Oracle VirtualBox vs. Scale Computing Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Oracle VirtualBox
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Oracle VirtualBox is an open source, cross-platform, virtualization software, enables developers to deliver code faster by running multiple operating systems on a single device.N/A
Scale Computing Platform
Score 8.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Scale Computing offers edge computing, virtualization, and hyperconverged solutions for customers around the globe. Scale Computing HyperCore software promises to eliminate traditional virtualization software, disaster recovery software, servers, and shared storage, replacing these with a fully integrated, highly available system for running applications. The vendor says that, using patented HyperCore™ technology, the SC//HyperCore self-healing platform automatically identifies, mitigates, and…
$249
per year per core
Pricing
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Standard
$249
per year per core
Professional
$312
per year per core
Professional Essentials
$5,600
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsPricing shown in U.S. Dollar. Pricing for other regions available on request.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Considered Both Products
Oracle VirtualBox
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
Oracle VirtualBox is the better choice due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of use and feature set. However VMware Workstation is more suitable due to its superior performance, better features and better integration with enterprise tools. VMware Workstation also provides a …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
It always depends on the usecase which product is better suited. But generally, Oracle VM VirtualBox is very easy to set up on every operating system and is intuitive in the usage. Compared to VMware Workstation it offers less features but for a basic setup, I prefer Oracle VM …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
Oracle's solution is entirely free, although a bit clumsy and visually outdated. Hyper-V can and will be a better match due to having more resources, offering full Microsoft Support, and being focused mainly on corporative uses, but for a small environment, it can be like …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
VirutalBox is very similar to using Vmware with the slight difference in appearance and what might be considered a less polished look. However, what it lacks in polish and looks it makes up for in functionality, easy of use and the wide range of operating systems and features …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
While Parallels Desktop has always positioned itself better than VirtualBox, it will never be able to compete against free and open-source software. Yes, it is true that it has some extra seasonings that can make the scale move towards Parallels at the time of the election, …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
VMWare Workstation required VMWare Workstation Pro to create the system before we could use it. The license requirements for the latter was the issue as we needed this for dev/test environments as well as to show POC on virtualization without necessarily incurring a cost at the …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
Docker, and automated machine provisioning in DevOps often uses the metaphor "treat your machines like cattle, not pets." VirtualBox's intended use is definitely in the creation, management and use of "pet" machines, whereas many similar products are more in the "cattle" …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
The main benefits of Oracle VM VirtualBox are its licensing terms (it is free), its open-source nature, and its active community. However, its various competitors do a much better job when it comes to both ease of use and, most importantly, speed. For example, Parallels Desktop …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
We've used VMware, and continue to use it for some projects. But, in my experience, the latest updates to VMware run very slowly, particularly on macOS. Many blog posts offer tweaks to help speed up VMware, but none of these tweaks make a significant difference.
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
We primarily use Oracle VM VirtualBox because it's free, and it is the default provider for Vagrant, which we use for our development VMs. The user interface of VirtualBox looks a little clunky in macOS, but I actually almost never see the main VirtualBox interface because I …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
With regards to how some of the other virtualization software packages stack up again VirtualBox, I would say VirtualBox is ahead of the game especially when it comes to cost savings, as there is no ongoing cost for running the software. A big disadvantage to one of the other …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
As I mentioned earlier, Oracle VM VirtualBox and VMWare Workstation offer roughly the same type of features. One of the main differences is that VMWare Workstation is a commercial product while Oracle VM VirtualBox is open-source. Resource utilization and graphics support is …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
VirtualBox is just as robust and as functional as the VMware desktop product. It actually has more features and in some ways is easier to work with. I've also found that VirtualBox supports newer operating systems better than VMware Workstation. There's also the cost advantage …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
I have used Parallels as well as VMware Workstation and have always returned to VirtualBox. VirtualBox is free which makes it easy to try. Compared to the others, it does everything I need. In +7 years I have not been able to justify the cost of a Parallels Desktop or VMware …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
We feel like we made a good decision going with Oracle VM VirtualBox because it was more enterprise ready. They had great customer success team and proper API compatibility which allowed for great integration into our legacy tools. The support we got from the development …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
It's free, fast, and really well built. Obviously, VMware is the key competitor, but I consider that more of an enterprise app for building and managing entire networks of virtual systems, whereas VirtualBox is fantastic as a personal VM tool. What it lacks in enterprise-grade …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
It's much more useful than VMware workstation player because you can't edit anything at all with that free version of vmWare. This is just about as capable as VMware fusion and Workstation until you pay even more to use vSphere, and then you start having enterprise features.
