Note: Another way to create isolated virtual environments is to use Docker containers. It included features such as support for USB2/USB3 and RDP. In 2010, Oracle introduced the VirtualBox Extension Pack, a closed-source complemental package with additional features. You can run VirtualBox on Linux, Windows, Mac OS, and Oracle Solaris. Additionally, it lets you establish a managed connection between the VMs and even the host if needed. The software allows you to run virtual machines on your host operating system. It is a free, open-source virtualization product, distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. VirtualBox is Oracle’s x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization software.

In this tutorial, you will learn about the difference between VirtualBox and VMware.

While type 1 is more suitable for large production environments, hosted hypervisors are used for VMs run on personal computers. The most popular type 2 hypervisor software are VirtualBox and VMware.

Type 2 (hosted) hypervisors, installed on top of the host operating system.

Type 1 bare metal hypervisor, which are installed on the physical server.

They don’t see the host OS nor other VMs running on the same resources. The hypervisor emulates resources so the guest operating systems assume they are using all physical resources. The virtualization layer that abstracts the guest machine and underlying operating system is created with a hypervisor. Doing so reduces the number of physical dedicated servers required. Server virtualization allows you to run multiple operating systems on the same physical resources. It is used by everyone, from enthusiasts to developers. Virtualization has become the norm for software and OS testing.

Free virtualbox alternative