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I work in a hybrid windows/linux workplace. I currently need to acquire a new server in the office and have decided that virtualization on the server would be the best option. I want to know the pros and cons of the following setups:

Windows Hosting a Guest Linux Server

Linux Hosting a Guest Windows Server

Unfortunately, the purchase of two separate servers for each operating system is not within the budget. Licensing costs are a concern and I would like to minimize them if possible by using open source as much as possible.

What are the Pro's/Con's/Options of each? Anyone currently using a similar setup?

Additionally, any best practices and other options are welcome as well!

** Update ** It seems that I was a little out of touch with current virtualization options. I have selected the best answer for others considering the path I was originally going to take.

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A few years too late... – ewwhite Sep 26 '12 at 17:04
I don't know why this was closed. There are definite pros and cons to each setup. My question does not ask which is better or which should be chosen. I am concerned with practical issues that may occur. – semyazza Sep 26 '12 at 17:11
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None of the above. Host both Windows and Linux on a type 1 hypervisor. E.G Vmware ESXi, Xen, KVM, Hyper-V. – Zoredache Sep 26 '12 at 17:21
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Read our FAQ and then you'd know, it's also a VERY out of date question, virtualisation has been the norm for a very long time. By the way unless you're very tied to a Windows-only management toolset the answer is almost always to use VMWare's vSphere/ESXi suite. – Chopper3 Sep 26 '12 at 17:22
@Zoredache thanks for your help! – semyazza Sep 26 '12 at 23:21

closed as not constructive by Brent Pabst, ewwhite, Iain♦ Sep 26 '12 at 17:06

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1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I want to know the pros and cons of the following setups:

Windows Hosting a Guest Linux Server

Linux Hosting a Guest Windows Server

Why are these the only options? The best option would be to use a bare-metal hypervisor like VMWare ESXi or Hyper-V Server to make both OSes guests instead of having one host virtualizing a guest and running other services. This is really the way that you should set this up.

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Thank You. I will look into these options. Licensing costs are going to be a major determining factor. I would prefer to spend the additional money on hardware. – semyazza Sep 26 '12 at 17:13
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@semyazza Both of those solutions can be free. – ewwhite Sep 26 '12 at 17:21
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@semyazza Both Hyper-V Server and ESXi are free. SCVMM - the management tool for Hyper-V and vCenter - the management tool for ESXI both cost money, but neither are necessary in a 1 machine setup. – MDMarra Sep 26 '12 at 17:31
Thank you for your help. It has been years since I looked at virtualization options and I just inherited an IT mess that can be cleaned up with this type of solution. Thanks! – semyazza Sep 26 '12 at 23:21

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