Not Just Virtually Free

http://www.virtualbox.org/


When we think virtualization we think VMware or Microsoft virtual machine. This stuff is never easy and never seems to work out the way you want it. Here is a simpler, easy, and best of all, free solution. This supports most operating systems inside and out and can handle 64bit as well.

I'm still a big fan of Mojo Pak but XP is phasing out quickly.


What they say on their web page:

VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware. Targeted at server, desktop and embedded use, it is now the only professional-quality virtualization solution that is also Open Source Software.

Some of the features of VirtualBox are:

• Modularity. VirtualBox has an extremely modular design with well-defined internal programming interfaces and a client/server design. This makes it easy to control it from several interfaces at once: for example, you can start a virtual machine in a typical virtual machine GUI and then control that machine from the command line, or possibly remotely. VirtualBox also comes with a full Software Development Kit: even though it is Open Source Software, you don't have to hack the source to write a new interface for VirtualBox.

• Virtual machine descriptions in XML. The configuration settings of virtual machines are stored entirely in XML and are independent of the local machines. Virtual machine definitions can therefore easily be ported to other computers.

• Guest Additions for Windows, Linux and Solaris. VirtualBox has special software that can be installed inside Windows, Linux and Solaris virtual machines to improve performance and make integration much more seamless. Among the features provided by these Guest Additions are mouse pointer integration and arbitrary screen solutions (e.g. by resizing the guest window). There are also guest additions for OS/2 with somewhat reduced functionality.

• Shared folders. Like many other virtualization solutions, for easy data exchange between hosts and guests, VirtualBox allows for declaring certain host directories as "shared folders", which can then be accessed from within virtual machines.

A number of extra features are available with the full VirtualBox release only (see the "Editions" page for details):

• Virtual USB Controllers. VirtualBox implements a virtual USB controller and allows you to connect arbitrary USB devices to your virtual machines without having to install device specific drivers on the host.

• Remote Desktop Protocol. Unlike any other virtualization software, VirtualBox fully supports the standard Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). A virtual machine can act as an RDP server, allowing you to "run" the virtual machine remotely on some thin client that merely displays the RDP data.

• USB over RDP. With this unique feature, a virtual machine that acts as an RDP server can still access arbitrary USB devices that are connected on the RDP client. This way, a powerful server machine can virtualize a lot of thin clients that merely need to display RDP data and have USB devices plugged in.

VMWare from Microsoft

I'm a fan if VMware but VMware can be a bear to build and configure. If your not a super geek but have a need for a virtual machine then this might be an option.

Virtual PC 2007 is now available

Whether Microsoft virtualization technology is an important component of your existing infrastructure or you're just a Virtual PC enthusiast, you can now download Virtual PC 2007 absolutely free.

Nice cygwin help file.

Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows
http://www.cygwin.com/

The only good reason I can find to run cygwin is to create server running SSH on a Windows XP machine for free.

Its also a great environment to learn more about Linux or Unix administration without having to run a dual boot. You can play around with X11 port forwarding and basically get a more powerful version of Exceed or ReflectionX. I had another article on Xming with putty which is much simpler to setup and use.

Nice help file.
http://pigtail.net/LRP/printsrv/cygwin-sshd.html

I have a misc info page at: http://rampart-ssh.com/cygwin info page.rtf

The amazing / powerful - mojopac - FREE

Free virtual desktop for mobile storage.

http://www.mojopac.com/portal/content/download.jsp
I bought 2 licenses and it was well worth the money. Since it's now free what do you have to loose. I loaded it on a 1gig USB and a 100gig harddrive.

This app lets you launch a Windows desktop and run your own apps without in any way changing the host desktop. I've used it on Games, MMOs, and to surf the web. At work I can tell you that your IT department will be able to read the contents of the drive like any USB drive but I don't think they can tell you have it running. Of course your internet traffic will always be visible by packet snifers.

This is great when at a friend's house or web surfing from work. It also makes a great application test environment. For all practical purposes its a virtual PC. You can easily switch from your virtual desktop to your host.

Cool Routers from old PC Junk

Taking a old PC and creating a firewall router, a gaming router, or having the ability to do traffic shaping on your home network.

I have 3 boys. They love to hog the Internet. Sometimes I like to stream media or do an occasional "legal !!!!!!!!" Torrent download.

When you get enough traffic running through that 3mbs download and 400kbs upload you can easily generate lag. These simple firewall routers that I mention below can allow you to throttle back or pipe and shape your traffic flow.

For example - Dad always gets priority.
If my kids want to log in and configure it differently who am I to say no. :o)Secondly, The hell if some guy is going to be on a Torrent downloading from my machine as I am trying to upload. I can create a pipe forcing all Torrent traffic to comply to my rules.

m0n0wall is the best place to start.
It is very simple to set up and configure. It does a great job of traffic shaping and can give you a good idea about what your network traffic looks like.

pfsense does what m0n0wall does but it adds a layer of complexity along with a layer of really nice reporting tools. pfsense will allow you to store a history on the performance of your ISP connection and offers some nice network discovery tools.


m0n0wall -- http://m0n0.ch/wall/

From the downloads page, you want to use the CD ROM ISO, the other images are for special mini PC boards to keep you project the size of a router.
http://m0n0.ch/wall/downloads.php

To put the image on a hard drive: http://m0n0.ch/wall/physdiskwrite.php
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http://www.pfsense.com/

Minimum requirementsMinimum hardware requirements
All platforms:128 megabytes of ram
Embedded:128 megabyte compact flash card
Full installation:2gb hard drive or larger
LiveCD:USB Keychain for configuration storage

Wiki: http://devwiki.pfsense.org/PfSenseDevHome
Step by Step Guide: http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Installing_pfSense

Downloading pfsense:
I prefer the CD method. Most geeks have a CD ROM drive sitting around collecting dust.
http://www.pfsense.com/index.php?id=22

Really GEEKY but cool.
PFSenseDevWiki : FullInstallOnWRAP
http://devwiki.pfsense.org/FullInstallOnWRAP
PC Engines: http://pcengines.ch/index.htm
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Turn that old PC into a Vyatta Router http://www.vyatta.com/download/

Old PC To New Router With Gentoo Linux
http://www.cyber-knowledge.net/blog/2006/09/01/old-pc-to-new-router-with-gentoo-linux/


Router Hack Attack: Turn your $60 router into a $600 router http://lifehacker.com/software/router/hack-attack-turn-your-60-router-into-a-600-router-178132.php

Other good uses for older PCs might be a file server or with a Knoppix DVD where you can have a Web station to allow family to surf the web and do homework online using:

http://writer.zoho.com/jsp/home.jsp?serviceurl=%2Findex.do

or

http://docs.google.com/ for example.