Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: You guys are pragmatists... (Boring, real-world, Linux/Windows/VMWare stuff)  (Read 1262 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline FloidTopic starter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2003
  • Posts: 918
    • Show only replies by Floid
Behold, I undertake the long and arduous process of migrating a small office from two flaky '98 boxes to the 'FOSS stack.'

This will begin with Ubuntu on fairly 'thick' clients (two fresh AMD64 desktops of some sort), because I've stopped being a masochist.  Later steps will be to introduce a dedicated storage server, then mirror that offsite.

Helpfully, there are various apps (*cough* Wordperfect *cough* Timeslips *cough*) that are going to require full Windows VMs for reasons I've already researched.***

VMWare have released their free "Player," and just freed up the GSX product as "VMWare Server," both of which sound potentially reasonable enough (assuming Linux's everchanging virtual memory system can cope with GSX's "static memory allocations only").  I hope to get as far away from Windows as possible before Pacifica/Vanderpool or Xen expose other options, anyway.

So... Surely someone's done this before, and I might as well ask around here because most of us share similar conceptions of "convenience" and "pain."

Questions:

-On the VMWare front, is there any compelling reason to grab a license of Workstation to create the machine images versus the freed GSX, given that I only have to do same twice?

-Network filesystems:  Your learned opinion -- let the Windows VMs speak SAMBA on the wire, or handle everything through *NIX mounts?

-It's becoming increasingly ridiculous to find legal Windows CDs under $200 or so/seat.  Is it painful to build VMWare machines off recovery CDs intended to be keyed to particular hardware?  How does anyone deal with this in real life?

On the hardware front:

-Are there any systems vendors out there (HPaq, Gateway, Bob's Discount Computers and Waterbeds) still able or willing to supply anything better than a recovery CD (or worse, a partition) on the MS front?  Anyone found any 'pretty good deals?'  I'm no longer amused by building my own, especially when it's impossible to find windowless cases and aftermarket power supplies all come gold-plated and rhinestone encrusted with six noisy fans.

-Same goes for "server" hardware; anyone making anything deskside (rather than rack) with conveniences to beat DIY?  Without the MS tax?  I can use Froogle and Pricewatch too; I'm just looking for any particular products that've inspired love.


***No, Wordperfect doesn't run properly under WINE as of last December.  Yes, there were two ports of Wordperfect at one point, but the reputed stability of either does not sound impressive, especially when every document's been created with 9 and 8 was the theoretically-decent port.

There were two other footnotes at one point, but I decided not to write them.
 

Offline koaftder

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Apr 2004
  • Posts: 2116
    • Show only replies by koaftder
    • http://koft.net
or you could just save your self a bunch of time and money, and use windows instead.
 

Offline FloidTopic starter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2003
  • Posts: 918
    • Show only replies by Floid
I could inject capsaicin under my fingernails, too, but for some reason these thoughts do not appeal to me.
 

Offline Failure

  • Lifetime Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jun 2004
  • Posts: 332
    • Show only replies by Failure
    • http://awhitlock.net/
Hey congrats on even trying to make the switch at all.  We have moved some applications off of Windows to Linux and UNIX (Solaris), namely DNS to BIND and fileshares/printing to Samba.  We are also using Xen in "experimental production" to drive some Sunray desktop appliances (Dom-0 is Debian AMD64, Sunray server is CentOS 3 in a Dom-U) and internal web applications.  Windows apps we have left are the domain controllers (until Samba 4!), one legacy Notes server, blackberry stuff, and the antivirus server.

Quote

Floid wrote:

Helpfully, there are various apps (*cough* Wordperfect *cough* Timeslips *cough*) that are going to require full Windows VMs for reasons I've already researched.***


I'm sure you have examined this already, but have you considered Crossover Office?  They have a demo available so you can see if your applications run satisfactorily.  I am happily running Lotus Notes R7 with it on AMD64 Linux.  I saw your note about WINE, but Crossover Office may do better.

Quote

-On the VMWare front, is there any compelling reason to grab a license of Workstation to create the machine images versus the freed GSX, given that I only have to do same twice?


I am actually going to be trying this product for a storage test box we are setting up for customer demos.  I can let you know how it goes?  :-)  At least one of the VMs will be running Windows.

Quote

-Network filesystems:  Your learned opinion -- let the Windows VMs speak SAMBA on the wire, or handle everything through *NIX mounts?


I haven't used VMware in a while, but IIRC there is a backend driver that uses Samba without going over the wire and it is very fast.  I might be getting this confused with another virtualization solution though :-/

Your other stuff I don't feel like I can comment on.  I work for a Sun reseller, and while Sun is now selling systems with Opteron processors none of them (save "workstation" models) are in tower form factor.  Our office machines though, I do build those using parts from Newegg.  I manage to find nice, plain cases and stuff there too!
You can\'t spell evil without "vi"
AMIX Wiki | AmixBP
 

Offline adolescent

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Sep 2003
  • Posts: 3056
    • Show only replies by adolescent
I'm going to have to agree.  Just running Windows XP would be easier.  Why add a layer of emulation that's just going to slow things down, add complexity, and reduce compatibility?  To be legal, you'll need the XP license anyway.
Time to move on.  Bye Amiga.org.  :(
 

Offline Tomas

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2002
  • Posts: 2828
    • Show only replies by Tomas
Quote

adolescent wrote:
I'm going to have to agree.  Just running Windows XP would be easier.  Why add a layer of emulation that's just going to slow things down, add complexity, and reduce compatibility?  To be legal, you'll need the XP license anyway.

I think the long term plan is to move away from using windows applications completly? But that they need emulation during this transition..