Oracle VM VirtualBox Reviews

The biggest feature that we like and which is most valuable for us is the fact that Virtualbox is easy to set up, it's ready to go, and we can install Oracle PeopleSoft images on a Linux OS in a fairly quick and efficient time with minimal manual work.

Our ability to keep up with Oracle PeopleSoft images being installed on the Oracle VM has sped up our turnaround time and allowed us to save time for applying updates to a delivered environment to begin analysis\extraction of fixes and review of functionality.

There were some minor issues with the initial setup, such as if we forgot to reinitialize the MAC addresses of the network cards. Also, setting up the network adaptors was a bit tricky.

I've been using it for about six months.

We went with a physical box, and our biggest issue was being able to get right amount of configuration/memory/disk space and CPU to be able to deploy multiple images on the VM. Realistically the restriction was on our end and not the software itself.

We have had no issues with the stability.

We have had no issues scaling it for our needs.

The level of customer service and support has been very good to date. No complaints there.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward with some minor items that needed to be logged. The biggest issue we came across was if we forgot to reinitialize the MAC addresses of the network cards. If we forgot to do that, we had to go back and re-import the image to the Virtualbox. Setting up the network adaptors was a bit tricky, in the sense where we had to make sure we had enough adapters to do Bridged Adapters.

We implemented it in-house.

The ROI on it is obviously to our benefit as we are now able to deploy multiple PeopleSoft images to the Oracle VM and have everything (Web\App\DB\OSES) up and running normally in less than a day. That is a big time saver for us.

In our situation, the product came as part of our ERP license, therefore we cannot comment on that as its not a separate cost.

We did not evaluate any other solutions as the Oracle VM was part of our ERP deployment with the new release. It was a requirement and, as such, we implemented it accordingly.

I would say that in terms of implementing this product, it is definitely a powerful tool and what we are using it for is probably less than what it can be used for to maximize the return. Being able to run multiple images on this (Windows, OS X, Linux, Solaris, IBM OS\2 etc.) allows for deployments of multiple OS's and version for testing multiple products\scenarios.

From our use of it, the most valuable feature we've found is that it can quickly deploy new virtual machines.

We need to test our new features in virtual machines before deployment. With VM Virtualbox, we can try our software in virtual machines so that we can find errors, fix them, and then re-test, and we can do this over and over again. Because of this, the Snapshots feature is particularly useful and valuable for us.

If the system that you want to use for virtualization has no 64-bit support, you need to give it instructions on how to enable it through the Intel virtualization technology in BIOS.

I've used it for seven years.

We had no issues with the deployment.

We had no stability issues.

There have been no issues scaling it for our needs.

Technical support is very good. We can find everything we need to resolve our issues in the support pages online.

We used different products from different vendors, but we chose VirtualBox because it's easy to use and is very stable.

It was very simple to setup.

We implemented it with our in-house team.

We gained a lot of time in the testing phase of free software.

It's free.

I can't do everything I need for virtualization, for example like with vMotion or another solution. You will easily be able to use the software.

VirtualBox can import and export virtual machines in a usable format. It’s also very easy to change settings to fine tune the VM. Also, I can send a VM to a friend to test so they don’t have to install it or port it to my other computers.

In my personal lab, it helps me explore new Linux distributions or updates before actually installing them.

I’d like to see Oracle make it easy to drag and drop files between a VM and the host PC. That would help a lot in saving time transferring files.

I've used it for about six years.

I have had no issues deploying it.

I have had no issues with stability.

I've not had to scale it.

I haven't needed to use customer service.

I have not had to use tech support as there is plenty of information available online.

I used VirtualPC before, but VirtualBox is much better. It offers more configuration options in its settings, and we wanted an alternative to Microsoft products.

Getting used to working through the settings took some time to get the hang of, but after that, it flows smoothly usually.

As a home user, it’s free.

I would recommend that you use VirtualBox and experiment with different settings.

The most valuable feature for us is deployment of VMware (VMDK) as well as non-VMware (VDI) VMs because most of the test VMs run on ESXi. In our case, we can just switch back and forth by exporting the VM as a VMDK file, which can then be deployed on the ESXi/ VMware player.

Second valuable feature for us is the Virtual Media Manager where we can see all the disks attached to all the VMs and manage them at one place, which is not there in the commercial products as well.

A major improvement we've seen is in the testing of the applications before production deployment. Previously, we used to search for physical machines, install OS, and then install application. Now it runs as a VM where I have a OS exported and saved deployment is clean and easy.

I would like to see VirtualBox as an OS in itself. It boots first and then we get an option to load whichever OS we want on top of it. However, I am unsure if this already exists in some capacity.

I've been using it for close to six years, starting at college. I use it on both Windows and Linux and keep it updated.

There was no issues with the deployment.

Sometimes on the Windows version, the product hangs for reasons unknown, but the Linux version is very stable.

We have had no issues with the scaling.

I've never interacted with the customer service. All the information required was available in the documentation or in forums.

We we also use the VMware workstation, VMware Player.

It's very straightforward, I would say. Just click next couple of times and you are ready to go.

We did it in-house.

Go ahead and try all you can with this product, provided your hardware has enough juice as you can play around a lot with the product.

There are several features we've found valuable, the most valuable of which are --

• the simplicity of the solution;
• the fact that it's multi-platform; and
• it has easy-to-install applications.

It works, and there is active development of the product by Oracle so that it handles OVM templates.

An area of improvement would be the added ability to create the Oracle RAC clusters we now need to edit a properties file in order to make a VM disk sharable. It would be nice to be able to do that from the GUI.

