Virtualization showdown: VMware Workstation vs. Sun xVM VirtualBox

A two-horse race: That's how the marketfor general purpose desktop virtualization packages is shaping up, atleast for the foreseeable future. With Microsoft all but abandoningVirtual PC (no updates in more than a year), and with everyone elsefocusing on the datacenter (including Microsoft), the field nowconsists of just VMware Workstation and Sun Microsystems' xVMVirtualBox. And in keeping with many such situations -- where a singleproduct dominates the high end and everyone else tries to find a viableniche -- the two players couldn't be more dissimilar.

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InLane One you have VMware Workstation, the pedigreed blue blood ofdesktop virtualization solutions. If there is a bell or whistle VMwaremissed, I can't spot it. It truly is the pinnacle of "kitchen sink"engineering. In Lane Two you find Sun xVM VirtualBox, a product Sunacquired from tiny Innotek earlier this year. VirtualBox's primaryclaim to fame is that it's free (both as a closed source downloadableand a more limited open source exploitable), and this has made it thechoice of anti-establishment types who balk at Workstation's retailprice tag.

Sothe stadium is set. The track is prepared. It's the muscularthoroughbred vs. the scrappy Ol' Paint. And with Sun pouring its vastengineering resources into VirtualBox (for example, it just gained64-bit guest OS support), the real race may be to see whether VMwarecan continue to differentiate Workstation at the high end whileVirtualBox slowly eats its lunch among less discriminating customers.It should be an interesting race. And they're off!

Legendary thoroughbred
What is there left to say about VMware Workstation? Few products havespent as much time at the top of the heap. But as I mentioned in my preview of the Workstation 6.5 Beta earlier this year,the company simply refuses to sit on its laurels. With each new majorrelease, VMware raises the bar for would-be competitors. And not justby a few inches -- in the case of version 6.5, think several feet. Thechange log is that impressive.

Butwhere to begin? I suppose I could talk about my favorite new feature,Easy Install. Simply create a new VM, point it to the installationmedia for the desired Windows OS edition (client or server), and grab acup of coffee. By the time you return, VMware has installed the OS(including specifying product keys and default user accounts),slipstreamed its own VMware Tools suite, and basically left you with afully baked guest OS image that's ready for work. If you spend a lot oftime building and tearing down VMs like I do, you will instantly fallin love with Easy Install.

Direct3Dacceleration is another great feature. When enabled, it allowsapplications in the guest OS to render Direct3D objects with nearlynative performance, allowing even demanding programs like DirectX-basedgames to run within a VM. I've personally used this feature toresurrect some of my old favorites -- games such as Starfleet Command 3-- that refuse to run natively on Windows Vista. And, of course, anyline-of-business applications that use Direct3D will also reapbenefits.

Of course, the biggest changes involveWorkstation's support for VMware's ACE technology. Whereas in the pastyou had to run a separate version of Workstation -- the ACE Edition --to edit and apply ACE policies, version 6.5 incorporates these featuresseamlessly into the base Workstation UI. You can now enable/disable ACEfunctionality for a VM with a single click, and given the depth andbreadth of options available, one click may be all you need to securelylock down and manage a wayward VM. In fact, it seems clear that VMwareintends for Workstation 6.5 to be your primary entry point into its ACEmanagement environment, with similar one-click tools for creating ACEpackages, including the popular Pocket ACE for USB sticks. Together,the Easy Install wizard and ACE integration features truly take the drudgery out of VM creation, configuration, and management.

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Itested VMware Workstation 6.5 under Windows Vista (64-bit) on a 4GBDell XPS M1710. Installation was a breeze, as with previous editions,and the new Easy Install option made provisioning and configuring newVMs nearly effortless. During preliminary benchmark testing using aRelease Candidate build (and with the pre-release debugging featuresdisabled), I achieved OfficeBenchthroughput levels slightly better (11 percent) than version 6.0 butnowhere near native machine performance. It's worth noting thatWorkstation 6.5 now allows you to manually override the underlyingvirtualization model, making it possible to force it to use one ofthree different modes (Binary Translation, Intel VT-x/AMD-V, Intel VT-xwith EPT/AMD-V with RVI) or an Automatic option that selects the bestmode based on your underlying hardware and OS configuration. I used theAutomatic option during benchmarking.

