Ask slashdot: Which 100+ User Virtualization Solution Should I Use? 191
Gonzalez_S writes "Let's say you need to give access to 100+ users to create their own virtual machines and devices (eg. switches, .., ms windows or linux family) in a manageable and secure way. Which virtualization solution would you choose? There are vmware, xen, kvm, .. based solutions, but which one would you prefer and why? The solution should be stable, manageable, scriptable and preferably have ldap integration. In this case I also need to setup a playground for IT students, next to hosting production servers on the same system."
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't agree. There is nothing really unique to virtualization, it's just really interdisciplinary, storage, network engineering, wintel admin, Linux admin, physical datacenter management, etc on these scales. Nothing anyone who has been in IT for awhile and worn a few hats in that time can't be expected to do so reading and then get started.
It is a useful question to ask though, at least several of the products mentioned can likely meet his needs, there are qualitative and technical differences and soliciting some info on he experience of others, to help direct his research effort is not unreasonable
Sounds like a job for..... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:4, Insightful)
If you have to be so arrogant and pretend to know what is best without research or asking other I.T. professionals then I have to say you are not doing yours and neither are the moderators who made this +4??
Stating that you are not qualified is also highly insulting and ruins the quality of candid discussion on Slashdot that I do like and enjoy reading the comments.
In fact regardless of the field I do not know of anyone who is competent who does not look to others with more expertise in a specific area for opinions. No matter how badass you think you are at your job there is always someone who knows more than you. Especially in a particularly area such as this case virtualization.
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:3, Insightful)
Nah, it's called getting a set of basic user requirements and then looking through a set of products to see which match the list.
"That worked so well!!", said no one who ever did that ever.
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:5, Insightful)
Or an expert for that matter?
I have setup VMware before but I sure as hell would ask others before I put live production and recommend an expensive solution and put my job on the line for 100 users. Google will show just search engine optimized crap of people trying to see stuff anyway and it is hard to tell which is real and which is a fake website pulling data from another designed to pimp up the ratings of a 2nd website.
Windows 7 forums are copied by bots all the time and put in fake ad/malware ridden sites with links to someone trying to sell something to get a higher Google SEO rating whenever I try to search for something technical. It is annoying.
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:5, Insightful)
"Even if it's just for students to play with: If you have to ask us, then you're not qualified to do your job."
You seem to suffer under the impression that US schools have the money to hire top specialists.
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:If you have to ask /. (Score:4, Insightful)
Gotta step in somewhere.
My first response halfway through Gonzalez' post was "Oh, yeah, he's an instructor, maybe at a community college, and he's in charge of getting this thing up and running." Next thought, "He's done no homework other than learning the names of some virtualization methods/engines and wants the smart folks on /. to do it for him." Clinched with the last two sentences.
Then, before delving into all the helpful posts thus far, I figured it was also possible he'd done a bit of swotting up and reached the point where he's brain-burnt, confused and maybe over his head. As another here has said, simply trying to use Google to get to sources for decent advice or real infos can be... disheartening.
Finally, since we all plopped out of the womb knowing little more than how to suck, poop, and cry, it's not unreasonable to ask those who might know more, or who've been in the same boat, for any useful info, pointers, advices, which lead him to right here and now.
Now to continue reading, see if anything interesting and useful shows up.
Re:VMware hypervisor for virtualization. (Score:5, Insightful)
OP: You can do what you want with a simple install of ubuntu and 20 minutes worth of bash to get a prototype together.
Prototypes are easy; there are a lot of problems you don't have to worry about like bad neighbors on a VM host, or proper failover and reliability considerations.
The author said secure and manageable.
It's hard to imagine something as less manageable than "You have to write your own code" just to even get a working prototype.
And it's hard to imagine something less secure from an availability perspective than... "I just cobbled together some ad-hoc failover code in bash"