[mythtv-users] Mythbacked on ESXi 5.0

[Raymond Wagner]

On 10/25/2011 10:20, Matt Mossholder wrote:
> The benefit here is that I can make changes, knowing that the changes 
> will most likely only impact the software running in the VM I am 
> working in, rather than having to worry about breaking other unrelated 
> software. If I need to test something, I can clone the entire VM, 
> change a setting or two (IPs, hostnames, etc.), test my change, and 
> know the whole thing works before having to commit the change to 
> production, which I can do my either using the new clone, or changing 
> the original VM. You might say that snapshots provide for reverting, 
> but they definitely -don't- allow me to have a completely isolated 
> instance running simultaneously.

A simple chroot will give you filesystem isolation, which immediately 
solves your issues with dependency conflicts between individual 
applications, with the additional management effort that you are now 
effectively maintaining multiple systems.  IP aliases, and specifying 
addresses in software configuration may be an option depending on the 
application.  Paravirtualization techniques allow more direct control 
over this by externally restricting to a single address, or even setting 
up an independent bridged network stack, all the while offering real, 
direct hardware access, instead of some clumsy, often problematic 
pass-through.