Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise is a server virtualization platform that allows businesses to run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server. It provides a powerful, efficient and secure way to utilize hardware resources in a data center or private cloud environment.
What are the key features of Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise?
Some of the key features of Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise include:
- Server consolidation – Allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server, reducing hardware costs.
- Isolation – Virtual machines are completely isolated from each other for enhanced security.
- Portability – Virtual machines can easily be migrated from one physical server to another with no application downtime.
- Scalability – Scale up or down by adding or removing resources to virtual machines as needed.
- VM snapshots – Ability to take snapshots of virtual machines to easily revert back or clone VMs.
- Guest OS support – Support for a wide range of guest operating systems including Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.
- Networking – Advanced networking features like bridging, host-only networking and internal networking for connecting VMs.
- Remote machine display – Remotely view and control virtual machines through VirtualBox’s remote desktop feature.
- CLI and API – Command line interface and API for automating tasks and integrating with third party management tools.
- Enterprise support – Oracle provides 24/7 support and software updates for the Enterprise edition.
What are the benefits of using Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise?
Some key benefits of using Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise include:
- Cost savings – Server consolidation results in reduced data center space, power and cooling costs by utilizing hardware resources more efficiently.
- Improved hardware utilization – Virtualization allows companies to increase utilization levels of physical servers from typical 5-15% to 60-80%.
- Faster provisioning – New virtual machines can be provisioned in minutes compared to days or weeks to procure and configure new physical servers.
- Better availability – Critical applications can be made highly available by running on failover clusters.
- Enhanced security – Isolation of virtual machines limits security breaches from spreading across infrastructure.
- Simplified management – Virtual machines are easier to manage and monitor centrally compared to large numbers of physical servers.
- Load balancing – Workloads can be load balanced across a pool of virtualized resources for optimal resource utilization.
- Improved disaster recovery – VMs can be easily replicated to DR sites and failed over in the event of an outage.
What types of workloads can be virtualized with Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise?
Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise can virtualize a very broad range of workloads including:
- File and print services
- Web servers
- Application servers
- Email servers
- DNS, DHCP servers
- Database servers
- CRM and ERP systems
- Custom LoB applications
- Big data analytics systems like Hadoop
- Development and test environments
Essentially any application that can run on standard x86 server hardware can be virtualized with Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise. Even high performance and mission critical systems can be virtualized due to features like resource prioritization and reservations.
How does Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise compare to alternatives like VMware vSphere?
Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise is positioned as a lower cost alternative to commercial hypervisors like VMware vSphere. Let’s compare some key capabilities:
| Feature | Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise | VMware vSphere |
|---|---|---|
| Server consolidation | Yes | Yes |
| Live migration | Yes | Yes |
| High availability | Yes | Yes |
| Disaster recovery | Yes | Yes |
| Storage management | Basic | Advanced |
| Network virtualization | Basic | Advanced |
| Automation and API | Yes | Yes |
As you can see Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise provides extensive server virtualization capabilities comparable to VMware vSphere but at a significantly lower licensing cost. However, vSphere generally has more advanced storage management, network virtualization and automation capabilities for very large deployments.
What types of support and professional services are available for Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise?
Oracle offers the following support and services for Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise customers:
- 24/7 production support – Unlimited 24/7 phone and web support for critical issues.
- Updates and patches – Access to software updates, patches and new version upgrades.
- Global support centers – Support personnel located worldwide for quick response.
- Vendor certified support – Support engineers are trained and certified across Oracle’s product portfolio.
- Consulting services – Optional consulting service for design, implementation and optimization assistance.
- Training – Classroom and online training available for IT staff education.
Oracle offers three support levels – Platinum, Gold and Silver. Platinum provides the highest response levels for the most critical production issues. Customers can choose the support level that meets their business requirements.
How is Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise licensed and what are the costs?
Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise is licensed on a per-physical socket basis on the server. Some key licensing details include:
- Applies to all processor cores in the physical socket.
- Includes 1 year of Oracle Premier Support.
- Pricing is tiered based on number of socket licenses purchased.
- Discounted pricing available for high volume purchases.
- Free 60 day trial available to test capabilities.
Published list pricing as of 2023:
| Number of Socket Licenses | Price Per License |
|---|---|
| 1 to 9 | $5,000 |
| 10 to 49 | $4,000 |
| 50 to 99 | $3,000 |
| 100+ | Contact Oracle |
As shown, the per-socket pricing tiers down for larger deployments. Companies should work with Oracle sales representatives to receive quotes for their specific environment and expected socket volumes. Additional discounts are often available.
What platforms and hardware does Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise support?
Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise supports a broad range of x86 server platforms from vendors like Dell, HPE, Lenovo, Cisco and others. Some key requirements include:
- x86 64-bit Intel and AMD processors
- Hardware virtualization support (Intel VT-x or AMD SVM)
- Minimum 4 GB RAM (8 GB + recommended)
- Storage for virtual machine files (SAN, NAS, DAS)
- Gigabit Ethernet network ports
Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise can take advantage of hardware accelerators like Intel VT-d for improved performance. Certified server platforms are listed in the Oracle hardware compatibility list.
How is Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise deployed and managed?
The Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise software is installed directly on the physical bare-metal server hardware. It creates a bare-metal hypervisor environment for hosting the virtual machines. Some key deployment and management capabilities include:
- Wizard-driven installation, configuration and VM deployment
- Web-based GUI for managing VMs, resources and services
- Command line interface and API for automation
- Role-based access control for delegated administration
- Monitoring, alerting and logging for health checks
- Clustering for high availability and live migration
- Templates and cloning for streamlined VM provisioning
- Autoscale and load balancing of resources
Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise can be managed as standalone hosts or clustered into a private cloud. It can also be integrated with tools like Oracle Enterprise Manager for centralized management.
Can Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise integrate with public clouds?
Yes, Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise can integrate with public clouds like Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to form hybrid cloud solutions:
- Hybrid DR – Replicate VMs to OCI for disaster recovery.
- Cloud bursting – Extend capacity by spinning up resources in OCI when on-prem resources are maxed out.
- Data sync – Use OCI object storage for backup, archive and data sharing.
- Dev/test sandboxes – Create portable lab environments in OCI.
Oracle provides tools like Hybrid Cloud Management and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure FastConnect to simplify connecting private VMware environments with OCI public cloud.
Conclusion
In summary, Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise provides a scalable and robust server virtualization platform for data centers and private clouds. With strong isolation, availability, mobility and management capabilities, it allows companies to realize the cost and efficiency benefits of virtualization for production workloads. Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise delivers value by reducing hardware expenses and operational overhead for organizations with existing VMware investments or those looking for a lower cost alternative.