AnOracleWhitePaper

March2016

OracleVMVirtualBox5.0Overview

1|ORACLEVMVIRTUALBOX5.0OVERVIEW


WhatisinOracleVMVirtualBox5.0

OracleVMVirtualBoxiscrossplatformvirtualizationsoftwarethatallowsuserstoextendtheirexistingcomputertorun
multipleoperatingsystemsatthesametime.DesignedforITprofessionalsanddevelopers,OracleVMVirtualBoxrunson
MicrosoftWindows,MacOSX,Linux,andOracleSolarissystemsandisidealfortesting,developing,demonstrating,and
deployingsolutionsacrossmultipleplatformsononemachine.

OracleVMVirtualBoxhasbeendesignedtotakeadvantage
oftheinnovationsintroducedinthex86hardwareplatform,and
itislightweightandeasytoinstallanduse.Yetunderthesimpleexteriorliesanextremelyfastandpowerfulvirtualization
engine.Withawellearnedreputationforspeedandagility,OracleVMVirtualBoxcontainsinnovativefeaturestodeliver
tangiblebusinessbenefits:excellentperformance;apowerfulvirtualizationsystem;andawiderangeofsupportedguest
operatingsystemplatforms.
OracleVMVirtualBoxisabridgetoopensourceandclouddevelopment.Thelatest5.0releaseallowsuserstocreateand
deployvirtualmachinesnearlyeverywhere,uploadtothecloud,downloadfromthecloud,andreviewandmakechanges
offline.
Withthousandsofdownloadseachday,OracleVMVirtualBoxistheworldsmostpopularfreeandopensource,
crossplatformvirtualizationsoftware,basedonvibrantcommunityparticipationcombinedwithworldclassdevelopment
andsupportsuppliedbyOracle.
OracleVMVirtualBox5.0bringsarangeofusefulchangesandimprovementsthatjustifyawholeintegerversionincrement.
OracleVMVirtualBox5.0simplifiesclouddeploymentbyallowingdeveloperstocreatemultiplatformenvironmentsandto
developapplicationsforDockerandOpenStackwithinOracleVMVirtualBoxonasinglemachine.Operatingsystemand
applicationupdatescanbedonewithinOracleVMVirtualBoxvirtualmachines(VMs),andVMscansubsequentlybedeployed
toservervirtualizationenvironmentssuchasOracleVMServer.

OracleVMVirtualBoxEnterpriseiscomposedoftwocomponents:OracleVMVirtualBox(mainproduct)andOracleVM
VirtualBoxExtensionPack.Thefollowingtablesummarizeseachofthecomponents:

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OracleVMVirtualBox
Consistsofallopensourcecomponentsandislicensed
underthe GNUGeneralPublicLicense(GPL)Version2
Istotallyfreeforpersonalandbusinessuse
Canbedistributedandmodifiedbycustomers
Containsallthebasichypervisorfeatures
OracleVMVirtualBoxExtensionPack
BinariesarereleasedundertheOracleVMVirtualBox
PersonalUseandEvaluationLicense(PUEL) .
Alicensemustbepurchasedforbusiness/commercialuse
oftheextensionpack.
Thepaidforlicenseisperpetual.
Customerscannotdistributeit.
Theextensionpackistheenterpriseversionofthemain
productandcontainsfeaturessuchasthefollowing:
VirtualUSB3.0eXtensibleHostControllerInterface
(xHCI)devicesupport
VirtualBoxRemoteDesktopProtocol(VRDP)
Hostwebcampassthrough
IntelPrebooteXecution(PXE)bootROM
Diskimageencryption

OracleVMVirtualBoxEnterprisecontinuestoevolveasanidealchoiceforanextgenerationdevelopmentsolution.The
latest5.0releaseintroducesparavirtualizationsupportforLinuxandWindowsvirtualmachinesandsupportforxHCI/USB3.0
devicesandnewplatforms,anditprovidesenhancedCPUcapabilitiesandsupportforbidirectionaldraganddropbetweena
hostanditsguestvirtualmachines.Italsointroducesdiskimageencryptionandmanyotherenhancements.

