OpenVZ vs VirtualBox: What are the differences?

1. Architecture: OpenVZ is a container-based virtualization system that shares the host operating system's kernel, providing better performance but only supporting Linux guests. In contrast, VirtualBox is a full virtualization software that emulates physical hardware, enabling the creation of virtual machines running various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.

2. Resource Allocation: OpenVZ allocates resources dynamically, meaning that resources are shared among containers based on demand. VirtualBox, on the other hand, allocates a fixed amount of resources to each virtual machine, providing more isolation but potentially lower utilization efficiency.

3. Performance: Due to its container-based approach, OpenVZ offers better performance than VirtualBox since there is less overhead from simulating hardware. VirtualBox, being a full virtualization solution, requires more resources and incurs higher overhead, impacting performance compared to container-based virtualization.

4. Operating System Support: OpenVZ supports only Linux guests since it shares the host kernel, while VirtualBox supports a wide range of operating systems, making it more versatile for users who require different guest OS support.

5. Management and Maintenance: OpenVZ requires less management overhead since it runs on a single, shared kernel, simplifying updates and patches. VirtualBox, being a full virtualization solution, requires individual management for each virtual machine, making it more complex to maintain in environments with multiple VMs.

6. Security: OpenVZ provides lower levels of isolation between containers since they share the host kernel. VirtualBox offers higher security by providing individual virtual machines with their own simulated hardware, decreasing the risk of security breaches affecting other VMs.

In Summary, OpenVZ and VirtualBox differ in terms of architecture, resource allocation, performance, operating system support, management and maintenance requirements, and security features.