is 2 servers on 1 linode possible??

No.

You can have different boot configurations/disk images/etc, but only one configuration can be booted at one time.

You can have multiple Linodes on one account.

No you can't. You can only run one server per linode. If you want a development server you will have to purchase a second server.

If you just want to play and learn, there are cheaper options than purchasing a second linode. For example, install VirtualBox on your own computer, download a Ubuntu LiveCD ISO, and boot it up in its own little window. It works almost like a real server, and if you use snapshots, you can instantly revert any mistakes you make.

Huh. I always play and learn on my live Linode. :) But it is only my own sites, so the risk is bearable to me.

I partitioned things small enough (and keep /home separate) so that before I do any major undertaking, I make a fresh copy of my boot disk image. So if I have to boot the older working disk image in a pinch, I can get back to where I used to be pretty quickly. Definitely have had to use that a few times.

Agree with the Virtualbox suggestion too, that's a lot of fun. And frankly any old PC can run Ubuntu, so if you have an old one lying around you can use that too.

@hybinet or someone –-

Can you run both an apache and an ubuntu server on a virtual machine? I assume "yes" ? I have to have dev sites for a Drupal install on apache and yet another Drupal multisite install on a Linode ubuntu.

I've got an XP box running in VMware player on a Win7 so I have a tiny bit of knowledge about a virtual box. (It was easier/faster for me to do the VMware image rather than moving everything over to new Win7 machine.)

Wondering which is better -- VMWare or Virtual Box -- any thoughts?

Couldn't one boot XEN Dom0 kernel using GRAB?

nw-woman: Apache is a program, Ubuntu is an operating system; you couldn't run Apache without some sort of operating system. I personally use VirtualBox, since it is free and is in Ubuntu's repository.

neo: By definition, a Xen domU cannot be a dom0. There is only one layer of magic available, and it's already being used.

@hoopycat:

neo: By definition, a Xen domU cannot be a dom0. There is only one layer of magic available, and it's already being used.
I am not very familiar with XEN details, but at one point I was running VMWARE within VMWARE and it worked just fine.

@neo:

I am not very familiar with XEN details, but at one point I was running VMWARE within VMWARE and it worked just fine.
You probably could run Xen within Xen if the 'outermost' instance was using hardware assisted virtualisation. Linode uses paravirtualisation, which is the one layer of magic that hoopycat was referring to.

> nw-woman: Apache is a program, Ubuntu is an operating system; you couldn't run Apache without some sort of operating system. I personally use VirtualBox, since it is free and is in Ubuntu's repository.

Oh boy, did I really say that? Must have been a really bad brain-fried day. Wow. What I meant to say is: I've got an external portable SeaGate hard drive that has an XP image on it where Apache is running a Drupal dev site. I use VMware player to run it on a Win7. Anyone know if it's possible to put an Ubuntu OS image on that same SeaGate where I could have ningx or apache running a Drupal dev multi-site? I'm new to ningx but it looks interesting, esp for mem hog Drupal; haven't decided which server I'll use.

I'm also new to virtualization. What I did to wrap up XP and put it on the SeaGate was my first try and was really easy. I guess I'd have to partition the Seagate to run two OS's on it but no idea how. Or I suppose I could get another Seagate and make that one an Ubunto OS. Is that a better idea?

While I'm at it, I'm also wondering if I could take the image off my linode and just install that on a portable drive and run it with VMware player. Anyone done that?

My goal is to create two dev Drupal sites using different OSs locally. I'd prefer not to run it on my internal hard drive.

If you look at the contents of the hard drive from your "host" operating system (not in VMware, but just looking at it like a directory), you'll probably see that it just has one really big file, maybe with a couple configuration files near it. Something like this (but probably with a different extension and all that):

rtucker@witte:~$ ls -l /opt/virtualbox/Windows\ 7.vdi 
-rw------- 1 rtucker rtucker 32212378112 2011-04-05 22:27 /opt/virtualbox/Windows 7.vdi

That's the disk image for the "guest" (virtual machine). Doesn't matter if it's on an external hard drive, an internal hard drive, or a network file share: it's just a plain ol' file.

As long as you have room left on that drive for more stuff, you can have a whole slew of virtual machines on there. You might even be able to run multiple virtual machines at the same time…

rtucker@witte:~$ ls -lt /opt/virtualbox/*.vdi
-rw------- 1 rtucker rtucker 32212378112 2011-04-05 22:31 /opt/virtualbox/Windows 7.vdi
-rw------- 1 rtucker rtucker  1732322304 2011-04-05 22:28 /opt/virtualbox/chefdev-db.vdi
-rw------- 1 rtucker rtucker  1586528768 2011-04-05 22:17 /opt/virtualbox/chefdev-app.vdi
.....
rtucker@witte:~$ ps auxwww | grep VirtualBox
rtucker  16094  4.5  4.8 1127456 579308 ?      Sl   Apr02 231:35 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VirtualBox --comment chefdev-app --startvm <redacted>rtucker  16143  8.2  9.5 1793532 1142504 ?     Sl   Apr02 420:59 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VirtualBox --comment Windows 7 --startvm <redacted>rtucker  16178  4.5  4.8 1129760 580776 ?      Sl   Apr02 229:46 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VirtualBox --comment chefdev-db --startvm <redacted>...</redacted></redacted></redacted> 

(I'm running VirtualBox on top of Ubuntu here, but it is functionally equivalent to VMware.)

As for running a Linode image locally… it is technically possible, but not easy. VMware and VirtualBox present a complete microcomputer simulation to the guest, going so far as to emulate a BIOS that jumps to the guest OS's master boot record.

Linode doesn't do that, since it is unnecessary: Linux natively supports the Xen architecture, and so the whole BIOS part is skipped and it starts by executing a Linux kernel, one which isn't even contained within your Linode's filesystem.

So, to make it work on VMware/VirtualBox, you'd need to install a kernel, and a bootloader to boot that kernel. Then, you'd have to make sure it is within a partition on a disk image with a partition table and the correct master boot record. THEN it will work.