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Am currently running Ubuntu 11.10 on Virtual Box on my Mac. I have the set the memory usage to 1.5 GB for this instance. My Mac has total memory of 4GB.

I would like to know, what is the recommended memory for Ubuntu 11.10 running on Virtual Box.

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Great question, but it's likely that you can find better answers in a Mac forum. AFAIK, the key is how Os/X manages memory, more exactly how is it going to manage the swap file/partition, will it be kept on memory as cache or is it going to end in the real disk?. –  Javier Rivera Mar 12 '12 at 16:42
feedback from Apple forum - Not more than 1 GB should be needed but not more than 1/2 the total available RAM on the computer should be allocated to all VMs. –  Viraj Rao Mar 12 '12 at 19:02
That makes sense, in Ubuntu under Ubuntu I will assign the VM the minimum possible memory. I trust the linux kernel to keep the VM swap in real RAM when it's possible, and phase it out when not. That way I let it manage the combined RAM available to both machines (real and virtual). 1 Gb seems enough for desktop Ubuntu and it's reasonable number. –  Javier Rivera Mar 12 '12 at 19:09
Anyway, can you post your comment as an answer?. It is. –  Javier Rivera Mar 12 '12 at 19:09
@VirajRao - please come back tomorrow and post an answer + tick the accept button next to your answer to close - and you may earn some rep as well! –  fossfreedom Mar 12 '12 at 21:20

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Answer from Apple forum

Yes. In other words not more than, say, 1 GB to Ubuntu and 1 GB to Windows if you have both running at the same time. If you only run one at a time then a maximum of 2 GBs can be allocated to each. Hope that's a bit clearer.

In reality you may need to cut back the allocation just a tad to account for the total amount of RAM the running VM uses because it will include overhead for the emulator itself. You basically want to retain at least 2 GBs for OS X when running Lion because that is the minimum requirement for Lion.

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