Virtual machines in 10 years
I need to create a virtual machine that could be run in 10 years time if needed (but not used otherwise). I would like to create a virtual machine now, and guarantee as much as possible that it will be able to run on a computer 10 years in the future, probably under the latest version of Windows (as a host)

Will I need to "upgrade" the VM with every release of VM player, etc.? Would it be safe to use VMware ESX, as that is more of an Enterprise solution (e.g. changes less)?

Could I do this all for free using Virtual Server to create the image and player to use it on the desktop?

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It's obviously difficult to predict the future, especially when it comes to IT solutions. While there's certainly no guarantee that you would be able to access these formats in the future, your best bets related to virtual machines are to use either Microsoft's or VMware's virtual hard disk formats. Future plans for these platforms will certainly provide a way to migrate to newer VHD formats, as they're made available. As far as host support goes, it's quite likely that you'll need to upgrade the VM formats at least a few times over the next few years.

I am curious, though: Would it be possible to use a format other than a VM for this data? For example, you could take a backup of the entire file system and store it in a more stable format (such as a .ZIP file). That file could then be restored to a virtualization solution 10 years or so from now. I hope this information is helpful.

This was first published in March 2007

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