Virtualization - impact of virus

[eagercyber]

Hi,

These days we have the concept of Virtualization with which multiple OS versions can be installed on the same machine.

I have a few doubts

1) Can multiple versions be operational at the same of login?
2) If a virus/malware attack happens, will it be restricted to only that installation?
3) Can 1 version be stared over another? Ex:- Windows over Ubuntu and if Virus attacks happen, Ubuntu is safe

Please let me know any other details too.

[techtronic]

In a virtualized environment, the Virtual machine simply passes its requests to the virtualization layer which inturn processes these requests based on the hardware available in the host.

Generally if you do not enable guest-host sharing, all your VMs will be free from any issues.

In Enterprise Products, ESX Server allows you even to route your traffic within a specific VLAN within the host to enable isolation of VMs.

By the way the VMs are stored as VMDK, VMX and NVRAM Files.

[dheeraj_kumar]

Agreed with techtronic. Virtualization environments are preferred because they are free from virii and malware. They dont interact with the host's data at all, and they have their own container. Thats why virt environments are called "SandBox"

For virt, you need:

1 CD/DVD of the Host OS
All the CDs/DVDs/ISOs of the Guest OS

First install the Host OS, then the virtualization software, then via it, you can create new virtual machines, and install guest OS as necessary. Keep in mind that virtualization takes a good toll on the memory and processor. If you have a dual core comp, it is recommended to assign one processor to the virtualization software itself, so that you can expect a good speed. And as always, the more memory, the better. I advise a minimum of 1 GB RAM.

There are several virtualization softwares available, for example VMWare, and Microsoft Virtual PC.