2

Is it a good idea to run virtual machine on a different X server? I can switch between them using Ctrl + Alt + Fx shortcuts. If my default X server hangs/crashes, I can still continue to work with the virtual machine. Are there any drawbacks/issues I should be aware of? I didn't face any issue so far. What is the cost of running an additional X server for virtual machine in terms of cpu, gpu, memory, disk etc,.? Is it same as running them inside the same X server?

Edit: Basically I am trying to understand which one is better?

XServer 
|-----> Virtual Machine 1
|-----> Virtual Machine 2
|-----> Virtual Machine 3

vs

XServer1 --> Virtual Machine 1
XServer2 --> Virtual Machine 2
XServer3 --> Virtual Machine 3
Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

VMs don`t run on a X-server. They run on a physical machine. You can redirect the output to different X-servers, if you like to.

On Virtualbox you can also use a "headless" mode for VMs - these will not use a X-display at all.

Another alternative might be using Xfvb as X-Server. You can then start VNC-server processes inside the VMs and connect there.

Improve this answer
3
  • if I use headless, I have to connect to it using rdesktop/vnc which will again require an X server. I am trying to use two operating systems parallelly (and independent of each other) and should be able to switch between them using a keyboard shortcut. Commented Feb 1, 2012 at 18:19
  • You can connect to those machines with ssh (with or without X11-server). If you want to connect to VNC or X11 via X11 tunnel the X11-server runs on the VM - not on the VirtualBox-Server. Commented Feb 1, 2012 at 20:57
  • 1
    Why not just use a Desktop environment that lets you have more than one workspace, and run each VM in a different workspace? It seems crazy to run three different X environments for no good reason -- it's not as if the VMs care about what display they talk to, it's all virtualized anyway through your VM software. Commented May 1, 2012 at 19:34

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.