What is VirtualBox?
A Virtual Box or VB is a hypervisor for X86 computers from Oracle Corporation. It was first developed by Innotek GmbH and released in 2007 as an open-source software package. The company was later acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2008. After that, Oracle has continued the development of Virtual Box since 2010 and defines VirtualBox as Oracle VM Virtual Box.
VirtualBox comes in different flavors depending upon the operating systems for which it is being configured. VirtualBox Ubuntu is more preferred, even though VirtualBox for windows is equally popular. With the advent of android phones, VirtualBox for android is becoming the new face of VM in smartphones.
What is a VirtualBox used for?
In general, a Virtual Box is a software virtualization package that can be installed on any operating system as application software. It’s one of many benefits of Virtual Box. It allows additional operating systems to be installed on it, as a Guest OS. It can then create and manage free guest virtual machines, each with a guest operating system and its virtual environment.
Virtual Box is being supported by many operating systems like Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Open Solaris. Supported guest operating systems are versions and derivations of Windows, Linux, OS/2, BSD, Haiku, etc.
How does Virtual Box Work?
VirtualBox is a hosted hypervisor that requires an existing OS to work. Once the OS is installed, VirtualBox can easily run all the applications installed on that host.
The functionality is the same for all host platforms, even the file and image formats are also the same. It enables users to run VM created on one host with a different host OS. For instance, you can create your VM on Windows and then use it under Linux.
What is VirtualBox in Cloud Computing?
As explained, VirtualBox is a hosted hypervisor that decodes VirtualBox in Cloud Computing from the host and allows computing resources to every VM whenever required.
What type of hypervisor is VirtualBox?
VirtualBox is a hosted hypervisor that uses API (application programming interface) and SDK (software development kit) to manage the following,
- A guest’s virtual machine
- Common-line tools
- Graphical console
- Built-in RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)
What are the three advantages of using virtual machines?
- Cost-effective & Easy Maintenance
- Reduced Downtime & Fast Recovery
- Controlled Independence & DevOps
Which is better, VMWare or Virtual Box?
Virtual Box gets a lot of support, primarily because it is free and open-source. It also allows unlimited snapshots – a feature only available in VMWare Pro. On the other hand, VMWare is great for drag and drop functionality between the host and the VM, but many features come only in the paid version.
Is VirtualBox safe?
Absolutely. Virtual Box is 100% safe, provided you download it from the official source and not any third-party website. While downloading applications for your phone or computer, always make sure you do so from a trusted online source. The same goes for VirtualBoxCloud Network. However, the application in itself is safe and will not compromise any of your data.
Can VirtualBox get viruses?
Yes. The VM can also get infected with viruses if you run potentially harmful applications without antivirus protection installed on your system. Though, under normal circumstances, no malware from the VM will break into the host or vice versa. There is some rare yet advanced malware that can travel either side of VirtualBox.
How do I check a VM virus?
You can check a VM virus pretty much the same way you check for viruses on the host computer. Install any antivirus program on your VM, and run a thorough test. When prompted, quarantine or delete any infected program before it affects other programs.
There are so many custom-made versions that users often stumble upon. What is the latest version of Virtual Box? It is Virtual Box 6.0 (and later).
