A few months back, I posted an article about setting up a small home server. I’ve been playing around with the setup of that machine lately, and rather than breaking the working system, I’ve been perfecting my setup in a virtualized environment.
There are a number of virtual machine tools out there, but I’ve been particularly happy with Oracle’s VirtualBox, given that it works fantastically well for Linux, Windows, and OS X, and that it is available as free software. If you haven’t ever used virtualization software before, the basic idea is that it emulates a “virtual” computer, allowing you to install an operating system and software in a “sand-boxed” environment. The virtual machine is entirely self-contained, so you can mess it up as much as you like without affecting your real system.
Virtualization is an incredibly useful way to make the most of hardware for large enterprise organizations, but it’s also useful to us real people, too. For example, I was able to experiment with several different operating systems and configurations on virtual machines before I finally went ahead and over-wrote the OS on my little home server. Similarly, an ambitious GeekDad could set up virtual machines for everyone in the house, bringing an end to the headaches that occur when someone accidentally downloads malware from some sketchy website.
Setting up a virtual machine and installing an operating system turns out to be incredibly easy with VirtualBox. You basically just click a few buttons to create a virtual machine, configure the settings, point the virtual machine at a bootable CD image, then start it up. The virtual machine boots like a regular computer, and you can install your OS as normal. The image gallery below walks you through the entire process in reassuring detail. Check out a gallery of screen shots in the extended post.
