virtualbox.org

I would like to clone an existing windows partition to either a 2nd (i.e.) separate) raw disk partition or to convert it to a virtual container, whichever has the most benefits, and share this clone between several linux systems, i.e. they will all boot the same windows from within a virtualbox session; windows is on 1st hard disk (SSD), while linux systems are all on a 2nd hard disk (SSD) in separate partitions (/dev/sdb1, etc.)

This way I could regularly clone my windows partition for changes while keeping things separate and keep risks low. I am not interested in software/testing systems, just production/efficient use.

I read this is all possible using virtualbox but need a little help on the steps to take and avoid the pitfalls.

Could someone please comment ? Assuming my question is maybe too complicated, what are the trade-offs between using the raw partition and virtual container (windows) ?