Multipass vs Xen Project Hypervisor

Multipass runs cloud-style virtual machines on Linux, macOS, and Windows workstations. It is intended for prototyping cloud deployments locally and creating customized Linux development environments. Instances can use cloud-init metadata, including custom definitions for configured servers, and local workflows can model deployments for AWS, Azure, Google, IBM, and Oracle. Multipass fetches Ubuntu images from Canonical and offers a growing catalogue of images with pre-installed applications. Users can share host files and folders with instances; the primary instance integrates with the native filesystem and has dedicated hot-key access. Both command-line and graphical interfaces are available, and the documentation covers Windows Terminal integration and running Docker containers in an instance. Host hypervisors are Host Compute System on Windows, Apple Virtualization on macOS, and QEMU on Linux. The product is free; the listed plan costs nothing, with host requirements varying by operating system. Anyone with access to the Multipass daemon socket can fully control the software, including mounting host filesystems and changing instance security features. Canonical advises limiting daemon access to trusted users. Its access controls begin with group membership and can later use a user TLS certificate.

Xen Project Hypervisor is a free, open-source type-1 hypervisor that runs multiple operating systems on one host. The project describes uses including server and desktop virtualization, IaaS, embedded systems, security applications, and hardware appliances. Linux is the most common control stack; NetBSD and FreeBSD are also named as host options. Xen’s microkernel design has a small memory footprint and restricts the interface exposed to guests. It can run a system’s main device driver inside a VM, allowing that VM to be restarted after a driver crash or compromise without affecting the rest of the system. On x86, fully paravirtualized guests can run without virtualization extensions. Listed capabilities include snapshots, nested virtualization, and GPU acceleration. The separate XAPI toolstack supports multi-host management, snapshots and migration, resource pools, storage migration, Open vSwitch, event tracking, upgrades, patching, and monitoring. Its built-in guest support and templates cover Windows and Linux. Downloads are source releases for building, packaging, and platform integration.