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Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) vs. Linux Containers LXD

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    KVM

    Score2.1 out of 10
    N/AKernel-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

    LXD

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/ALXD is a system container and virtual machine manager. It offers a unified user experience around full Linux systems running inside containers or virtual machines. LXD is image based and provides images for a wide number of Linux distributions. It supports various use cases, with support for different storage backends and network types and the option to install on hardware ranging from an individual laptop or cloud instance to a full server rack. LXD is written in Go. It is free software…N/A
    Pricing
    KVMLXD
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    KVMLXD
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    KVMLXD
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) and Linux Containers LXD
    Feature
    Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
    9.2
    5 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Linux Containers LXD
    -
    Ratings
    Virtual machine automated provisioning9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management console9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup9.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security9.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    KVMLXD
    Small Businesses
    Proxmox VE
    Score9 out of 10
    Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    VMware Workstation Pro
    Score8.2 out of 10
    IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    Score7.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    KVMLXD
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (5 ratings)
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    KVMLXD
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Linux Containers LXD works very well when you, as a software developer using Linux, need to spin up a development environment to build and work on a specific piece of software. For example, you need to build some software that is tested and developed target Ubuntu 18.04. You're able to quickly create a container for Ubuntu 18.04 and log into it to run commands and build your software. This is easier to do than setting a virtual machine - e.g - via Virtual Box, but is a lot clunkier than doing it via Docker containers which give you a much more flexible configuration of the environment and are easier to start, stop, connect and share with other developers.
    Incentivized
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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
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • GIT repositories.
    • Authentication servers.
    • Application instances.
    Incentivized
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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
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Ease of use.
    • Copying containers from one machine to another.
    • Creation of containers with config files similar to Docker.
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Linux Containers LXD feels like a more primitive version of docker, docker-compose and similar projects from the docker ecosystem. The Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml methods of specifying a container setup, as well as the network and file configurations afforded by Docker make working with containers much easier and more reproducible than with Linux Containers LXD.
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • Save workload.
    • Save time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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