I've been using it for personal use for self-education and training for Linux and Solaris administration, as well as for Oracle products like Database and WebLogic.

We've had no issues with deployment.

We've had no issues with stability.

We've had no issues with scalability.

As it's free, the price-per-performance ratio is a big plus.

The most valuable feature is the ability to spring up test environments quickly and in a reliable manner.

Oracle VirtualBox has enabled me to build testing and development environments which we could not have otherwise built.

From the host side, the Oracle VirtualBox could use more automation.

I have used Oracle VirtualBox for two years now.

We have not had any deployment issues so far.

There have been no issues with the stability.

It has been able to scale for our needs without issue.

The documentation for technical support is excellent.

I chose Oracle VirtualBox because it is easily available, free, and open source. It is also the industry standard for web development virtualization software.

Initially, the setup was straightforward with the exception of setting up the network. Documentation helped me to solve the problems though.

I implemented the solution using a vendor team. Make sure to reserve enough space for the virtual hard drive and make sure to set up the network settings correctly.

Our Return on Investment has been excellent.

Oracle VirtualBox is free.

If you are running multiple virtual machines at the same time, please make sure you have enough resources to do this.

The most valuable feature for us was the speed of setup. From zero to mere minutes, I can have something working.

It's nice that we can use it on Linux as we use it on Windows.

I'd like to see phpVirtualBox integration or something like that. VM Virtualbox lacks this feature and it would be nice to have web remote access on it.

I've used it for many years. I think I started with v2 or v3.

I think Linux had a little problem installing it, but nothing so important that I remember the specific problem.

There is an issue with stability only when I used it with phpVirtualBox.

We have had no issues scaling it for our needs.

I've never had to contact tech support, as the documentation was enough for me.

The initial setup was very simple.

We did it in-house.

As it's very simple and documentation is available, there are no problems with ROI in general.

There is the enterprise version, which I did not test because I did not need it. I remember that it was an interesting way to bulk sell about 50 or 100 licenses at one time. Of course, the price was way over what I had in mind to do with Virtualbox, so I just skipped. I think, also, that the open source version will cover all your needs until you need 50-100 licenses.

It's excellent for the speed of setup, to install/deploy/test things, but for serious work I prefer to work on Proxmox. I just loved it.

It allows me to run VMs on my laptop. I am able to develop and test my infrastructure automation scripts locally before running in production. Also, I do Java programming, so I can set up VM for my projects and scrap it once projects are finished -- with backup, of course.

We used to be making changes on servers, especially for infrastructure changes. It is difficult to maintain and roll back. Sometimes there are multiple possible solutions and we want to try all of them to find out the best one. Virtualbox gives us the peace of mind to try whatever crazy things that we want to. Just take a snapshot, try it, and restore. Easy and fast.

Networking options need improvement. Once I had an idea to move my development work into Ubuntu, however it is not possible to run VM within VM. The solution is to play around with the networking so that all VMs run within the same network and use one of them as a master node. But sometimes I need to test the scripts to run in a different network. I couldn't find an easy solution for that situation.

I've used it for two years at work, and if you consider exploratory work, close to three years.

We had no issues with the deployment.

Sometimes a VM doesn't start normally and I have to reinstall the product. It could be a combination of Windows' and Virtualbox's issues.

We haven't scaled it as I'm only using it on my laptop.

I've never had to use customer service.

I've not had to contact technical support, but the community support is good.

We previously used VMware. Virtualbox is easier to install when I already have a host OS. I don't need another client to connect to it.

The initial setup is straightforward. Just download the installer and install.

We implemented it in-house. For infrastructure-as-code, try to combine Virtualbox with other tools such as Chef and Vagrant.

I am not using the paid version so I can't comment.

Just go ahead and try it out. Again, combine it with Chef, Vagrant and Git, which will make your life much easier in the long run.

Being able to run and then roll back operating system change tests for multiple systems on one piece of hardware is the most valuable feature for us.

With this solution, we need to have less hardware and we're able to to perform faster testing.

I've had networking issues when I travel with my laptop. Switching VMs from NAT to bridge is a nuisance.

I've used it for five years.

We have had no issues with the deployment.

We had no issues with the stability.

We've not scaled it at all. I just run three different versions of Linux and three on Windows at different times.

I've not had to use customer service at all.

I've not had to contact technical support.

The setup is always straightforward.

I implemented it myself.

It saved me five whole computers.

I've not had to look at any other solutions as it does exactly what I need without fuss.

Go for it, and make sure to add plenty of RAM to the host.

The ease-of-use and versatility are among the good qualities of this solution. I also value its native ability to use other VM machines files like QEMU and VMware.

We can test and evaluate software and systems in a controlled environment before the roll-out to production.

It would be great to have a hypervisor version of VirtualBox running on servers.

I’ve been using VirtualBox since it was launched many years ago by Innotech.

We found no problems deploying it.

VirtualBox is a very stable product and we found no problems.

It has been able to scale to our needs without any issues.

We have never ever had the need to use technical support.

We tried VMWare VMPlayer in the beginning, but VirtualBox outperformed it and so it became our choice.

It’s a very simple and straightforward process.

It was an in-house implementation.

We use the personal licensing option as we use it on a few machines.

In my opinion, this product is the best available option for testing virtual appliances and operating systems. I use it also as a means of running multiple virtual machines without changing my business desktop environment. We recommend VirtualBox as an excellent product for evaluating new systems or softwares.