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
In a Windows environment, Docker would not even be possible, to begin with. Also, on the way around, having a Linux based Machine, without Oracle VM VirtualBox, one would have to create a partitioned disk and enable it at boot time in order to be able to run Windows in such a …
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
I have used a couple of other hypervisors but those softwares are no longer operational and have became obsolete.
Chose Oracle VirtualBox
We chose Oracle because they have various amounts of products to integrate with.
Scale Computing Platform
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Scale is much less expensive than VMWare and much more user-friendly than Linux.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
The scale is as robust as VMware's but needs more vendor support, such as VEEAM, for backup. Scale overall costs caused us to move to the platform to reduce our overall costs from hardware and maintenance costs.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
I have found Scale Computing Platform to be a lot simpler. I don't need to have a vSphere server running. I don't have to worry about my predecessor leaving my SAN carved up into small buckets, etc. I also don't need hearing protection when I am in the server room now, so …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
I used VMware when it first came out and for several years after that but then took a break from it for years. When I came back, it was way too complicated and ultimately was too much work to learn and make useful in our environment. Scale Computing Platform was so attractive …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
These other alternatives are much more expensive and lack the ease of use that Scale Computing Platform provides.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
I'm fairly well versed in traditional VMWare installations on a variety of hardware, and even HP's first attempts at hyperconverged infrastructure. Scale Computing Platform is much easier to implement than any of those. 3 1U machines, no external storage, no SAN switch to …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
We used a mixture of VMWare and stand-alone servers prior to moving to the Scale Computing Platform. After the initial investment, this has lowered our cost to maintain our server environment.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
VM management is easier and faster. Snapshot management is easier and faster. User accounts are simpler to manage (though less granular). Basic alerts are easier to setup, though VMWare has a more granular approach. Updates to the Scale Computing Platform itself is so much …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Proxmox VE, Azure VMware Solution, Azure VM Image Builder and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Chose Scale Computing Platform
We previously used Microsoft Hyper V and VMWare and, before that, a room for single-purpose servers. My satisfaction with Scale is because it is a more straightforward product to install and use; it has incredible speed and reliability. In the past, getting support from …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
We ended up choosing Scale Computing Platform 4 years ago because that had better pricing than the other players and would offer everything we elected as pre-requisite for our system to work. Today, after several years using their system with no major issues, we can say it was …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
This does everything I need with an on-prem server setup for virtual machines.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
We evaluated HP, VMware and Dell. These systems were all outside our budget (very substantially, in some cases) or required more management to deploy than Scale Computing Platform.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Even though SCP uses parts of KVM, their approach is an engineers dream: you order, you deploy, you are productive.
oVirt is also a very sophisticated product, but the learning curve for us was a bit steep
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Scale has all the required features for failover and system availability that any other product has at a better price point. User interface is much easier to understand and is not cluttered with things you don't need.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Under 10 nodes and less than 2 sites, I would rather sell and support Scale. It's just as fast as any other HCI and more stable then VXRail. It's easier to setup and deploy, and get VM's running, and replicating between clusters. The only reason I would not consider Scale …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Scale Computing Platform provided all the functionalities we needed for our daily operations, with features that align with our processes. It has the advantage of a unified software package, without add-ons, which proved to be a financial advantage during the acquisition. It …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
I have chosen Scale Computing Platform over the Nutanix for this reasons, #1 is the price difference between Scale Computing Platform and Nutanix. #2 is the complexity and ease of use of both solutions. In my opinion, Scale Computing Platform is way above nutanix as to the …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Overall Scale may not have the advertised name as the others but it surpasses the competition in all areas.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Price was outstanding, and competitive equipment wasn't an issue due to them using various brands and models. Sales reps were responsive, professional, and jumped through time hurdles with ease. Partnership with Acronis is a huge benefit, and the Carbonite license to move …
Chose Scale Computing Platform
Cheaper, better, us-based support. Easier Administration. Lacks 3rd party backup and disaster recovery (bare-metal) A lot of people just have never heard of Scale Computing Platform so it's tough to figure out what the best on-prem, cloud-based DR services to use.
