Is Virtualbox right for me?

[Stildawn]

Hi All

I'm new to all of this and I just have some questions to see if I'm headed in the right direction.

Basically what I want to do is using one computer, run two separate instances of Windows 7.

- One instance with video, sound, mouse and keyboard etc sending to one monitor/speakers/wireless usb keyboard and mouse. (All plugged into the one computer)
- Another instance with video, sound, mouse and keyboard etc sending to another monitor/speakers/wireless usb keyboard and mouse. (Again all plugged into the one computer)

These two monitor/speaker/mouse n keyboard setups will be in separate rooms, and I want them to "act" as complete separate computers, but using the one computer. I understand that each VM needs its own "harddrive" or "partition" etc which is fine I know about partitions and I can assign some space for them. But what I want them to be able to do is also see a general partition that they both share (this will be storage for all the files etc that each will be using from time to time). I also want both VM's to use the same internet connection (which is provided by a wireless dongle connected to my Wifi).

Computer specs are:
AMD Phenom II 955
Asus M4A79T Deluxe Mobo (has both optical sound out, and 6 audio jacks, 4 usb ports etc)
Sapphire 4890 OC GPU (with two DVI outputs)
8gb 1600 Ram
(if you need anything else let me know, but thats the guts of it)

So is this possible with VirtualBox? Could you guys please link me to some relevant tutorials etc for this type of setup? Or help me out with it as its all new to me.

Some specific questions I have is:

- With guest operating systems. I run Windows 7 currently. Do I need to purchase more copies of Windows 7 to run as the guests? Or can I just use the one I already own?
- Will sound capturing for specific VM's work? I know that when I plug in a audio jack into the back of the computer, a window pop's up where I can choose what I just plugged in does, I choose "Front Speakers" which gives a stereo sound output, I want exactly this, just twice send independently to two different sets of speakers?
- With the above set up, I assume I need to "assign" usb ports to each VM or something? So the Mouse and Keyboard works? Same with the DVI outputs on the graphics card, I need to "assign" an output to each VM so that it displays on the correct screen?
- Since I only need two instances of Windows, could I perhaps just have one VM for one instance, and then use the host as another?

Thanks very much in advance.

Cheers

[stefan.becker]

Yes, you need two licenses.

For the rest: check it yourself, no one can answer your question. Generally its possible, but it depends on the software you would like to start in the VBOX guests.

And remember: a guest has no direct hardware access, it only sees in every vm same standard hardware.

For further details read the manual and the faq. Its all written.

[gmyx]

- One instance with video, sound, mouse and keyboard etc sending to one monitor/speakers/wireless usb keyboard and mouse. (All plugged into the one computer)
- Another instance with video, sound, mouse and keyboard etc sending to another monitor/speakers/wireless usb keyboard and mouse. (Again all plugged into the one computer)

These two monitor/speaker/mouse n keyboard setups will be in separate rooms, and I want them to "act" as complete separate computers, but using the one computer. I understand that each VM needs its own "harddrive" or "partition" etc which is fine I know about partitions and I can assign some space for them. But what I want them to be able to do is also see a general partition that they both share (this will be storage for all the files etc that each will be using from time to time). I also want both VM's to use the same internet connection (which is provided by a wireless dongle connected to my Wifi).
[...]

So is this possible with VirtualBox? Could you guys please link me to some relevant tutorials etc for this type of setup? Or help me out with it as its all new to me.

Some specific questions I have is:

- With guest operating systems. I run Windows 7 currently. Do I need to purchase more copies of Windows 7 to run as the guests? Or can I just use the one I already own?
- Will sound capturing for specific VM's work? I know that when I plug in a audio jack into the back of the computer, a window pop's up where I can choose what I just plugged in does, I choose "Front Speakers" which gives a stereo sound output, I want exactly this, just twice send independently to two different sets of speakers?
- With the above set up, I assume I need to "assign" usb ports to each VM or something? So the Mouse and Keyboard works? Same with the DVI outputs on the graphics card, I need to "assign" an output to each VM so that it displays on the correct screen?
- Since I only need two instances of Windows, could I perhaps just have one VM for one instance, and then use the host as another?

Thanks very much in advance.

Cheers

Long answer short no.

Short answer long: The reason is Windows only has one focus area and only one pointer. Visualization wont help because your host is still limited by a single input. Note that you can have multiple keyboards and mouse plugged in, your still limited by the single user interface. There may be software available around this limitation but I'm not aware of any.

Other issue: How far apart are your machines? more than a few feet and your stuck running some fairly long lengths of cables. They were not designed for that and the signal degradation can make them useless.

Finally, what are you going to use these 2 'machines' for? You'll want to test the scenarios out to make sure they work. Games are problematic but getting better.

As for your questions, you'll need 3 licenses of Windows (Host + 2 guests). I never tried sending different sounds to different outputs. It's the same issue as for the keyboard and mouse - should be possible with software since this is a useful feature for some such as DJs.

The only ways around all that is to get a cheap machine and RDP in - but that presents it's own set of issues. Or the only other thing I can think of is a linux distro designed for simultaneous users but I never researched this.

[gmyx]

Quick add-on: Found this linux tool (free for two users) that does exactly this. http://userful.com/products/downloads/free-2-user

Use linux as the host and windows as guests. You still need to mind the cable lengths.

Edit: the software is free for two users but needs an external box that you purchase. This might help get around the cable lengths issue.