Colin Paul Adams wrote:
I shall be getting a new 64-bit machine next month. Since it will have plenty of spare capacity, after initially installing Fedora 8, I intend to install some virtual machines with KVM. Is there anything I should plan for when I do my initial Fedora 8 install? I'm thinking particularly of disk partitions. Do I need to reserve additional partitions for the virtual machines, or do these get emulated somehow?
It's best to reserve some disk space. If you're using LVM this is relatively easy -- just make sure that (eg.) LogVol00 doesn't extend over the whole physical disk, which will give you some space to play with.
If you didn't do that, then there are two options for you: (1) Resize your main partition down, or (2) Use regular files as disk images for the guests.Option (1) is complicated and potentially you can end up deleting all your data by accident. Option (2) is really slow.
Other things to bare in mind for KVM:(a) Make sure that the 64 bit processor that you buy supports virtualization (it's a hardware feature), _and_ that the BIOS/motherboard you are using allows it to be enabled. Sometimes the BIOS disables this feature and you need a BIOS update to enable it. Sometimes the BIOS just doesn't support it at all.[i]
(b) Lots of RAM.(c) Plenty of disk space. Each OS you install is going to need an absolute _minimum_ of 4-8 GB, and a lot more if you want to run Windows.
You might want to make a plan now for how many guests you intend to install, how much space you'll give each one, etc.
Rich. [i] http://www.mail-archive.com/libvir-list@xxxxxxxxxx/msg01259.html -- Emerging Technologies, Red Hat - http://et.redhat.com/~rjones/ Registered Address: Red Hat UK Ltd, Amberley Place, 107-111 Peascod Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1TE, United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales under Company Registration No. 03798903
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