Chose Scale Computing Platform
I have used both Hyper-V and VMWare. I continue to run a Hyper-V cluster and think it's great. More work to setup than the Scale nodes. VMWare is too expensive for education and not worth the time in my opinion.
Features
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Server Virtualization
Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Product A and Product B
Oracle VirtualBox
8.2
Ratings
1% above category average
Scale Computing Platform
-
Ratings
Virtual machine automated provisioning8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Management console8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Live virtual machine backup8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Live virtual machine migration7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Hypervisor-level security9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Small Businesses
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DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 8.7 out of 10
StarWind HCA
StarWind HCA
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
StarWind HCA
StarWind HCA
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
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VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure
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Score 8.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
9.6
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(0 ratings)
7.5
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Oracle VirtualBoxScale Computing Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
It is best suited when you want to have different operating systems on your laptop or desktop. You can easily switch between operating systems without the need to uninstall one. In another scenario, if you expect some application to damage your device, it would be best to run the application on the VM such that the damage can only be done to the virtual machine. It is less appropriate when time synchronization is very important. At times the VMs run their own times differently from the host time and this may cause some losses if what you doing is critical. Another important thing to take note of is the licensing of the application you want to run your VM. Some licenses do not allow the applications to be run on virtual servers so it is not appropriate to use the VM at this time.
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Scale is best suited to environments that do not have excessive external or proprietary peripherals. Integrating with tape drive backups or robot tape libraries can be problematic. The most effective use of Scale systems is for companies running multiple instances of the same operating system. The hypervisor's code/file-sharing nature does an excellent job managing new instances while keeping the increase in storage to a minimum.
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Pros
  • Can spin up multiple VMs on a host-only network that speak to each other and allow for interesting test environments spun up at will.
  • Cross-platform functionality allows me to run it on my Linux Desktop and know that tutorials I make with it could be approached by someone on a Windows or Mac OSX system. Hyper-V is limited to Windows, and VMware Workstation requires a license (VMware Player is free, but is not open-source and is more limited in comparison to VirtualBox).
  • If you are testing tools like Vagrant and Test-Kitchen, VirtualBox often seems to have the highest amount of support and documentation when it comes to compatibility (though, many people do use Hyper-V or VMware Workstation without issues).
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  • Simplicity - I do not have to create storage buckets or micromanage anything.
  • Efficiency - Lower power use since moving to a hyperconverged environment.
  • Scalability - Adding additional hardware is easy, and increasing things like the amount of RAM or number of cores is easy.
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Cons
  • The memory footprint is high, and requires above 8 GB of memory to run an Ubuntu VM smoothly (considering developing inside ubuntu OS inside a MacBook Pro).
  • Some known issues with OVF/OVA images import/export. We had the issue of some sections in OVF being ignored (especially Startup and Install sections).
  • Some intermittent issues when mounting external hard drives and trying to access them from within the running VM.
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  • Display the IP address of the node on which the VM is running on the Devices (gear icon) tab. This would allow me to manage my Microsoft license easier.
  • During the on-boarding I missed the step to install the Scale Computing Platform tools, and we didn't notice this until I had issues with backups. It would be helpful if some kind of alert notification would display on a VM card if the tools were not installed.
  • Add a new health or diagnostics tab that would display alerts, diagnostic tools, performance concerns or pattern anomalies.
