[mythtv-users] Virtualisation in the home network -- ready for mainstream?

[Raymond Wagner]

Jon Whitear wrote:
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Step back, and think about what you actually want.  Do you just want
these services in a separate file space for easier management?  Do you
want these services partitioned off from the rest of the system for
security and stability?  Do you want to be able to migrate these images
between different hardware (while live?)?  Do you want to run these
services on a different OS (or kernel version)?

Running separate OSs and live migration of system images is the ONLY
thing virtual machines gets you, and live migration is only available on
expensive enterprise solutions.  A simple chroot is sufficient to run a
separate install for easy management.  If you want, you can even make
these disk images that you mount and run.  As long as you have similar
hardware, you can usually move installs between systems, however do you
intend to move your disks and any internal tuners from machine to
machine as well?  If you want better isolation for your services, look
into vservers, which each have their own memory space and network
address, in addition to a chrooted file system.

Virtualization is the current big buzzword, and it certainly has it
uses.  However, most of its use is overkill and completely unnecessary. 
Put down the punch.