Item: Oracle VM VirtualBox
Rating: 10
Author: Barry Burd

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It might be used across the organization, but the only use I'm familiar with is in my department. We use VirtualBox so that students can work on platforms other than the ones that their computers natively support.

Pros and Cons

Easy to use virtualization.
Nice tool for teaching.
Easy updates.
Wide range of client operating systems.

Occasional slow performance (but not very often).
There's always room for a more friendly user experience.

Return on Investment

With VirtualBox, we can run courses that otherwise would be impractical to run.
VirtualBox permits faculty members to test environments that aren't native to our own systems.
VirtualBox allows faculty members to experiment with virtualization technologies.

Alternatives Considered

We've used VMware, and continue to use it for some projects. But, in my experience, the latest updates to VMware run very slowly, particularly on macOS. Many blog posts offer tweaks to help speed up VMware, but none of these tweaks make a significant difference.

Key Insights

Do you think Oracle VM VirtualBox delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Oracle VM VirtualBox's feature set?

Yes

Did Oracle VM VirtualBox live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Oracle VM VirtualBox go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Oracle VM VirtualBox again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Duo Security, AWS Lambda

Likelihood to Recommend

VirtualBox is an indispensable tool for teaching Computer Science courses of all kinds at the college level. Most recently, I used VirtualBox to run a toy operating system in my OS course. Without VirtualBox (or a product like VirtualBox) students would have had to install the toy operating system directly "on the metal" on their computers. This would have been both inconvenient and a bit dangerous. In other courses, students get to learn to use operating systems that they would otherwise not have access to. In still other courses, VirtualBox provides a common image that all students, regardless of their laptop's platform, can use.

VirtualBox Goes to School

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle VM VirtualBox