Oracle’s VirtualBox: What Is It?
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation, based out of Redwood City in California. As of 2011, Oracle was the second largest software maker, next in line from Microsoft. VirtualBox, a free and open-source virtualization software, was initially developed by Innotek GmbH and later acquired by Sun Micro Systems in 2008. In 2010, VirtualBox became the intellectual property of Oracle.
VirtualBox is a very powerful, cross-platform software, which allows you to both create and run multiple virtual machines, running different operating systems, on the same PC at the same time (virtualization). While this may sound like Greek to some, what it amounts to for the average user, is you can run Linux, on your Windows or Mac PC. In fact you can run as many virtual machines, holding different OS’s built on the x86 platform as a guest, on any x86 host.
Some of the important advantages of running virtual machines on your PC include:
- Having a completely isolated virtual environment from the host OS. Therefore no risk involved in viruses, malware, or any kind of threat spreading from guest to host machines, except possibly via shared file transfers. (It’s better security not to share anything from the host to the guest, or visa versa.)
- Learn how to use Linux on your Mac or Windows machine.
- Backup your entire operating system; by cloning.
- Set up a firewall in a virtual machine and rout your network traffic through it.
- Run your own cloud server.
There are really lots of things you can do from a virtual machine; just use your creative inner-self! Many people will run Kali Linux inside a virtual machine for hacking, errr, I mean penetration testing. I don’t think I’d navigate he dark web without being inside a virtual machine.
Myself, I like using VirtualBox from a security point-of-view, and that’s what I’ll be writing about in the final installment of this 4 part series. Feel free to check out parts one and two, and hang on for part four; you won’t be disappointed.
- Debian Linux: The Universal Operating System
- Whonix: What Is It?
- Oracle’s Virtual Box: What Is It?
- The Anonymous Personal Computer