customers.

James