Graphical desktop front ends for KVM and Qemu
Zoo Keeper
© Lead Image © Yang Chao, 123RF.com
If you want to care for a zoo full of exotic KVM guest systems on your desktop, you could use a little help from a graphical front end.
Virtual work environments exploit the power of modern multicore processors by efficiently virtualizing complete operating systems and their services. The kernel-integrated Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) [1] is a useful alternative to partly proprietary virtualization software from Oracle (VirtualBox [2]) or VMware (VMware Workstation [3]). The matching kernel module has been around since Linux 2.6.20, and Red Hat has managed it since 2008.
The advantage of KVM compared to the third-party solutions by Oracle and VMware is its high execution speed and resource-friendly work approach. One disadvantage is the somewhat complex configuration of these kernel-based virtual machines.
A number of graphical tools help reduce the administration costs for compute clusters and servers that manage multiple virtual guests. Examples include oVirt [4] and Proxmox VE [5]. A web interface, which requires some serious configuration work on the part of the admin, is often used as a GUI. But industrial-strength tools like oVirt and Proxmox VE are overkill for simple virtual desktop environments.
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