Virtualization to the Rescue
I have always used my own personal computer for all of my development work, both as an employee and as a contract developer. This would make for one crowded laptop containing multiple development tools, project files, databases, etc. Invariably there would come a day when I would have to migrate to a new computer or upgraded hard drive, reinstall everything due to crash, or lose hours fixing some broken aspect of my development environment. I have lost days of billable time in the past trying to get everything back up and running so I could get back to work. I had to find a better way. I needed to separate my personal usage, employer work, and client work in order to minimize risk and maintain my sanity.