Virtual Machine Software

acme · 07-06-2012, 10:58 AM

I am new to the concept of virtual machine...today, a friend urged me to start using it for web dev purposes. I am aware of Parallels; is that as good as any to use to get Virtual Machine capability?

thank you!

a

agentx · 07-06-2012, 11:48 AM

My preference is VMware but Parallels is good too and Virtual Box is Free and works well too.

agentx · 07-06-2012, 01:43 PM

my current VMs... ;-) well not all fit on the screenshot....

acme · 07-06-2012, 01:45 PM

wow...can you have all of those running at once?

Also...one must also have installed the various OSs in question, correct? So that, running Windows in a VM on a Mac requires me to, uh...purchase Windows..right?

a

agentx · 07-06-2012, 02:16 PM

I need to flick between many environments or bring up a server to test something.
I can happily have my Linux VMs running in background with minimal system slow downs which i presume is what you will want.
Yes you have to purchase licences for any OS that requires it.

agentx · 07-06-2012, 02:21 PM

CPU/RAM denotes what is truly practical on non enterprise hardware. I run my VMs off SSD and that is the way to do it ! Only have 8GB of RAM and 3 yr old MBP but i can boot Windows 7 in 30 seconds from off state and resume in 9 seconds !

jsalmi · 07-06-2012, 04:53 PM

I use VMware Fusion on my work MBP, and with 16 gig of ram and an SSD, when showing a demo I run 7 VMs simultaneously and the performance is stellar.

acme.mail.order · 07-06-2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acme


	..a friend urged me to start using it for web dev purposes.

Let's go back to the beginning here - you do not need a virtual machine to do website development. Your Mac came with everything you need.

Minimum software for web development:

Text Edit

A browser.

Recommended:
TextWrangler

FireFox with FireBug and Web Developer Toolbar

Advanced stuff:

Enable Apache (System Preferences -> Sharing -> Web Sharing)

Enable PHP ( uncomment one line in httpd.conf )

Install MySQL (installer package available from vendor)

DNS via /etc/hosts ( add "127.0.0.1 mydevsite.local" at the end)

Usually a waste of time:

Virtual machine just for a web server

Windows IIS

XAMPP / MAMP (reinstalling something you have already)

chabig · 07-07-2012, 11:38 AM

Of course you don't need a VM to do web development, but it's a great way to test your work on multiple operating systems.

acme.mail.order · 07-07-2012, 07:45 PM

That's not "web development" in the how-do-I-do-it sense - that's "need to ~~beat into submission~~ run IE....."

anthlover · 07-08-2012, 08:36 PM

Acme makes some great points. There are some great Web dev apps on the Mac like Rapid Weaver and others. As to the VM I vote for Virtual Box its free and quick. It dispatches with some things that can be end be annoying like taking over which programs open the Mac and PC, etc.

I think hosting wise the time has passed for most to it on their own hardware which has to be exposed anyway... There many great hosting companies that charge peanuts. My personal favorite is cross platform but caters to Mac folk and has great support.

http://www.machighway.com/

Good Luck

AHunter3 · 07-11-2012, 11:01 AM

I am happy with Parallels. I figured I was going to need either Parallels or VMWare and made the decision based on the quality of pre-sales customer support. Parallels actually sat with me (well, not literally parking their butts in chairs next to mine but you know what I mean) and migrated several emulated environments from Connectix Virtual PC 6 format, including many that they don't officially support as guest OS. That was before I paid for the product. VMWare may be great software but they were not at all helpful over the phone for presales tech support.

07-06-2012, 10:58 AM	#1
acme MVP Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,686	Virtual Machine Software I am new to the concept of virtual machine...today, a friend urged me to start using it for web dev purposes. I am aware of Parallels; is that as good as any to use to get Virtual Machine capability? thank you! a

07-06-2012, 01:43 PM	#3
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	my current VMs... ;-) well not all fit on the screenshot.... Attached Thumbnails

07-06-2012, 02:21 PM	#6
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	CPU/RAM denotes what is truly practical on non enterprise hardware. I run my VMs off SSD and that is the way to do it ! Only have 8GB of RAM and 3 yr old MBP but i can boot Windows 7 in 30 seconds from off state and resume in 9 seconds ! Last edited by agentx; 07-06-2012 at 02:23 PM.

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07-06-2012, 11:48 AM	#2
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	My preference is VMware but Parallels is good too and Virtual Box is Free and works well too.

07-06-2012, 01:45 PM	#4
acme MVP Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,686	wow...can you have all of those running at once? Also...one must also have installed the various OSs in question, correct? So that, running Windows in a VM on a Mac requires me to, uh...purchase Windows..right? a

07-06-2012, 02:16 PM	#5
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	I need to flick between many environments or bring up a server to test something. I can happily have my Linux VMs running in background with minimal system slow downs which i presume is what you will want. Yes you have to purchase licences for any OS that requires it.

07-06-2012, 04:53 PM	#7
jsalmi Triple-A Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Down by the river Posts: 190	I use VMware Fusion on my work MBP, and with 16 gig of ram and an SSD, when showing a demo I run 7 VMs simultaneously and the performance is stellar.

07-07-2012, 11:38 AM	#9
chabig Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,934	Of course you don't need a VM to do web development, but it's a great way to test your work on multiple operating systems.

07-07-2012, 07:45 PM	#10
acme.mail.order League Commissioner Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tokyo Posts: 6,048	That's not "web development" in the how-do-I-do-it sense - that's "need to ~~beat into submission~~ run IE....."

07-08-2012, 08:36 PM	#11
anthlover Hall of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 2,671	Acme makes some great points. There are some great Web dev apps on the Mac like Rapid Weaver and others. As to the VM I vote for Virtual Box its free and quick. It dispatches with some things that can be end be annoying like taking over which programs open the Mac and PC, etc. I think hosting wise the time has passed for most to it on their own hardware which has to be exposed anyway... There many great hosting companies that charge peanuts. My personal favorite is cross platform but caters to Mac folk and has great support. http://www.machighway.com/ Good Luck

07-11-2012, 11:01 AM	#12
AHunter3 Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 3,003	I am happy with Parallels. I figured I was going to need either Parallels or VMWare and made the decision based on the quality of pre-sales customer support. Parallels actually sat with me (well, not literally parking their butts in chairs next to mine but you know what I mean) and migrated several emulated environments from Connectix Virtual PC 6 format, including many that they don't officially support as guest OS. That was before I paid for the product. VMWare may be great software but they were not at all helpful over the phone for presales tech support.