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KVM

Stacks172

Followers217

+ 1

Votes8

VirtualBox

Stacks29.3K

Followers24K

+ 1

Votes1.1K

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KVM vs VirtualBox: What are the differences?

Developers describe KVM as "Kernel-based Virtual Machine is a full virtualization solution for Linux". KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). On the other hand, VirtualBox is detailed as "Run nearly any operating system on a single machine and to freely switch between OS instances running simultaneously". VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.

KVM and VirtualBox can be categorized as "Virtualization Platform" tools.

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Pros of KVM

Pros of VirtualBox

4
No license issues
2
Very fast
2
Flexible network options

358
Free
231
Easy
169
Default for vagrant
110
Fast
73
Starts quickly
45
Open-source
42
Running in background
41
Simple, yet comprehensive
27
Default for boot2docker
22
Extensive customization
3
Free to use
2
Mouse integration
2
Easy tool
2
Cross-platform

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What is KVM?

KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V).

What is VirtualBox?

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.

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What companies use KVM?

What companies use VirtualBox?

See which teams inside your own company are using KVM or VirtualBox.

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What tools integrate with KVM?

What tools integrate with VirtualBox?

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What are some alternatives to KVM and VirtualBox?

Qemu

When used as a machine emulator, it can run OSes and programs made for one machine (e.g. an ARM board) on a different machine (e.g. your own PC). By using dynamic translation, it achieves very good performance. When used as a virtualizer, it achieves near native performance by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. it supports virtualization when executing under the Xen hypervisor or using the KVM kernel module in Linux. When using KVM, it can virtualize x86, server and embedded PowerPC, 64-bit POWER, S390, 32-bit and 64-bit ARM, and MIPS guests.

OpenVZ

Virtuozzo leverages OpenVZ as its core of a virtualization solution offered by Virtuozzo company. Virtuozzo is optimized for hosters and offers hypervisor (VMs in addition to containers), distributed cloud storage, dedicated support, management tools, and easy installation.

Xen

It is a hypervisor using a microkernel design, providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently. It was developed by the Linux Foundation and is supported by Intel.

Docker

The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere

LXC

LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers.

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KVM vs VirtualBox

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Pros of KVM

Pros of VirtualBox

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What is KVM?

What is VirtualBox?

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What companies use KVM?

What companies use VirtualBox?

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What tools integrate with KVM?

What tools integrate with VirtualBox?

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