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Which Laptop Brand is best suited for running Linux-Redhat & VMware/Citrix

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  • 07-06-2010 1:52pm
    #1
    TestLink
    Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭


    Researching to buy a second laptop that comes with Windows 7 OS, but which would support Linux & VMware/Citrix - Mainly for certification purpose. I currently have an Acer lap with Windows Vista Ultimate.

    If I remove the pre-installed Windows OS and install any of the above, would I have difficulty in removing it later and move back to windows itself?
    Tagged:


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    #2
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    And IT Guru would know.....


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    #3
    brianoconnell
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭brianoconnell


    The commercial virtualisation products and their free versions that run directly on the CPU tend to have very rigid hardware requirements. That makes it very difficult to get one to install on a laptop in general. Examples are VMware ESX/ESXi and Citrix/Xen.

    However the second class of virtualisation products that use a base operating system to get going should all work on a Laptop.

    Sometimes Linux support for the latest hardware might be missing, so I would pick a laptop and then search for Linux support for it before buying.

    Just remember that each virtual machine you create will need it's own memory and disk space and take some CPU, so get the highest spec you can.

    For certification, it might be better to have a lab with desktop/server system. If you search for "vmware whitebox" you will find out what other people have done to build cheap virtualisation systems.


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    #4
    Monotype
    Registered Users Posts: 6,710 ✭✭✭Monotype


    ITguru wrote: »
    Researching to buy a second laptop that comes with Windows 7 OS, but which would support Linux & VMware/Citrix - Mainly for certification purpose. I currently have an Acer lap with Windows Vista Ultimate.

    If I remove the pre-installed Windows OS and install any of the above, would I have difficulty in removing it later and move back to windows itself?

    Here's a list of intel processors that support virtualisation (most of the later generations support it).
    http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx

    Regarding moving back to windows - most laptops will come with an OEM license which means you generally won't be able to install with that license again.
    In my opinion, you should partition part of your harddrive and install linux there, which is extremely easy in the mainstream distributions now.


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    #5
    TestLink
    Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭TestLink


    The minimum required hardware for ESX is dual core with at least 2GB RAM.

    Regarding Monotype's post, Would it work like this:

    1. Create recovery disk before installing anything
    2. Install ESX/ESxi
    3. Revert back to Windows (Factory Settings) if something goes wrong / when you finish experimenting...

    Just wondering whether the above would be possible with a bare metal installation of ESX and whether the Laptop recovery software would be able to detect / reformat the vmfs file system that VMware creates?

    Also any laptop suggestion with i5/i7 which would support VMware?


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    #6
    brianoconnell
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭brianoconnell


    A simple way to test will ESXi run on piece of kit is to run ESXi from a USB key. You just need to be able to boot from USB. Simple instructions can be found at http://www.techhead.co.uk/installing-vmware-esxi-4-0-on-a-usb-memory-stick-the-official-way


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    #7
    TestLink
    Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭TestLink


    I am trying for Redhat certification on RHEL 5.4. When i tried to install it on my Acer laptop with NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 7600, I was only able to install it in CUI mode and no GUI. From NVIDIA website I tried both the newest and oldest version they have for Linux, which is with .run extension. I tried installing it later using the command sh <drivername.run> and it is starting the wizard, but exiting abruptly, with a kernel error.

    Any one have similar issues? Any idea how to work around on this issue? Any generic driver that would work for this display adaptor? Any idea whether version 5.5 would work with this card?


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    #8
    TestLink
    Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭TestLink


    Solved the problem. You could use the vesa generic driver. For any one facing similar trouble, instructions follows.

    "vesa" driver is generic driver and works fine with all Graphics Cards.
    Boot up from LiveCD of any Linux distro, mount / partition of RHEL or boot up in command line mode and create xorg.conf file manually.

    1. Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

    2. Edit the existing code and paste the following lines in to the file.
    Section "Device"
    Identifier "Configured Video Device"
    Driver "vesa"
    EndSection

    Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Configured Monitor"
    HorizSync 31.5 - 70.0
    VertRefresh 50 - 160
    EndSection

    Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Default Screen"
    Monitor "Configured Monitor"
    Device "Configured Video Device"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Subsection "Display"
    Depth 24
    Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768"
    EndSubsection
    EndSection
    Save file and reboot machine.
    If your runlevel is 3 change it to 5, to get GUI every time you boot


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