Virtualization

Notes on virtualization.

Options

Host with Linux KVM, FreeBSD bhyve, Windows HyperV, or use a cloud provider.

qemu

Useful in Linux and Windows, though it may act more an emulator rather than a virtualization solution depending on how you use it and your architecture. It can take advantage of AMD and Intel hardware virtualization on the x86-64 platform. Advanced configurations can use ethernet bridging and hardware pass-through.

Creating an image

The qemu-img command does this. Recommended format is qcow2 for the space-conscious user who doesn't need to use the image on other hypervisors. The raw format might be the most universally accepted, however.

qemu-img create -f qcow2 my_virtual_machine.img 200G – creates an image that can expand to 200G as space requires

FreeBSD bhyve

This might be most useful to those who want to use FreeBSD for both hosts and guests, though the ability to host Linux and Windows with bhyve is solid. Notes at the bottom of the FreeBSD article.