[mythtv-users] Mythbackend on VMware Server with DVB-tuners

[Raymond Wagner]

On 4/29/2011 08:35, Fredrik Hallgarde wrote:
> Some say that its overkill to run virtualization at home
> (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/475464#475464)
> I have to disagree as it allows me to keep a Mythdora 10.21 installation
> (2.6.27) while experimenting with newer kernels and mythtv-versions
> (without using more hardware).

No, it's simply overkill.  There are two reasons to play with new 
kernels, hardware support and new interfaces.  Since you're accessing 
static virtualized hardware, there is not going to be any gain in that 
department.  Unless you're actually doing development work to implement 
use of new kernel features into an application, there's not a whole lot 
of reason to use a VM for that.

Anything in the userland can be completely isolated from the rest of the 
system using a chroot, or something more complex, so there is nothing 
preventing one from running multiple distro installs on a single 
kernel.  I've got several jails (advanced chroot) running on my FBSD 8.1 
backend, some of them still using a FBSD 6.x userland.  I have several 
old root images for my frontends sitting on iSCSI shares, and at any 
time, I can connect to one, chroot in, and run it natively.

> All in all, a virtualized backend, even with PCI/USB tuners, is possible
> but personally I would prefer some other solution than VMware Server (I
> will try out VMware ESXi).

I'm going to agree with Moasat that something like VServers or 
Containers is much preferred over a full VM for nearly any use case.