I have a desktop PC dedicated to hosting all my virtual instruments. I use Audiogridder to play these VSTs over the network and it works pretty well. When I go to play outside my house though, I can't lug around the PC with me. I'm thinking of creating a VM (virtual machine) of the PC and then whenever I want to play somewhere else I can load that VM on a laptop. Has anyone tried this?

I have a couple thoughts on why this might be advantageous, please feel free to correct me where I'm wrong:

• Portability - I can save the VM to an external HD and then whenever I want to take it somewhere else I'll copy it to a laptop and host it from the laptop
• Expandability - Right now the dedicated PC is limited to its physical specs. If I ever want to install more plugins beyond the hard drive capacity or install something more demanding than the PCs CPU or RAM can handle I have to physically upgrade the PC. On a VM though (correct me if I'm mistaken), if the host has more resources, I can simply allocate more disk space, RAM, CPU, etc and consume as much of the host's resources as needed.

Does this make sense?

 

i would say it depends on a try, let me know if you are satisfied the idea is not bad

 

It could just be how you wrote this, but Audiogridder "over the network" says to me you are either using Wifi connection, or running with the computers on a LAN via ethernet/CAT5 cables, a switch, or other solution. But *ideally* you want the AG server and client connected to one another directly with a Crossover Cable (CAT5 ethernet) . "Over the network" will introduce latency, lag; as if you were trying to calculate a roundtrip ping with other networking equipment in the way to slow it down. Even just transferring files can be faster.

Likewise, I do not see a reason to run a VM just to handle your situation. Running VM is a big usage of resources. Your laptop should just be setup to be nearly a clone of the tower machine. USB external drives can be much higher capacity than you will need to mirror. VMs also tend to be prone to crashing, and often only perform well on newer machines. It's a great solution to using Multiple Operating Systems; but rarely is a solution to an out of date machine.

Info on cable:
What is the difference between a crossover and straight network cable?




A crossover cable is also an ethernet cable. The difference between a straight-through cable is that it has a different wire sequence between connectors. With a crossover cable, the configuration of the wires is slightly more complicated. With an ethernet connector, there are 8 pin slots on each side of the cable.

 

Last edited: Jun 27, 2023

Thanks for the reply. Everything is connected on a LAN on the same subnet. What's the easiest way to "clone" the tower PC and what needs to match in the target PC in order for it to be cloned? (OS? CPU? Capacity? etc??)

 

it cannot be an actual clone (where you are using a disk image), because the hardware will be different in the laptop from the tower. So you will need different Driver software on them, for the differences between the hardware components in the machine. But you can have the same DAW, Plugins, Presets, and Standalone versions of things like Kontakt. Some you need the same software versions, and the closer they are the better. But they don't need to be exact mirror images of one another.

Your samples, midi files, project folders, can then be stored on the external harddrive so that they may be opened on either machine. You can use Symbolic Links (symlinks) for most of the plugins that need huge library data files, like Omnisphere's Steam folder, EZ Drummer expansions, and things like those. (kontakt libs,etc)

With that usb drive connected to one machine, you will be able to open your DAW projects on either machine with no noticeable difference. Then you aren't even copying all sorts of data from one machine to the other. You just need the music software as close as possible between the two of them.

 

It's pretty much not worth it, the tribulations of running VSTs in a VM are less significant than just buying a cheap SFF PC and hiding it on your desk, or just upgrading your hardware if you're using windows already.

 

what about Win-To-Go?
ie. like https://www.easyuefi.com/wintousb/index.html

• • Creation of Windows To Go (WTG) from ISO, WIM, ESD, SWM, VHD(X) or DVD drive.
• • Creation of WTG from system backup image produced by Hasleo Backup Suite.New
• • Clone Windows to USB/Thunderbolt drive as portable Windows.Improved
• • Creation of Windows To Go on Non-Certified Windows To Go USB drive.
• • Encrypt Windows To Go with BitLocker to keep your data safe.
• • Creation of Windows installation and bootable WinPE USB drive with BIOS & UEFI support.
• • Download Official Windows 11/10/8.1 ISO file from Microsoft.
• • Any version of Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server (2008 or later) is supported.

