On 11/25/05, David Cary Hart <Fedora@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > This is an exercise in intellectual curiosity. Do I understand the > concept correctly? > > I see two possible applications: > > 1) Running instances of FC4 and FC5 beta as virtual machines. > Does this make sense? > > 2) Splitting a server into functional virtual machines. For > example, an instance running postfix, an instance running httpd > and an instance for rbldnsd. > > a) Does this improve performance? > b) Is it safe on a production server? All your examples are possible. I don't think Xen improves performance in any way. It causes less of a hit than User-Mode Linux, however. Mostly it's for server consolidation/segregation. You know, you have a really pwerful piece of hardware and you want a RedHat server AND a Debian Server for some reason. Or you want complete virtual separation between a mail server and a DB server, but it's convenient to run them on the same box. It's certainly used in production situations ... plenty of hosting providers offer "virtual dedicated servers" running under Xen.
