Virtual server products compared
By , Tech Update
November 15, 2002
In this chart, we compare the functionality of the three main Intel server virtualization products from VMware, SWsoft, and Connectix.


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VMware Connectix/
Virtual Server
Swsoft
Virtuozzo
Host OS GSX Server:
Windows NT, 2000, 2000 Advanced, .Net servers; Red Hat Linux, Mandrake Linux, TurboLinux, SuSE Linux, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7

ESX Server:
Not applicable
Windows .Net Server 2003

Windows 2000 servers
Any version of Linux;
FreeBSD

Guest OS GSX Server:
Windows NT, 2000, and .Net servers, Windows XP Home/Professional, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 95/98/98SE/Me, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 3.1, MS-DOS 6.22; Mandrake Linux, Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7, TurboLinux, FreeBSD

ESX Server:
Windows 2000 Server, Windows NT4, Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux, FreeBSD
Windows NT, 2000, and .Net servers, Windows XP Home/Professional, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 95/98/98SE/Me, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 3.1, MS-DOS 6.22; Mandrake Linux, Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7, TurboLinux, FreeBSD, Netware, OS/2, Solaris x86 Any version of Linux
(disparate concurrent
versions supported)
with Linux host OS;
FreeBSD with
FreeBSD host OS

Host RAM GSX Server:
256MB min, 8GB max

ESX Server:
256MB min, 64GB max
64GB max No minimum
or maximum

VM/VE RAM GSX Server:
2GB max

ESX Server:
3.6GB max
3.6GB max 64GB max,
across 16 CPUs

Concurrent VMs/VEs GSX Server:
4 per CPU, 16 max

ESX Server:
8 per CPU, 64 max
64 max Up to 2,500 on one
physical server

Extensibility GSX Server:
COM/Perl API scripting

ESX Server:
API scripting
COM API scripting API scripting,
templating