I have been using a Linux install for a couple years now and it has development checkouts (and matching databases + live data) for dozens of sites. Since I create a new virtual host for each site there hasn't been any problems piling more and more projects into this system. However, this computer won't last forever. [...] Should I setup a new VM + debian install for each project (seems like a lot of work). Should I just move everything to an external drive and point the MySQL data, MongoDB data, Nginx web folders to the attached drive? How do others handle this?

There's several suggestions made in the comments including things like:

• Using Ansible for configuration management
• Bundling the current linux install into one portable VM
• Using Vagrant for VM management
• Using source control that can be accessed from any device/VM

Have a VM management method you've found useful in your development? Share some about it here.