Hardware requirements for a Virtual Server

GPU Virtualization isn't here yet. At least not properly. VMWare Workstation has it as an experimental feature.

As for the rest of it - Are you able to dedicate a piece of hardware to be a VM host, or does this need to run on top of your existing operating system?

If you're dedicating some hardware, then Citrix XenServer or VMWare ESXi are excellent, comparable choices, and both are free. ESXi has a web interface which can be used for console access to VMs, and will work fine over the 'net.

If you can only run VMs on top of an existing Windows/Linux installation as you'll be using it for other tasks, then it depends on your choice of OS. VMWare Workstation is a good choice, but not free.

I would suggest right away using MySQL 5.5 with the following:

innodb_file_per_table <- always enable this
innodb_io_capacity=65536
innodb_read_io_threads=64
innodb_write_io_threads-64
query_cache_size=0 (Default : Disbale your query cache)

Until MySQL 5.5 gets mature, do not use the multiple buffer pools.

How much RAM you need depends on two(2) things

For MyISAM, this query shows the key buffer size your system should be set to
SELECT CONCAT(CEILING(ndxsum/POWER(1024,2)),'M') RecommendedKeyBufferSize FROM (SELECT SUM(index_length) ndxsum FROM information_schema.tables WHERE engine='MyISAM' and table_schema NOT IN ('information_schema','mysql')) A;

For InnoDB, this query shows the innodb buffer pool size your system should be set to
SELECT CONCAT(CEILING(innodbsum/POWER(1024,2)),'M') RecommendedInnoDBBufferPoolSize FROM (SELECT SUM(data_length+index_length) innodbsum FROM information_schema.tables WHERE engine='InnoDB') A;

To get a complete picture of what you have as far MySQL Data, run this query:

SELECT DBName,CONCAT(LPAD(FORMAT(SDSize/POWER(1024,pw),3),17,' '),' ',SUBSTR(' KMGTP',pw+1,1),'B') "Data Size",CONCAT(LPAD(FORMAT(SXSize/POWER(1024,pw),3),17,' '),' ',SUBSTR(' KMGTP',pw+1,1),'B') "Index Size",CONCAT(LPAD(FORMAT(STSize/POWER(1024,pw),3),17,' '),' ',SUBSTR(' KMGTP',pw+1,1),'B') "Total Size" FROM (SELECT IFNULL(DB,'All Databases') DBName,SUM(DSize) SDSize,SUM(XSize) SXSize,SUM(TSize) STSize FROM (SELECT table_schema DB,data_length DSize,index_length XSize,data_length+index_length TSize FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema NOT IN ('mysql','information_schema','performance_schema')) AAA GROUP BY DB WITH ROLLUP) AA,(SELECT 3 pw) BB ORDER BY (SDSize+SXSize);

Set (SELECT 0 pw) BB For Bytes
Set (SELECT 1 pw) BB For KiloBytes
Set (SELECT 2 pw) BB For MegaBytes
Set (SELECT 3 pw) BB For GigaBytes
Set (SELECT 4 pw) BB For TeraBytes
Set (SELECT 5 pw) BB For PetaBytes (email me if you start using this)

The maximum key_buffer_size is 4GB, so do not surpass this.

The maximum innodb_buffer_pool_size should be 75-80% or installed RAM

Always set innodb_log_file_size to 25% of innodb_buffer_pool_size

The maximum innodb_log_file_size is 2047M (InnoDB will not work with 2G or 2048M, you can check the MySQL source code)

With these things in mind, you should be able to forecast the settings you need in /etc/my.cnf and for your hardware.

Give it a Try !!!