Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
KVM
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Kernel-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
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
KVM
Free Trial
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Considered Both Products
KVM
Chose Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
We've found KVM to be less problematic, both from a stabilty standpoint, but also in a flexibility and licensing standpoint. We love being able to deploy the hardware we want, as we want it, without needing the blessing of a specific vendor.
Chose Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Kernel-based Virtual Machine is an open-source and free solution, compared to Virtualbox which is a product from Oracle.
Chose Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
The key points why I made my decision for KVM in comparison with VMWare are: Freeware software (I am using an Ubuntu server OS), Fewer resources usage, vSwitch using that provides the ability to configure dot1q trunks to/between VMs, Stability, and simplicity of …
Chose Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Compared to VirtualBox, KVM has simpler licensing terms and is supported by the operating system vendor. KVM also has more mature integrations with other open-source projects. Automating provisioning is simple with KVM since it is available in the package repositories of …
Chose Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
KVM is free and provides environments where guests can run their own Kernel while still performing very well.
It is also very native to work with KVM since it is integrated within the Linux Kernel.
Chose Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
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.
Features
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Server Virtualization
Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Product A and Product B
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
9.2
6 Ratings
14% above category average
Virtual machine automated provisioning7.05 Ratings
Management console10.04 Ratings
Live virtual machine backup10.04 Ratings
Live virtual machine migration10.05 Ratings
Hypervisor-level security9.04 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Small Businesses
DigitalOcean Droplets
DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(6 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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Pros
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
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Cons
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
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Usability
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.
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Alternatives Considered
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.
Read full review
Return on Investment
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.
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