Overall,VMware Workstation 6.5 is a worthwhile upgrade, especially forcustomers seeking to leverage VMware's ACE management features. Buteven without ACE, Workstation 6.5 is compelling. Most users will besold on Easy Install alone; it's a feature that will make supportprofessionals and developers instantly more productive. And althoughit's hard to put all of version 6.5's improvements into words, sufficeto say that the old thoroughbred has never looked better.

The dark horse
Proud. Scrappy. Spoiling for a fight. These are some of the descriptorsthat come to mind as I look back over the history of VirtualBox. When Ifirst reviewed version 1.3 nearly two years ago, I found a promisingproduct from a small-time player (Innotek) that was still a bit rougharound the edges. Four major releases later, and VirtualBox hasundergone some major architectural changes. These include support for64-bit hosts (including Mac OS X) and 64-bit guests, as well as a more modular/programmable architecture. VirtualBox has also picked up some new tricks, including USB device support. And it has of course found a new home via Innotek's acquisition by Sun Microsystems.

Inshort, VirtualBox has generally matured into a stable, viablealternative to VMware Workstation, at least for casual usage scenarios.And, of course, it's free -- both to download and to reuse as opensource software. In fact, Sun has gone out of its way to promoteVirtualBox as the ultimate generic virtualization solution, aneveryman's VM tool for bridging the gaps among Unix, Linux, andWindows.

So far, the strategy is paying off.VirtualBox is now everywhere, but it's particularly strong in the Linuxcommunity where it provides a relatively full-featured alternative tothe free VMware Server or commercial VMware Workstation offerings. Andwith features like real snapshot support, broad host and guest OScompatibility, and the aforementioned support for 64-bit guests, it'seasy to see why. Thanks to a growing user base, VirtualBox is quicklycementing its position as the lowest common denominator for thebudget-minded VM enthusiast. Just check out how many VirtualBox diskimages are floating around the BitTorrent sites.

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Ofcourse, popularity doesn't always equate with quality. Despite majorgains in stability and robustness (thanks, no doubt, to an infusion ofengineering know-how from Sun), VirtualBox is still nowhere nearcapable enough to challenge VMware Workstation on its home turf --namely, enterprise support and development teams managing large-scaleprojects that actually matter. For these users, features likeintegration with the Visual Studio and Eclipse IDEs, Easy Install, fullVM recorder/playback functionality, and support for deployment andmanageability controls (VMware ACE) are basic requirements. Needless tosay, you'll find none of these advanced tools in the down-market,“freebie” lane occupied by VirtualBox.

Basically,VirtualBox 2.0 is where VMware Workstation was three to five years ago:a maturing, relatively stable tool for running multiple guest operatingsystems on a host PC. Still, for many casual users this is all theyreally need. To them, VirtualBox fills a void between the full-featuredWorkstation and VMware's free Player application, the latter of whichplaces Workstation's powerful runtime engine in a frustratinglyrestrictive straightjacket with minimal configurability. So whileVirtualBox may not be able to compete with VMware on features (itdoesn't have all that many to speak of) or performance (it's at least30 percent slower in OfficeBench tests on the aforementioned Dell XPSM1710), Sun has managed to carve out a niche where its newly acquiredproduct can thrive while growing stronger and occasionally nipping atthe heels of its more capable competitor.

CallingVMware Workstation 6.5 versus Sun xVM VirtualBox 2.0 a two-horse “race”might have been misleading. With Workstation's expansive feature setand top-notch performance, it really isn't much of a competition.Still, VirtualBox delivers a combination of features that you simplycannot find outside of VMware, including USB device integration and64-bit guest OS support. Add to this the killer price (free) and youhave the makings of a cult classic. And though VirtualBox doesn'tmeasure up to VMware Workstation today, don't count Sun out. As one ofthe preeminent engineering powerhouses, the company has the talent andresources to make a serious run at anyone it targets. VMware had betternot let its guard down anytime soon.