Best Host setup for many guest OS

[tw3ak]

Hi,
Newbie 2nd day of use 2.2 version and XP pro with 2 gigs of ram already memory issues. I have some experience with linux.
This begs the question? What is the best Host to use if I plan on installing many guest? 32 bit or 64bit host? windows or linux or something else? I'm running AMD 64 machine with ability to install as much as 8 gigs of ram,250 gig hd partitioned 50/50 and 80gig backup drive.
I have no issues installing whatever I need to to get the best overall performance.
thanks

[Sasquatch]

As you now have only 2 GB, running 64 bit won't give you any benefits. But when you ramp it up to more than 4, then you're better off with 64 bit.

[tw3ak]

Thanks,

I suspected as much. Any Advantages support or otherwise for host OS? linux vs windows? 64 bit I plan on maxing out the memory for sure. I simply love what I've seen so far with the virtualbox.

[Sasquatch]

If your primairy goal is to run as much VMs as possible and not do much with the Host, then the best bet is a low profile Linux distro. Windows can easily take up to more than 500 MB of RAM, as where Linux can be happy with less than half of that.

[sej7278]

i've run easily 5 guests on my 8gb 64-bit linux box, as yeti says, you need 64-bit for 4gb+.

vista would take up at least a gig of your ram if you used that for a host, plus a 64-bit vista ultimate license would cost a fortune (and be out-of-date when win7 arrives).

[tw3ak]

Hello again,

Many thanks, I've decided to try a linux distro, I'm most familiar with rpm distros like mandrake or redhat, it's been years since I've ran linux. My last foray was using linux for a firewall/masq router on an old nexgen 586 ... So my experience is dated...hopefully I can find a forum that can point me in the right direction as to just what to install... thanks again guys and this is a Virtualbox is a very nice piece of software, I think I'll be see alot of it in the next few years.

[Perryg]

I am partial to Ubuntu. Great debian based product, and good support.

[Sasquatch]

Ubuntu is nice, but it can have a higher fingerprint then clean Debian. Especially if you run the Gnome or KDE GUI version. My best bet would be Damn Small Linux, but that uses a rather old kernel, or Debian Unstable with minimum GUI components. You have to get used to Fluxbox, or whatever they use as Window Manager. It's not default Gnome I think, though it is an option.

[vbox4me2]

Ram is cheap these days, with xp64 as host you have a large repository of free software together with what already comes with it you can do just about anything and there are also tools to keep the Host from grabbing all the ram

[sej7278]

windows-xp64 shouldn't be used for anything - even microsoft doesn't like it, its like windows-me for the 21st century!

[vbox4me2]

Xp64 shouldn't be used by ppl who don't know how to use it, for me its rocksolid and lets VB do its stuff perfectly.