Is there a way to run a hypervisor type 1 and at the same time, choose and access each VM on that same machine?

( This is not multiboot ). For what I know, hypervisors type 1 runs on a physical machine, and in order to access virtual machines on top of that, one would need a second computer, connected through ethernet to configure, access, etc.

May be I´m wrong. I would like to do what we do in vmware workstation, for example, running and accessing multiple VMs at the same time, but without running it over an OS. The reason is simple: Running VMs inside an OS, ( like vmware workstation ), if this OS crash, all VMs would also crash, so I want to get rid of this possibility.

Is that possible on the same machine ? How ? Thanks.

Dihelson Mendonça

Posted 2017-01-20T23:52:03.620

Reputation: 75

Hello, @Ramhound , The question is: Installing ESXi on a physical machine, can I use this machine normally to acess and use all the Operating Systems installed on it , changing from one to another ? By what I´ve seen, one can only access these VMs using another computer is that so ? – Dihelson Mendonça – 2017-01-21T02:16:43.403

@Ramhound perhaps you didn´t understand my question. I want to build a system over an OS, because if this OS crash, all VMs would crash. For example, if I install vmware over Windows 7, and mount several VMs on this vmware, if my Win7 crash, all VMs will crash. So I need ESXi, I would install ESXi first, then all VMs and OS above it, but the problem is that "I heard" that when installing ESXi on a physical machine, you can´t access VMs installed on that machine using the keyboard, mouse and display connected to that machine. Is that true ? They say that I would need a second computer... – Dihelson Mendonça – 2017-01-21T05:01:50.060

Answers

Yes, there's a way, Every Type 1 Hypervisor has a remote GUI interface for managing the VMs that reside on it.

Some have an option of using a web based console eg. Proxmox (Opensource type 1 Hypervisor) or Esxi (VMWare Product) which uses a desktop application for managing the VMs.

All you need to do is set a static IP to your Hypervisor after installation and access it via a different computer on the network.

The reason is type one Hypervisor is for the enterprise where it is assumed you're on a network. More over running a GUI on the same server would take up a chunk of the Hypervisor's RAM.The Hypervisor's OS must be as efficient as possible and be void of unnecessary processes that may affect its performance.

The above is based on my 8years experience on the field.

Hope you find this helpful

Kwesi Kuwornu

Posted 2017-01-20T23:52:03.620

Reputation: 26

Hi, Kwesi Kuwornu, thanks for the answer. Based on your experience, what would be the easiest, affordable hypervisor type 1 that I could install on my computer ? Indeed, I would like to run a system where I could run several VM machines, but in such a way that they would not depend on a main OS, because if this OS crash, all VMs would crash. I intend to install for example, a machine using Winsows 10, another one with Ubuntu, another one with Win7... my knowledge on this area is basic.I even thought about installing a tiny Linux Distro and run VM inside it, but I think it may slow them. WDYT ? – Dihelson Mendonça – 2018-08-18T22:55:10.227