VirtualBox - One of my best friends :)
October 27, 2017

VirtualBox - One of my best friends :)

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle VM VirtualBox

Across the organization we have a bunch of virtualization applications like VirtualBox (primarily local use), VmWare, Parallels etc. My team and I use Oracle VM VirtualBox daily for our virtualization needs and have had no issues with the same. VirtualBox is simplistic, efficient and extremely reliable with a ton of customizations available.
  • Extremely easy to use, don't think I have ever had any issues with it.
  • Honestly, for my day to day needs it has been far better than VmWare which I've faced plenty of issues with.
  • Support backed by Oracle which is a BIG plus!
  • Did I mention the non-commercial use Oracle VM VirtualBox is free? Yes, it is free!!
  • Could use an upgrade for a better looking User Interface.
  • Sometimes end up mixing up where my Virtual machines are created if I'm downloading them and running them, but that's just me.
  • For personal use, there is no monetary investment, I am running 5 CentOS servers flawlessly in my home lab.
  • Saves a ton of money in an enterprise environment by not having to purchase physical test servers. (Cost of Enterprise product is way lower vs Cost of standing up physical servers and/or cloud servers)
  • Makes virtualization very easy and friendly for everyone for test instances.
There are a lot of Pro's to using VmWare in an enterprise environment like a management console, deployment via templates and so on. But in terms of ROI, extreme ease of use, availability and customization VirtualBox wins the race for personal use but faces extreme competition in enterprises. Again, personally I would recommend VirtualBox to anyone out there looking for a good, friendly and free host virtualization application.
If its for personal use, I'd recommend it a 100% - does (almost) everything VmWare and Parallels do but free of charge, on-time updates and bug fixes and if you're an Open Source lover like me this is the one! However, there is stiff competition in the enterprise world with VmWare currently offering impeccable support and the extra features making virtualization easier to use for everyday Joe.

Oracle VM VirtualBox Feature Ratings

Virtual machine automated provisioning
7
Live virtual machine backup
8