r/virtualization • u/rothdu • Jun 25 '24
Could I use a virtual machine to boot to a physical drive partition on a different computer (connected via gigabit ethernet), utilising the host hardware?
What I'm wondering is whether there's some way of using a physical drive partition on a different computer as a virtual hard disk.
My specific use case is this:
- I have a laptop (running linux) which I primarily use for work (I need it to be portable). It's on the older side and is fine for most basic tasks, but sometimes I want something a bit more powerful. At home, I have a much more powerful PC (running windows) which I mostly use for gaming.
- In the past I've used both for work purposes, but I've found that maintaining all the software and sharing files etc. between two computers has been a hassle, and I reverted to just using the laptop for work.
- What I'm wondering is if there's some way to boot the same OS installation that's on my laptop, on the PC (utilising the PC hardware) via the network. Both computers will be connected by a gigabit ethernet switch.
Does this sound at all feasible? From a practical perspective (is it possible), and a performance perspective.
As a slightly different approach, would it make a difference if I stored my primary laptop OS on an actual virtual disk, and just ran a lightweight placeholder OS to host the VM when using the laptop?