Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I stumbled on this program and downloaded the free version. The newest one fully supports 64bit OS. It seems too good to be true, honestly. It puts whatever you specify in a "sandbox" which totally isolates it from the system. Now you can supposedly install software without it even affecting your system. I'm trying it as I type, but I'm curious as to anyone else's experience with it. I've used Deep Freeze for years, which works great, but this seems a little more convenient.

I read about it not too long ago and wanted to try it but at the time all I had was the PC I use for work and a couple of Linux laptops. I had not even thought another thing about it until I read it here. I now have a Vista and 7 PC and I might consider trying it.

Yeah, give the free version a shot. I think you'll really like it. If you like to tinker with new programs, this is perfect. The only downside is that if you must install programs with drivers, it won't work. What I like about it more, though, is that you can sandbox your browsers. I'm shocked at the junk it catches that I'm not even aware of.

When I was testing some software for work I used Reflect I think that it was by Macrium. It worked for what I needed it to because I was installing and reinstalling trial software that didn't like to be reinstalled. But it was pretty limited. All it did was a restore to a snapshot. That was when I started using VirtualBox. It's slow but I could control what happened in it a lot easier and save if I wanted.

From a little reading, with Sandboxie after 30 days you will get pop ups requesting that you purchase the license. Have you had this happen yet?

Ha, hadn't been using it that long, yet. That's unfortunate to hear, though. I guess when it comes down to that, I may uninstall. Not sure if I'll buy it, but it sure is handy.

Actually, it works similar to Reflect, in that it uses a system image to do its work on. The same goes for things like Deep Freeze and SteadyState, though those two are different in that you boot from that image, not the actual drive. The problem with SteadyState (it's free from Microsoft) is that it isn't compatible with Windows 7 yet. Deep Freeze was used on a public computer at a hotel I visited and I got to see it in action. Sandboxie has that virtualization within the current OS without having to boot into the virtualized drive.

I cannot live without ESXi. I normally keep several Linux and Windows Servers virtualized at all times.

What are the benefits of VMware ESXi?

I am as far from the bleeding edge of software as anyone interested in computers can be. It's technically not part of my career even though I get involved in some minor things from time to time, all the things I know about pretty much comes from RSS feeds or sites that I visit regularly.

ESXi is a bare metal hypervisor. Meaning it interfaces directly with the hardware. As far as running multiple virtual machines, nothing does it better. The downside is it can be picky on what hardware will work.

ESXi does not load on top of an OS, it is the OS. So when you go to an ESXi server, all you see is a Linux screen, no interface. You completely control it from another workstation. ESXi is the little brother of ESX. ESX is a full blown multiple server badass hypervisor. V-Motion is about the coolest thing in virtualization. Basically you can move a VM between servers while it is running and the users never even know it.

Sounds like wicked virtualization .

Well, crap. You were right about the nag screen, Scott. It does appear in the free version. It remains functional, but the nag pops up whenever you start it. I hate that. Not really willing or able to shell out the cash for it at the moment, so I'm going to uninstall. I'll definitely consider it in the future, though.

You guys know VM Ware server is free, probably does what you want.

snoopdog wrote:ESXi does not load on top of an OS, it is the OS. So when you go to an ESXi server, all you see is a Linux screen, no interface. You completely control it from another workstation. ESXi is the little brother of ESX. ESX is a full blown multiple server badass hypervisor. V-Motion is about the coolest thing in virtualization. Basically you can move a VM between servers while it is running and the users never even know it.

So I would install ESXi then Windows and any other appliance that I might need/want? If windows is already installed would I have to reinstall after ESXi?

Just remember what I said, the ESXi cannot be used as a workstation. It is a server, sits in a cornet, etc.

snoopdog wrote:You guys know VM Ware server is free, probably does what you want.

So, what do I need? VMWare Player?

Player does that....plays.

You need server.

http://www.vmware.com/products/server/

I also want to add this. ESX3 and ESXi3, also the new VSphere which is ESXi and ESX version 4 have one other requirement worth mentioning.

To run the hypervisor you will need certain things.

A CPU with either Intel VT technology or AMD pacifica technology, these will be in your newer chips. Most of your Quad cores and even some of your dual cores. Flagship chips like the Q6600 and Q9550 has this technology embedded in the chip. ESXi likes either hardware based raid or Intel hard drive controllers in native mode, you cannot have onboard AHCI or raid enabled, it will not see your drives then. Also most any onboard network card will be ignored, unless you have something rare with an Intel NIC, like maybe some Dells.

If you really want to give ESXi a spin, turn off your raid on your motherboard, pop in either a Broadcom or Intel NIC and give it a shot. Yes the requirements make it a pain in the ass but there is a method to there madness. With so small of support for hardware, the kernel is small, fast and streamlined. If you are totally serious about running it then get with me and I will make some recommendations on cheap hardware. I personally picked up some PCIe broadcom nics cheap off Ebay and own 2 Dell Perc 5i raid controllers, also from Ebay.....a cheap way that makes a super fast machine. Recently I picked up a Xeon W3520 and some DDR3 to upgrade mine.

This picture is the last one I have of the ESXi server. I am about to rebuild it. The shot you see is with 8 1.5tb WD Greens and several 1tb greens. I think when that shot was taken there was a total of 10 drives and 8gb of ram. Next step is 12gb of ram, with a total of 24gb possible. Also I will be putting in 6 x 640gb Westerns in a Raid 10 array and the 8 1.5tb drives will remain in a raid 5 array. I will be using two Perc 5i controllers to do this.