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OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseUseCases

1. DevelopmentPlatform

SoftwaredevelopersrelyonOracleVMVirtualBox5.0Enterpriseforthedevelopmentanddebuggingoftheirapplicationsin
multipleoperatingsystemsandenvironmentsononeuniquedevice.Developerscancloneaproductionenvironmentontheir
personaldesktop/laptopwithoutanyimpactontheservices.

Oneuniquesolutionforallplatforms
OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseistheonlyDesktopVirtualizationSolutionavailableforallx86platforms,likeMicrosoft
Windows,Linux,AppleMACOSXandSolarisx86: thesamesolutiononallcompanyplatforms .
OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseisthecheapestDesktopVirtualizationSolutionthatallowsSoftwareQAteamstocontrol
sourcecode,shareitwithinthecompanyandexecutesoftwaretestingonmultipleplatformsononeuniquedevice.

2. SysAdminTasksandActivities

OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseallowstoSystemAdministratortotestpatches,systemandsoftwareupgradesonan
isolatedsandbox(VM)onasingledevice;betweentheothers,OracleVMVirtualBox5Enterpriseallowsto:

Recreatecustomerconditionsonalaptop/desktop
o Needtoreplicatecustomerenvironmenteasilyevenonalaptop/desktop
o MultiPlatformsproductscanrequirealotofhardwareduetodifferentplatforms/OS
Test/Experimentsandboxes
o Preservecustomerenvironmentswhileintroducingchanges
o CloneVMforparalleltestruns
o Revertittoaknowngoodpoint

Platformdeploymentchanges
o Testdifferentkernel,library,compiler,productinstallerversions

OneuniqueDemoAppliance
o ExportVMforreuseorforparalleltestruns
o Abilitytosupplyuniqueplatformdemoappliancesofproductsonallplatforms
o Newhireonboardinginasafeplace

3. AsPreSalesSupportandComponent

OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseallowstoTechnicalSalestoeasilyshowEnterprisesolutionsinalivedemo.

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Thanksto
prebuiltVirtualMachinesSalesteamcancreate,share,presentanddemonstratemultitierarchitectures,alsoina
complexnetworktopologywhereHostSysteminteractwithVMsrunningontop.
EngineeringTeamscanalsopreparedemoenvironmentsandsharethemwithSales: itdoesnotmatterwhichistheplatform
used,OracleVMVirtualBox5isthesamesoftwareforallx86platforms.

:
4. VirtualMachinesharing secure&encrypted

InthisCloud/Socialera,wheresharingofinformationisthefoundationofIT,VMscreatedontopofVirtualBoxcouldcontain
confidentialinformation,orournextsoftwarerelease,softwarecodeoranythingelsethatneedsthehighestsecuritylevel.
OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseallowstohaveencryptedVMsandevenifyouaregoingtocopy/cloneormovethemon
externaldevices/webstorage/cloudbackuptheirbuiltinencryptionwillmaintainyourdatasecure.

5. Softwaretraining

OracleVMVirtualBox5Enterpriseallowstocreatevirtualmachinesfortrainingpurposes;alsoinabigevent,likeOracle
OpenWorld,alltheHandsOnLabsarebuiltonalaptopwherestudentscanworkonEnterpriseSolutionsandlearnOracle
Productsandtheirbestpractices;thesameapproachcanbeappliedwithinaCompanyforinternaltraining.Oncethe
trainingiscompleted,OracleVMVirtualBoxsnapshotcapabilityallows,moreover,torevertallvirtualmachinestotheir
originalstate.
6. CorporateCompliancy
OracleVMVirtualBox5EnterpriseallowsCorporateGlobalITtodefineandmaintainadefaulthostplatformfordifferentBU,
rolesandrequirementswithcontrolandsecurityupdateswhile,eachemployee,candefinedifferentvirtualmachineswith
differentplatformsbasedontheirdaybydayneeds.

OracleVMVirtualBoxExtensionPackFeatures
ThefollowinglistdescribesinmoredetailthefeaturesprovidedbyOracleVMVirtualBoxExtensionPack:

VirtualUSB2.0/3.0controllerandEnhancedHostControllerInterface(EHCI)/xHCIdevicesupport

ThisoptionallowsuserstohaveUSB2.0/3.0devicesconnectedtoOracleVMVirtualBoxvirtualmachines.Everythingisbased
onavirtualUSBcontrollerthatisabletodothefollowing:

o ImprovetheperformanceofnativeUSB2.0devicesonvirtualmachines(usingUSB3.0virtualUSB)
o ObtainsimilarperformanceforUSB3.0devicesconnectedtothehost

WhenOracleVMVirtualBoxactsasavirtualRemoteDesktopProtocol(RDP)server,itisalsopossibletouseUSBdevices
remotelyonRDPclients.