 

But you can't install VSTs directly on an external hard drive can you? If not, I'd still have to go through the hassle of re-installing all my VSTs, sample players, etc etc. I'm not too familiar with Symlinks...is there a resource I can learn more about them? How do they work?

 

there are a lot more dependency files on Windows. Someone else on PC should answer this part, but I do not think all plugins can be installed into a system that you will image as a VM and have them all work correctly anyway. I also think that trying to keep up with every single little plugin you add to "try before buy" or demo, is a waste of your time/effort. Particularly an older machine, it's not like you are reinstalling Waves, Omnisphere, etc for bug fixes. You can look at symlink articles like this one: https://www.howtogeek.com/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

I think you should put a VM image on one of these machines and see what it actually runs like before I type more about it. Try one of the Windows NIST images for VM; they are free and already packed up and ready to go. At that point, you will have a far better grasp of wether or not my advice is for you. Because it sucks to even run with almost nothing but Windows as a VM. Of course this is easier on Macs; we don't have our plugins as driver files.

 

Last edited: Jun 28, 2023

for Win-to-GO: you can clone your desktop to a USB drive... then boot to the USB drive and install whatever you want... checkout the link above

 

Last edited: Jul 14, 2023

This is much more like what I mean. It's similar to creating a persistent install of a Linux on a pen drive, instead of booting one OS and then another in VM. Do you even need to install a bootloader with this?

 

It must have its own bootloader otherwise it couldn't be portable...? I say this as a non-user of the technology... I have seen this program around forever but have not tested it myself... would like to try it tho! would love anyone's feedback if tries it...
my link in earlier post has full details...

"WinToUSB allows you to install & run fully-functional Windows on an external HDD/SSD, USB flash drive or Thunderbolt drive, which means you can carry the portable Windows drive to anywhere and use it on any computer."

 

Last edited: Jun 28, 2023

I did not see it mentioned, and this solution is less like a traditional dual-boot scenario. Plus, the site mentions it supports BIOS and UEFI. It's a commercial product and not really a freeware, so they probably have this ironed out for "regular users" so that it is easy/cookie-cutter. Way better than running in a VM.

 

Interesting. I would imagine running purely off an external drive would be way less efficient though, no? It may be easier to pack everything up but I can't imagine running a DAW with omnisphere (for example) off a thumb drive...do you think this could actually produce decent results?

 

.

I run Omnisphere, Falcon2, Kontakt all off my USB-C external Lacie Rugged drives. They are not even SSD's. My MacOS, Logic and plugins all run from small internal SSDs. So yes, I can imagine it. A thumb drive, no but that is just because of Capacity. But I have used Kali Linux Live Pen drives many times without any speed issues. Obviously it is better from a hdd installation; but there are a decent amount of people on here even, who run their OS from an external SSD. Some of them use Mac Mini M1s for it. You have to compare the machine against the system requirements and then test it out. I can certainly imagine it running better than an OS, all plugins, apps, and so on; running off the same drive Virtually on top of another full instance of Windows.

Running in a VM sucks. It should be your last resort. The benefit of using disc images is usually seen in corporate environment, where you deploy a complete image of all the workstations; with all software rolled up. Then it just deflates to the machine over the network for installation of identical setups on all of them. From there, it is a traditional installation.

That program he recommended has a free version. I would definitely try it, or find some people who use it for DAW purposes. But I do not think the operating system being on an internal or an External will make all that much difference. Nothing like a VM will.

 

Interesting I’ll give it a shot. What about VSTs that aren’t just sample players? Something like the arturia v collection? Can you run that off an external?

 

V collection should be fine on external hard drive. I had it installed few years back. I don't think they changed it, so it wouldn't be possible

 

Well this may change everything! I’ve got to try that. For what it’s worth I use Reaper as my DAW. From what I recall the installer from sister site only let you select the C drive as the installation location for V collection

 

ANY solution with low level hardware/simulated hardware variations is going to CRASH.
I tried ALL those so called "solutions" for decades ... they ALWAYS created more headaches than trouble solving.

Being VM or USB boot or whatever : DRIVER level is the key to stability AND performance

Remote plugins hosting is still the most stable solution.

 

Why would you want to run a VM on the Laptop? Can't you just run the plugins natively on the laptop? With most plugins you are good to install two or more instances of the plugin on different computers.