amuck-landowner

What virtualization are you using? OpenVZ, Xen, or KVM?

MannDude

Just a dude
vpsBoard Founder
Moderator
Customers and providers, what virtualization methods are you using? You can choose more than one option if you've got multiple VPSes  using different virtualization.

Personally, I've now got 3X KVM boxes, 1 Xen, and a quite a few of OpenVZ VPSes.
 

wdq

Quade
I'm a customer that will almost always go with OpenVZ, but still has quite a few KVM machines for various things. I used to use Xen, but don't really use it much anymore. 
 

texteditor

Premium Buffalo-based Hosting
All 3, currently trying to move away from OpenVZ, but wishing more Xen-PV providers were available
 

HalfEatenPie

The Irrational One
Retired Staff
Ok so I picked both OpenVZ and KVM and I'll tell you why.

OpenVZ has it's benefits.  Because it's para-virtualization it uses less ram straight out of the starting line.  You're able to allocate it resources as it needs, and by that I mean in terms of actual VMs on the server that are in use (aka I am talking about Overselling in a way), but in a method that allows more density per server.  

KVM has it's benefits because it's full virtualization.  This allows for (a bit better) privacy and allows you to also run BSDs and Windows (or basically any OS really).  It also makes it more difficult for your next door neighbor to screw up what you're doing (although it can still happen, but you just feel less of it).  

In reality, I use OpenVZ if I trust the provider and know that they won't fiddle around with my data.  KVM for some more HA needs (just out of habit).  I used Xen for a bit while I was with vr.org and a few other sites but never really warmed up to it.  
 

SeriesN

Active Member
Verified Provider
Only reason I dislike KVM is because "some advanced" users will open a ticket complaing about benchmarks why dd results  ~100mb Mb/s and how that is ruining their no traffic million dollar business site -_-

As an end user, I will go for OpenVZ (as long as I trust and know the provider won't snoop through my files). In any scenario when I have to use KVM, always opted in for Dedicated server.
 
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wlanboy

Content Contributer
Most of the time I am using OpenVZ.

I do have two KVM boxes too - but only because of the hassles Java can cause on a not perfect done OpenVZ setup.
 

drmike

100% Tier-1 Gogent
As an end user/customer, mostly using OpenVZ since most offers are based on such.

On my own dedicated servers, been using ProxMox for a while.

On the desktop/workstation, using Virtualbox for testing instances, small isolated "containers", perfecting installations for remote servers, etc.
 

Boltersdriveer

Member
Verified Provider
Hosting OpenVZ servers at this time and using them as well. Had OpenVZ servers with several providers, and KVM with Backupsy for my backup sessions as one of my first KVM boxes.
 

H_Heisenberg

New Member
For web hosting & game servers I use OpenVZ or Virtuozzo, perferrable with the RHEL 6 kernel, because it's easy to use, fast & very flexible. I can easily wipe out a container and reinstall a fresh system without having to spend hours for the whole process. Of course OpenVZ/Virtuozzo is limited but I think it's doing really fine and enough for web hosting. My only concern is the security. A hacked node opens my files to everyone. 

KVM is actually my favorite virtualization technology. No limits. You can use any kernel/OS you want. You can encrypt the drive = high security. The resource dedication is also a important feature. And the performance of KVM VPSs is just awesome. I've had a few KVMs so far. One from Carstenzs Pyramid Server and from other providers. Worked out very well.
 
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