  • Some kind of email/alert when a disk reaches near capacity
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Likelihood to Renew
I give this rating because virtual box is inexpensive but there is another product such as vm ware that can also be used
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I'm on the fence about renewing the support contract. The reliability of the HC3 makes it difficult to spend the cost of the renewal which is higher than the costs prior to Scale. I'm convinced if we were a larger district that the savings would be tremendous and I wouldn't hesitate to renew. In our specific situation, it may be more feasible to pay per incident.
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Usability
I love using the Graphical User Interface. The VirtualBox Manager is very easy to understand and use. You can quickly create, configure and manage all your virtual machines in one window. It makes operating virtual machines easy and simple. When using VBoxManage it gives the user comprehensive control over VirtualBox so that you can use automation and scripting at the command-line interface
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Everything you need to do is point-and-click easy. If you are the kind of admin who wants to edit every config file and endlessly customize your environment, then Scale may not be for you. On the other hand, if you just want it to work really well, and do what they told you it will do, then Scale is the ideal system.
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Reliability and Availability
Dependency on the Host OS means it is as reliable as it is possible to be. Application errors are beyond the purview of the application.
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Never had an outage or an error. Once a hard drive failed, but Scale kept on working flawlessly without interruption.
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Performance
No issues, especially with the extensions addons.
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Performance has been just as outstanding as reliability. I have never experienced delays in any aspect of usage.
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Support Rating
Oracle have a very fast response rate and a strong user community. One can geet help from many sources if they choose to research for themselves.
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We had one need for support post-setup, and the person who answered the phone was the support person I needed. No transfer, no level one, and our accents were similar enough that we understood each other easily. The problem was actually in my switch, not with Scale, but the support person still assisted me and got the entire cluster up and running again in under 30 minutes. They are truly a partner not just a vendor.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
I did not do in-person training.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
Because Scale is so simple, the training is just as quick and easy.
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Implementation Rating
We really enjoy using virtual box. We do not require to buy expensive hardware but instead we can minimize costs and maximize profits.
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The implementation was very easy. We had Scale support on standby and they were ready and eager to help if needed. The process went so fast the employees in the organization did not even know it was done.
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Alternatives Considered
VirutalBox is very similar to using Vmware with the slight difference in appearance and what might be considered a less polished look. However, what it lacks in polish and looks it makes up for in functionality, easy of use and the wide range of operating systems and features it supports without the need of buying the full professional edition
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As mentioned previously, not having to worry about the compatibility between your hardware, hypervisor, and VM OS is a great help. On the downside, there is less ability to get deep in the weeds with your own system. Much of the Scale HyperCore OS is locked down intentionally, which prevents technical users from having much insight on broad error messages without support intervention.
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Scalability
The only problem I have found is that the deployment is dependent and intrinsically linked to the Host OS. This is different from bare metal solutions which remove that dependency on a Host OS. The latter is more reliable and removes a layer of potential failure.
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HC3 is one of the best products I have purchased for our district. It is unbelievably reliable to the point that they shoot themselves in the foot on support contracts.
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Return on Investment
  • Direct cost savings - it enables me to do the work I need to do without purchasing additional physical computers
  • Time savings - it allows me to perform testing and reversion that would take much longer on a physical computer
  • Increased productivity - it enables me to more easily integrate with customer environments
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  • With the high cost of the leading competitor the savings starts day one and saves every year after.
  • Scale can be administered by a tier one technician so cost of labor is reduced.
  • If there is a problem like a cyber attack, the savings kick in with the least amount of downtime.
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ScreenShots

Scale Computing Platform Screenshots

Screenshot of Scale Computing Fleet Management Dashboard - 
At-a-glance summary of the health of the fleet upon login.Screenshot of Cluster Details -
Details of a particular cluster, including health, fleet manager connectivity, nodes, and VMsScreenshot of Scale Computing Fleet Manager -
Manages an organization’s fleet of Clusters.Screenshot of Hypercore UI -
Simple Web Interface for Local Management of the Cluster and its Workloads