Best Virtual Development Platform for .NET 3.5 Development - virtualization

I have basically succumbed to the fact that if you are a hardcore computer user, you will have to reimage your computer every few months because something bad happened. Because of this, I bought imaging software and then really got into imaging. I am now ready to move my development environment completely into a virtual machine so that I can test sites on IIS as though I am on a dev network (and backup these images easily).
The question is, what is the best virtual development platform for a 4 gb laptop? A virtual Vista Business with 3 gb of ram, windows XP sp3 with 3 gb of ram, or Windows Server 2003 with 3 gb of usable ram.
Tools I will need to install:
*sql server 2005 dev edition
*vs 2008 sp1
*tools for silverlight
*and multiple other smaller testing tools

I have tried the following combinations:
Windows XP SP3 on Virtual Server
2005 R2
Windows Vista Business
x64 on Virtual Server 2005 R2
Windows XP on Virtual PC 2007
Windows 2003 on Virtual Server 2005
R2
Windows XP on VMWare Fusion
and the Virtual Server installations where either local or hosted on a server and they all ran fine and about the same speed.
The VMWare Fusion Virtual Machine running under OS X is (seat of the pants) significantly faster than the others. I haven't tested VMWare on Windows to see if it is VMWare or the Hardware making the difference, but it's something worth looking into.

Server 2008, converted to a workstation.
Nothing compares IMO, I've loaded 3 Different OS's in the last 3 months, and I'm set on Server 2008.

I think the biggest question (from my standpoint) is whether or not you'll be doing development (like SharePoint) that requires a server platform. If you anticipate a lot of SharePoint development (or perhaps Exchange, or BizTalk, or another product that requires development be done on a server platform), then go with Windows Server 2003. If not, then I'd probably choose XP, though Vista isn't a bad development platform.

I personally prefer developing on a server platform - however, that opinion might shift if I was developing any sort of WinForms applications, since it would more correctly represent the OS family for the target audience.
I did notice a slight performance decrease going from Server 2003 to Server 2008 that I was not expecting, but that might be more from doing an in-place upgrade instead of starting clean.
From the options you gave, I would personally go with W2k3. You can really trim a server OS down to run lightning-fast, especially when you don't have or get rid of the MS "eye candy".

Related

mongodb on windows 10 without windows server 2008?

I'd like to install MongoDB Community Edition on my computer, which has the 64-bit Windows 10 Home OS, but the system requirements say I need Windows Server 2008 to do it.
I don't think my computer has Windows Server 2008. Is there any way around this? For example, would it work for small-scale databases, or is it totally incompatible without Windows Server 2008?
If I absolutely can't use MongoDB, is there another non-relational database that would work with my system? (It would have to be free.)
I admit that the download site is a bit confusing.
But you can simply download the MSI and install it on your Windows 10 machine. A Windows Server version is not required for the community edition.
Disclaimer: I have it on a Pro (Windows 7 and 10, without Windows 2008 or any other server) edition, not on a Home edition, but I'm pretty sure that it will work in the local machine context)

Clearcase on windows 7 can not create dynamic view

My Clearcase Version: 7.1.0 .
My os is windows 7, after I installed Clearcase. I couldn't create a dynamic view by using Create View.And I found that when i start clearcase service from control panel, there is only two service.
Is there any ways to correct this problem except to download a higher version.
ClearCase 7.1.2 is deployed on our Windows 7 at work.
However, when I see that there is only two services, that means MVFS (which is a device, not a driver) has failed to install properly.
The usual fix is to uninstall and reinstall ClearCase.
But there is no guarantee for 7.1.0.
The OP adds:
I have reinstall it three times, but the problem still exists
That confirms 7.1.0 is not supported (at least for the dynamic views part) on Windows 7.
As "System Requirements for ClearCase 7.1.x" confirms, Windows7 SP1 actually needs 7.1.2.3 at minimum.
And even then, you can have some issue: " PM54437: Windows 7 64bit MVFS clients flood albd_server of the View Server host with ALBD_FIND_SERVER RPCs" (which needs 7.1.2.6)
So getting the latest 7.1.x is recommended.
In your case though, since it isn't possible to get a version above 7.1.0, you can try and install a Virtual PC Windows Xp on your Windows 7.
Microsoft Virtual PC for Windows (formerly Connectix Virtual PC) is a client based software virtualization application that allows simultaneous operating systems to run on a single PC.
Each virtual machine emulates a complete hardware system—from processor to network card—in a self-contained, isolated software environment, enabling the simultaneous operation of otherwise incompatible systems.
ClearCase does support Virtual PC.