WhileUSB1.1supportisalreadyavailableinthemainproduct,OracleVMVirtualBoxExtensionPackallowstheuseof
newgenerationUSBdevicesthatrequireUSB2.0/3.0.

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VirtualBoxRemoteDesktopProtocol(VRDP)

OracleVMVirtualBoxcandisplayvirtualmachinesremotely,meaningthatavirtualmachinecanexecuteononecomputer
eventhoughthevirtualmachinewillbedisplayedonasecondcomputer.Thevirtualmachinewillbecontrolledfromthe
secondcomputeraswell,asifthevirtualmachinewasrunningonthatcomputer.

VRDPisabackwardscompatibleextensiontoMicrosoft'sRemoteDesktopProtocol(RDP)andisimplementedbetweenthe
hostanditsguests.Asaresult,userscanuseanystandardRDPclienttocontroltheremoteVM,andanysupportedguestOS
canbeused,notjustMicrosoftWindows.

Thankstothisfeature,developerscanremotelyworkintheirdevelopmentenvironment(thatis,thesameprojectandthe
samemachine)fromnearlyanywhere.Forexample,theycancontinuetoworkontheirprojectsfromhomeconnectedtoa
virtualmachinethatisliveontheirdesktopPCattheoffice.

VRDPisarealvirtualmachineremoteconsole abletoworkonbothIPv4andIPv6thatallowsITadministratorstoaccess
avirtualmachineincasessuchasthefollowing:

o Thevirtualmachineisstarting.
o Thevirtualmachineoperatingsystemisnotalreadyinstalled.
o Thevirtualmachinehaslostitsnetworkconnectivity.

Hostwebcampassthrough

OracleVMVirtualBoxallowsaguesttouseahostwebcam.ThiscomplementsthegeneralUSBpassthroughsupport.Thanks
tothisfeature,ifusersneedtouseawebcamforavideoconferencecall,butthesoftwarefordoingthatisnotavailableon
thehostplatform,itspossibletouseawebcamonavirtualmachine.

IntelPXEbootROM

OracleVMVirtualBoxallowsaguesttouseaPXEenvironmentonvirtualmachines.Thismeansthatausercanremotely
installavirtualmachine(usingVRDP)andalsosupplytheoperatingsystempackagesvianetworkaccess.Together,theIntel
PXEbootROMfeatureandtheVRDPfeatureallowuserstohaveinstallationpackagespreconfiguredandremotelyavailable.

DiskImageEncryption

Thankstothisfeature,itispossibletoencryptthedatastoredinharddiskimagestransparentlytotheguest.Thisfeature
providessecuritysimilartoencryptionsoftwareinstalledonthehostsystemwhere,usually,adedicatedproductlicenseis
needed.

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ForMoreInformation
Viewthe
OracleVMVirtualBoxprebuiltappliances
webpage
Checkoutthe
Oraclehandsonlabs
forOracleVMVirtualBox
Shopfor
OracleVMVirtualBoxEnterprise
Visitus
www.virtualbox.org
Publicforum
forum.virtualbox.org

ConnectUs

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Twitter:@virtualbox
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OracleVMVirtualBoxOverview Copyright2016,Oracleand/oritsaffiliates.Allrightsreserved.Thisdocumentisprovidedforinformationpurposesonlyandthe
March2016 contentshereofaresubjecttochangewithoutnotice.Thisdocumentisnotwarrantedtobeerrorfree,norsubjecttoanyother
Author:SimonCoter warrantiesorconditions,whetherexpressedorallyorimpliedinlaw,includingimpliedwarrantiesandconditionsofmerchantabilityor
fitnessforaparticularpurpose.Wespecificallydisclaimanyliabilitywithrespecttothisdocumentandnocontractualobligationsare
formedeitherdirectlyorindirectlybythisdocument.Thisdocumentmaynotbereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyany

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7|ORACLEVMVIRTUALBOX5.0OVERVIEW