Sep 5, 2018
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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.
 
Solution
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.
ReCLOlO.png

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

volkgren

Prominent
Aug 13, 2017
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What Operating System are you going to be using on the Virtual Machines?
 
Sep 5, 2018
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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

Illustrious
Moderator
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.
ReCLOlO.png

LinuxMint, Win 10 Pro, Win 10 Pro, Windows Server 2016, Win 10 Pro host.
 
Solution
Sep 5, 2018
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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?

 
Sep 5, 2018
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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.
 
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