Best Self-Hosting Solution for TFS 2010?

I want to install TFS 2010 on my own machine - a Dell Laptop with 8GB RAM, running Windows 7. Now, since installing on Win7 means I can't run SharePoint or Reports, and I don't want to reformat my machine to Win 2008, I need to virtualize.
I would like something that I can have always on, and treat like a server on my LAN, or at the very least, something that I can activate quickly, when needed. Oh, and I'd like it to be free :).
As far as I can tell, my options are MS Virtual PC, Virtual Box, VMWare.
What would be my best option? Are there any other options?
Thanks,
Assaf
You can either use MS Virtual PC or VMWare. I have been using TFS2010 installed on MS Virtual PC and its working fine.
If you want to use 8 GB RAM, you'll want to use either VMWare or repave your machine (but save the TFS databases) as Windows Server 2008 R2 and use Hyper-V.
You can then install TFS 2010 again but point it at your set of restored databases. You'll be able to enable the SharePoint and Reporting for your newly restored TFS instance.
I've ran it on a VM from my Dev box and the performance wasn't the best. Memory and disk IO are very important when running SQL and the competition with multiple instances of Visual Studio, plus the overhead of VMWare made it unbearable. With enough memory and RAID or a SSD, you may be okay.
I know it's not free, but there are a few hosted solutions that are decently priced (TFS Server Hosting). They also allow you to access it from anywhere and your code will be backed up.

Do virtualised machines require separate software licenses?

I have a windows 7 machine, but for various reasons I need to have access to windows xp also.
I know it's possible for me to have a windows xp virtual machine set up, so that effectively I can have use of both.
Irritatingly, I've got into a situation where I really must have visual studio 2008 installed on Windows 7 and XP (don't ask!). My question is, can I share my existing software licenses across the virtual machine also, or do I have to purchase separate ones?
Because you are running Win7 on a CPU that has hardware virtualisation enabled, you have the option of using the Windows XP Mode, which is a virtualised copy of XP that is already fully licenced, you don't need an extra licence for it.
If you want to setup a separate virtual machine running XP then yes, you will need a separate licence for XP itself.
If you sourced your copy of VS through a MSDN subscription then that is per user, so you can install it multiple times. If you bought a single copy of VS then the licence will be per machine (which includes virtual machines).
The simple answer is Yes - If you have a new Virtual Machine with an OS installed all software running inside this container (including the OS) is classed as a separate machine (such as a second PC next to it)
Double check your VS2008 Licence as you may be able to install on more than 1 PC.
Obviously this is my advise from previous experience - if your really concerned check with a Solicitor before proceeding
Many Microsoft licenses are per user, not per machine. If this is the case (check your license) then you can install it on both your Windows 7 installation and Windows XP installation.

MOSS 2010 Developer WorkStation

I am a MOSS developer. Based on what I read so far about SharePoint 2010, I probably have to look around for another development workstation - 64 Bit with some beefy RAM, and most importantly to figure out which version of OS to install (Windows 2K8 R2, or Windows 7 Ultimate).
I need some feedbacks from others who have gone before me with hand-on experiences in setting up their workstations for this purpose. I welcome any suggestion on the realistic "baseline" on hardware/software requirements.
SharePoint 2010 runs quite well on Windows 7. There are some manual steps in the installation, but they're well documented. So it's mostly a question of which OS you personally want to run.
I'm not sure yet what to make of the memory requirements. The recommendation for developer machines is 4 GB, and I'm running with 6 GB, without problems.
From my personal experience, running with 4GB of RAM on Windows 7 is definitely a bare minimum. You're going to want at least 6, and ideally 8GB.
On another note, Windows 7 Ultimate isn't required; just Windows 7 Professional or better.
My experience has been that 4GB of RAM just isn't enough. We are currently using 6GB with decent performance, but 8GB has been recommended to us. We are also using Windows Server 2008 R2.
If you use SQL, you will need to install CU5 as well.
Another thing you might want to think about, and I'd like to hear from others if they have any experience... is that your memory requirements may be less if you configure the minimum amount of service applications necessary for what you are doing.
We have a Virtual Machine created and we are using that on a 4GB RAM Windows 7 64 bit machine using the Sun Virtual Box. It seems ok for us and so far no probs. It is a good choice to give 3GB RAM dedicated to the Virtual Machine(Win 2K8/2K8 R2)