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LXC

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OpenVZ

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LXC vs OpenVZ: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between LXC and OpenVZ, two popular containerization technologies used in virtualization.

  1. Containerization Technology: LXC (Linux Containers) is a lightweight virtualization method that utilizes the Linux kernel's cgroups and namespaces to create isolated containers. OpenVZ, on the other hand, is a containerization solution that uses a modified version of the Linux kernel to provide virtualization.

  2. Kernel Requirement: LXC requires a host system to be running a Linux kernel with specific features enabled, such as cgroups and namespaces. In contrast, OpenVZ requires the host system to run a custom Linux kernel that has been modified to support containerization.

  3. Ease of Installation: LXC is relatively easier to install and set up compared to OpenVZ. LXC is available in the mainline Linux kernel, making it easily accessible without the need for additional kernel modules. OpenVZ, however, requires a specific kernel version and additional packages to be installed.

  4. User Isolation: LXC provides better user isolation compared to OpenVZ. With LXC, each container has its own individual user namespace, allowing for better security and isolation of user processes. OpenVZ, on the other hand, shares the user namespace among all containers, leading to potential security risks.

  5. Operating System Compatibility: LXC supports a wider range of Linux distributions as both the host and guest operating systems. This flexibility allows for greater compatibility with different Linux distributions. OpenVZ, on the other hand, is limited to specific kernel versions and supports a narrower set of Linux distributions.

  6. Resource Management: LXC provides more fine-grained control over resource management compared to OpenVZ. LXC supports the use of cgroups to allocate and limit resources such as CPU, memory, and disk space for each container individually. OpenVZ has more limited control over resource allocation and may have less granularity in managing resources.

In summary, LXC and OpenVZ differ in their containerization technology, kernel requirement, ease of installation, user isolation, operating system compatibility, and resource management capabilities.

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Pros of OpenVZ
  • 5
    Easy to use
  • 4
    Lightweight
  • 3
    Simple and powerful
  • 3
    Good security
  • 2
    LGPL
  • 1
    Reliable
  • 1
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    What is 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.

    What is 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.

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    What companies use LXC?
    What companies use OpenVZ?
    See which teams inside your own company are using LXC or OpenVZ.
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    What tools integrate with LXC?
    What tools integrate with OpenVZ?
    What are some alternatives to LXC and OpenVZ?
    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
    LXD
    LXD isn't a rewrite of LXC, in fact it's building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through liblxc and its Go binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.
    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).
    Kubernetes
    Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.
    Studio 3T
    It's the only MongoDB tool that provides three ways to explore data alongside powerful features like query autocompletion, polyglot code generation, a stage-by-stage aggregation query builder, import and export, SQL query support and more.
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