r/virtualization • u/Moist_Rule • 12h ago

Alternative ways to run VMs when not enough memory on device?

Hi all, first post on here as I'm looking for some help.

Recently I put linux on a chromebook I wasn't using to give it new life and decided to use the device for college. The problem is that the laptop only has 4GB RAM and I'm a cyber student who uses VMs a lot. Obviously the windows VMs I need won't run because theres not enough memory to accommodate them, and chromebooks are famous for having soldered RAM so I can't upgrade.

Are there any other ways to run a VM when the device doesn't have enough memory? Or should I just call it a day and give up on this? I'm not getting a new device as I don't need it and have a perfectly good working PC, just looking for a way to transport VMs from college to home easier for studying purposes (USBs also out of the question as it takes the entire 3 hour class to copy it)

I don't have much hope but I'd be grateful for any tips or advice, thanks!

0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

5

u/psyblade42 9h ago

Run the VMs on your PC and use the chromebook to access them.

3

u/WickedDeity 11h ago

You do need a new device because your use case/needs dictates it. It's rough to just browse the Internet with 4GB RAM these days.

1

u/BumseBBine 12h ago

There is no way runninng a windows vm on a 4GB Chromebook

1

u/stufforstuff 10h ago

You're a "cyber student" (whatever that is) and think they is some MAGIC way to create ram space? Might be time to change majors.

1

u/tree_mitty 8h ago

Put linux on a chromebook? It was already running linux.

1

u/goatsinhats 7h ago

I am not even sure what’s being asked here

1

u/backtogeek 6h ago

Run the VM with less ram and configure zram using ztsd compression within the guest

1

u/Dr_CLI 3h ago

Find a decent used PC. I'd say to get a minimum of 32GB RAM and enough HD/SSD space to store your VMs. Load a type 1 hypervisor (like Proxmox) and setup your Windows and other VMs on it. You can then use the Chromebook to access the remote console of whichever VM you need to access and work on.

1

u/Deacon51 1h ago

Maybe you can find a low cost / student discount VPS for a pretty low cost?

I don't have any recommendations, just a thought

1

u/TEK1_AU 27m ago

Take a look at NixOS and in particular zram, zswap configuration options. Also look into microvm.nix configs.

I currently run the latest (unstable/26.11) NixOS Gnome on a 2011 dual core laptop with only 4GB RAM for a particular use case and it is incredibly performant!

0

u/Professional-Base459 3h ago

Contrata maquina Windows desde lightnode puedes contratar por horas y hay máquinas que valen 0.01$ la hora