Need advice about virtual machines

[ebrees]

I just purchased a laptop with the following specs:

IPS FHD GTX 1060 6GB VRAM
i7-8750H 2.2 GHz base speed on 6 cores
16 GB DDR4 Memory
256 GB SSD + 2 TB 5400 rpm HDD
Windows 10 Pro

I got it for my Computer Information System classes, specifically to run multiple virtual machines, running programming environments and possibly some media editing. Is this sufficient to run, say, 6 virtual machines doing moderate work, Eclipse and other programs, and basic tasks like browsing and Office applications (all on the host) simultaneously? I can upgrade to 32 GB RAM if necessary. Thank you.

 

[volkgren]

Depends on the virtual OS hardware requirements for CPU and RAM.

 

[ebrees]

Depends on the virtual OS hardware requirements for CPU and RAM.

Can you please elaborate?

 

[volkgren]

Depends on the virtual OS hardware requirements for CPU and RAM.

Can you please elaborate?

What Operating System are you going to be using on the Virtual Machines?

 

[ebrees]

I expect to mostly use Windows, such as Windows 7, 8.1, 10. It would be nice to have the option of Linux and Mac as well. Furthemore, my research so far suggests I would be best served to build my own home server. Since this laptop replaces my existing desktop, a 4th generation quad core I believe, with 16 GB of RAM, I was thinking of re-purposing it as a server, even though the processor is only 1.66 GHz. I do have a lot of old hard drives laying about. Also many small flash drives 4 GB - 10 GB. So any pointers on that would be much appreciated also.

 

[USAFRet]

6VM's within 16GB RAM?
No.

Each VM is its own operating system and PC, and needs its own dedicated RAM.
If we assume 4GB per VM, and then the host system...

You'll need to bump up to 32GB for this to actually work.

This is 4x VM, and the host Win 10 Pro.
20GB RAM consumed.

LinuxMint, Win 10 Pro, Win 10 Pro, Windows Server 2016, Win 10 Pro host.

 

[The Paladin]

if each vm uses only 1 cpu at 6vm you have none to use for the os., unless you start using execution cap % and that way I guess 6 vms at 1-2 cpus each with 50% on all will work out sharing the cpus that way

 

[ebrees]

I was wondering about that. Do you have experience working with VMs at less than full strength? How is their performance affected at 50% capacity?

 

[ebrees]

That makes sense. Sounds like I need the 32 GB. OR can I have a server I create to use at home and be content with only 3 VMs on the go? I appreciate your feedback.

 

[The Paladin]

I have not not, I normally dont use more than 2 vms at any time (only use it for testing purposes) but the manual mentioned this information (oracle virtualbox ) below;

you can also set the “CPU execution cap”. This setting limits the amount of time a host CPU spends to emulate a virtual CPU. The default setting is 100% meaning that there is no limitation. A setting of 50% implies a single virtual CPU can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.

Ref: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.2.18/UserManual.pdf