[mythtv-users] Back-end Virtualization

[Simon Hobson]

Raymond Wagner wrote:

>Gentoo packages their base install as a "stage 3" tarball.  It's a 
>fully functioning system minus a few config files for startup.  Make 
>a folder, download the tarball, unpack the tarball into the folder, 
>and chroot into it running bash.  This is actually the standard 
>install procedure.
>
>Build MythTV and dependencies using portage inside the chroot. 
>Mount your storage disks inside the chroot.  Mount instances of 
>procfs and sysfs inside the chroot.  Mount your /dev folder inside 
>the chroot.  All you have to do after that is instead of running 
>`mythbackend`, you run `chroot /base/path mythbackend`.  All the 
>convenience of a separate Gentoo installation, dedicated to MythTV, 
>for ease of management, but none of the hardware access difficulties 
>that come from a full virtual machine.
>
>Replace Gentoo with your distro of choice in the above.

And for those things that don't come packaged like that ? Do an 
install onto <something else> then copy the whole filesystem into the 
chroot jail, and then faff about to make it work with a "foreign" 
kernel - or just install it into a VM with no faffing ?

Will you please accept that for some things a full VM is simply "less 
hassle" than the other techniques ? Your religious crusades are 
irksome to people who "just want to get on with it" rather than have 
the most perfect system possible if you are prepared to put 
(potentially) lots of time into it.



Raymond Wagner wrote:

>That makes no sense what so ever.  A single Linux server is not 
>sufficient to run multiple independent applications, but take that 
>same hardware, run all the same applications, but now each with its 
>own kernel performing redundant duties, and wrap them all in a 
>hypervisor running many of those same scheduling, memory, and IO 
>management tasks, and somehow it all runs better?  Something doesn't 
>add up there.

You missed the key bit he mentioned - Windows.
It's got a lot better, but there are many functions you **CANNOT** 
run on one machine if you want it to work. Seriously, there are 
"standard" bits from MS that can't coexist on one machine ! I can't 
recall what, but IIRC there are some bits that cannot be run on the 
same machine as a domain controller.

I know this from listening to the groans from my colleagues that deal 
with this stuff.

-- 
Simon Hobson

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