multiple locations for virtual machine files?

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tobe1
Posts: 22
Joined: 22. Feb 2012, 21:16
Primary OS: MS Windows 8
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows, Mac, Linux

multiple locations for virtual machine files?

Post by tobe1 »

Hi. Newb here. Been reading the documentation, but haven't found an answer (recognizable as such) to my question.
Can I have my virtual machines stored on different physical HDD partitions, all connected internally to the host box?
It seems to me that, knowing my future VB plans, this question is best answered before I begin creating my VMs.

I am running VB GUI v 4.1.2_Ubuntu r38459 on Ubuntu Desktop 11.10.
I have plenty of internal storage, comprised of 2 x 500 GB & 2 x 300 GB SATA HDDs.
These are separate from the PATA HDDs that house the Ubuntu system and /home partitions, and are where I plan to store my collection of virtual machines.

The reason I need so much storage is because I plan to eventually have multiple VMs, running a variety of OS versions and platforms, including:
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit,
Windows XP (64-bit & 32-bit versions),
Windows 2000 Workstation,
Windows Server 2003,
Windows Server 2008,
Mac OS X,
Mac OS 8.1
Mac OS 7.1,
Linux (various flavors and versions found on "Linux Bible" and "Linux for Dummies" companion CDs.

The problem arises in that even just one each of the above would total more space than is available on my entire /home partition, and I still need to be able to put non-VB files there. So I suppose I can format one of the 500 GB HDDS as a lage /var partition... but what if I manage to outgrow even that? Can I direct VB to store multiple VMs on different physical partitions and still have seamless access to the entire collection?

Thanks, in advance, for any assistance.
BillG
Volunteer
Posts: 5106
Joined: 19. Sep 2009, 04:44
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows 10,7 and earlier
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: multiple locations for virtual machine files?

Post by BillG »

I would actually store all of the virtual machines in the same place. It makes life simpler.

What eats the space is the virtual hard drive and you can store that anywhere you like on your file system. As long as you tell VirtualBox where you want it when you create it you don't have to do anything further (unless you later move it).
Bill
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