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Is it possible to run more than one hypervisor on a single machine?
We already have a server running Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V, but our linux based VMs are not very stable.
I would like to try VMware Server (yes, I know it is discontinued), but I cannot remove Hyper-V because of our Windows VMs (my boss says they have to stay since they currently just work the way they are.)

Is it possible to install and run VMware Server even though Hyper-V is running?

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  • I'm willing to bet that your boss, the one who said, "they have to stay since they currently just work..." will say the same thing about VMWare once you get it up and running next to HV. Do not fall into that trap. Make the case for a new server for ESXi and get out of testing mode.
    – GregD
    Oct 25, 2011 at 14:37
  • I'd think a better fix would be to understand whats making the linux guests unstable.
    – tony roth
    Oct 25, 2011 at 16:09
  • An Ubervisor? :) Oct 25, 2011 at 16:15
  • @tonyroth They are unstable because the Hyper-V Linux Integration Components are buggy. Among other issues, there is a problem that causes the network to randomly disappear for varying amounts of time.
    – yakatz
    Oct 26, 2011 at 0:38
  • @GregD The whole purpose of the server is a low-end box for testing project deployments. My boss is only concerned that the Windows XP VMs do not stop working. I am trying to get a new server, but that takes too long for the project I am working on right now.
    – yakatz
    Oct 26, 2011 at 0:40

1 Answer 1

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Yes it is, as long as you are not using Bare-Metal hypervisors you can run many side-by-side.

But I hope you have very, very, very solid hard drives because the IO will be off the charts.

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    I think you would be better off asking for money for an extra server to run ESXi on. Before we were really on board with a bare metal hypervisors we ran a couple servers on VMware Server and it was a nightmare. I'm betting your time is worth more than a new server. :-) Oct 25, 2011 at 14:25
  • This isn't completely correct. It's true that multiple hypervisors can run side-by-side, but with many caveats. Only one hypervisor can make use of hardware virtualization extensions at a time. As a result, unless you have one of an increasingly rare selection of CPUs that support Ring 1/2 in 64-bit long mode, you're going to be limited to running 32-bit virtual machines in all your secondary hypervisors. Oct 25, 2011 at 15:07
  • @jgoldschrafe That is ok. We are only planning on running 32-bit VMs on this particular server.
    – yakatz
    Oct 26, 2011 at 0:36

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