Don't get me wrong. I love VirtualBox. But it's more a desktop solution IMO. I know Rik has created a headless VirtualBox server and perhaps that would suit your needs but I definately wouldn't be running the setup you're talking about on a desktop. For starters, Zimbra is a resource hog so if you want it to be responsive then you'll need to allocate a lot of resources to it. Also the nature of a server is that you will want it on all the time (I'd imagine) so having it running on a desktop is potentially a liability (someone might acidentally turn it off). I'd definately be looking at something headless so you can devote all your machine resources to the VMs and ideally not even run a GUI on it. Then it could sit in the corner merrily chugging away. Personally I love ProxmoxVE but I have heard others sing the praises of OpenStack (I'm yet to play with it).
And back to Zimbra, unless you need all of it's functionality then there are probably lighter webmail hosts that may be a better option? Also the TKL appliance is starting to show it's age IMO and hasn't been updated for some time. Unfortunately TKL haven't got any other email host appliances yet but IIRC there was a patch made for RoundCube (or something similar) that may be useful? I guess it depends on your needs.
As for the actual construction of your desired network components, I'm possibly up to the task, but I couldn't give you a clear timeframe - I work fulltime and have a son to keep tabs on! Besides all the oher stuff I do around here! Also as it's not something I've done for others (outside of my work) before so I'm a little hesitant
I'd try contacting the devs (Alon and/or Liraz) and see what they think as they are possibly appliances that would be worth creating anyway (and if you are happy for the work to be shared with the community they'll give a good rate I reckon). There is also another guy here in the community that I'd fully vouch for: Adrian Moya. All 3 of them can be contacted via firstname@turnkeylinux.org. If they're not responsive, not keen or some other reason can't/won't do it then drop me a line personally (same email addy but 'jedmeister') and I'll see what I can do.
Why VirtualBox?
Don't get me wrong. I love VirtualBox. But it's more a desktop solution IMO. I know Rik has created a headless VirtualBox server and perhaps that would suit your needs but I definately wouldn't be running the setup you're talking about on a desktop. For starters, Zimbra is a resource hog so if you want it to be responsive then you'll need to allocate a lot of resources to it. Also the nature of a server is that you will want it on all the time (I'd imagine) so having it running on a desktop is potentially a liability (someone might acidentally turn it off). I'd definately be looking at something headless so you can devote all your machine resources to the VMs and ideally not even run a GUI on it. Then it could sit in the corner merrily chugging away. Personally I love ProxmoxVE but I have heard others sing the praises of OpenStack (I'm yet to play with it).
And back to Zimbra, unless you need all of it's functionality then there are probably lighter webmail hosts that may be a better option? Also the TKL appliance is starting to show it's age IMO and hasn't been updated for some time. Unfortunately TKL haven't got any other email host appliances yet but IIRC there was a patch made for RoundCube (or something similar) that may be useful? I guess it depends on your needs.
As for the actual construction of your desired network components, I'm possibly up to the task, but I couldn't give you a clear timeframe - I work fulltime and have a son to keep tabs on! Besides all the oher stuff I do around here! Also as it's not something I've done for others (outside of my work) before so I'm a little hesitant
I'd try contacting the devs (Alon and/or Liraz) and see what they think as they are possibly appliances that would be worth creating anyway (and if you are happy for the work to be shared with the community they'll give a good rate I reckon). There is also another guy here in the community that I'd fully vouch for: Adrian Moya. All 3 of them can be contacted via firstname@turnkeylinux.org. If they're not responsive, not keen or some other reason can't/won't do it then drop me a line personally (same email addy but 'jedmeister') and I'll see what I can do.