Virtualization notes

As with so many other technologies, the more free, open and standard you can make virtualization the better it works. If you're not conversant on virtualization, it's basically a way to create a "virtual" PC running inside software on your computer. So, you could be running Linux, and create a virtual PC on which you can install and run Windows (for example). I've written about virtualization before (see this article at CPU Magazine) but I'm sure I'll be doing it again.

Here's an article about VirtualBox vs VMware or Virtual PC , which gave me a nudge to go back and look more deeply, again, into virtualization. Here are a bunch of links that'll help you jump right into the virtualization party:

• Installing virtual machines on Ubuntu, to run Windows applications
• A link to an article hosted by virtual software vendor VMware explaining what virtualization is all about
• Here's a Linux virtualization wiki with all kinds of answers about different open source virtualization technologies, tools, projects, and how to use them with different popular Linux distributions
• From IBM's most excellent Developer Works, an excellent introduction to Linux Virtualization
• Here's an article published by Red Hat, by Jeremy Katz, Xen, Virtualization on Linux
• Linux virtualization has a web site, linuxvirtualization.com
• VirtualBox is an open source (GPL) project for virtualization (hosted by virtualization software vendor innotek GmbH)

As the virtualization story continues to evolve (and as I get more time) I'll report back with more details and links on how to do it and how it works.