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FreeBSD vs. Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FreeBSD

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AFreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms. A large community has continually developed it for more than thirty years. Its advanced networking, security, and storage features have made FreeBSD the platform of choice for many of the busiest web sites and most pervasive embedded networking and storage devices.N/A

    KVM

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/AKernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is a virtualization solution developed by small Israeli software company Qumranet and supported by Red Hat since that company's acquisition in 2008.N/A
    Pricing
    FreeBSDKVM
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FreeBSDKVM
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    FreeBSDKVM
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of FreeBSD and Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
    Feature
    FreeBSD
    -
    Ratings
    Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
    9.2
    6 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Virtual machine automated provisioning00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
    Management console00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FreeBSDKVM
    Small Businesses
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Proxmox VE
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FreeBSDKVM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FreeBSDKVM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    FreeBSD is an excellent choice to continue using older hardware and have it perform, it is a great choice for a UNIX based development environment. Although I haven't used it as a server, it is most suited for this - it would make an excellent, secure and robust server for and I would love to start using it for this as well.
    Incentivized
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    Red Hat
    KVM is the best solution in the case you need to test and turn up any virtual environment with limited vCPU/RAM resources. The obvious area of its use is a network environment when we want to avoid being tied to one type of hardware/vendor and being able to swap from one instance to another with no downtimes. The use of a vSwitch (that supports VLAN tagging) is a significant bonus for network engineers that some other hypervisors do not provide.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Open Source
    • stability
    • security
    • scalability
    Incentivized
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    Red Hat
    • KVM is really good at providing fast and reliable virtualization for Linux guests
    • Since KVM is a kernel module, every VM is a Linux process which can be managed by Linux system tools
    • KVM integrates very well with the management framework libvirt, which is why KVM can be integrated in automation tools as well
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Open Source
    • Installation can be tricky for first timers
    • You need to be comfortable using a command line terminal most of the time
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Red Hat
    • KVM itself doesn't ship with a management interface
    • KVM itself is a bit complicated to handle
    • KVM needs Qemu to virtualize Windows guests
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Red Hat
    It does the job and stays out of the way. The specifics of usability relies on the implementation, but with things like Icarus and libvirt, things are standardizing nicely.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    FreeBSD is the closest to the original BSD unix. This OS is currently used by vendors in the field of routing, switching, security as well as base OS for MAC devies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Red Hat
    It is a very reliable solution that can be used for x86 architecture virtualization with low overhead. It is a free and open source software. Easy to use withOpenStack.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • As FreeBSD is free - the ROI is at least the cost of some commercial Linux or Windows based OS (which can be very expensive)
    • Allowed the re-use of older hardware that would have otherwise been disposed
    • No cost development environment
    • Opportunity for a no cost server setup also
    Incentivized
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    Red Hat
    • Fast provisioning of new servers.
    • Huge drop of the cost of servers compared to bare metal.
    • Easy upgrades of resources, sometimes now even requiring a server restart.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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