VMware Server
VMware Server (formerly VMware GSX Server) is an
entry-level server virtualization software suite from VMware, Inc.
The software installs on any existing server and
partitions a physical server into multiple virtual machines by
abstracting
processor, memory, storage and networking resources, providing a high
degree of hardware utilization and flexibility.
Users can provision a new server in minutes, run Windows
and Linux on the same server, increase the utlization of a physical
server,
move and migrate virtual machines, and capture the state of an entire
virtual machine and roll back to that state with a mere click of a
button.
The software uses a client-server model, allowing remote
access to virtual machines, at the expense of some graphical
performance
(and 3D support). In addition to the ability to run virtual machines
created by
other VMware products, it can also run virtual machines created by
Microsoft
Virtual PC. It has support for a wide number of guest
operating systems, including RedHat Enterprise, Mandriva, Turbolinux,
Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, SuSE and more. We installed Ubuntu 8.10
as the guest operating system, if only because that is what we
recommend newcomers to Linux try first.
One of the distinguising features of VMware Server is
its Web-based interface. In the previous version of VMware
Server, the software used a standalone client-based application to
create and configure virtual machines. However, in version 2, the web
browser now itself creates, administers and runs the virtual
machines.
The above screenshot shows the web interface in action,
providing the user with information about the
hardware being used by the virtual machine, and a wealth of
other information and functionality at your finger tips. All
you need to access VMware Server is a web browser which also allows you
to create virtual machines from any
machine on the network.
Installing Ubuntu is just as easy as installing XP or
Vista. The only complication is that VMware Tools needs to be
installed, if you are going to get good performance out of the virtual
machine.
Here are a couple of screenshots showing the
Ubuntu guest operating system in action, running, of course, under the
gorgeous GNOME desktop environment. Applications shown include
SeaMonkey (an all-in-one internet application suite, GNOME terminal (a
terminal emulator), K3b (burning software), Audacious (advanced audio
player), XChat-GNOME (graphical IRC client), Blender (3D creation
tools), Comix (Comic Book Viewer), and Firefox.
VMware Server is a great way of experimenting with Linux distributions.
It is a very mature, well-engineered piece of software, and the
web-based interface is slick. Even though this is a free download
produced by a commercial organisation, it is not in any way a low-end
product that has had important functionality disabled. VMware
Server is the way forward for virtualization software.
Features include:
- Can be managed by VMware VirtualCenter to efficiently
provision,
monitor and manage infrastructure from a central management console
- Supports two-processor Virtual SMP, enabling a single
virtual machine to span multiple physical processors
- Runs
on a wider variety of Linux and Windows host and guest operating
systems
- Captures the entire state of a virtual machine and
rolls
back
at any time with the click of a single button
- Installs like an application, with quick and easy,
wizard-driven installation
- Quick and easy, wizard-driven virtual machine creation
- Opens VMware or Microsoft virtual machine format and
Symantec LiveState Recovery images with VM Importer
- Supports Intel Virtualization Technology
- VMware Infrastructure (VI) Web Access management
interface
- Independent virtual machine console
- Support for USB 2.0 devices
- Multi-tiered permissions: Configure different levels
of
permissions to access virtual machines in different ways, including
browsing, interacting, configuring and administering virtual machines
- Hardware editors: Edit and add devices such as USB
2.0
devices and legacy devices such as floppy drives, serial and parallel
ports
- Automatically start your virtual machines
- Link to Virtual Appliance Marketplace
- Support for up to 8 GB of RAM (up from 3.6 GB in
Server
1.0) per virtual machine, 10 virtual network interface cards and up to
two virtual SMP (vSMP) processors per virtual machine
- 64-bit guest operating system support
- Support for Virtual Machine Interface (VMI)
- Support for VIX API 1.5
- Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
- Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI)
- Support for SCSI pass-through (generic) devices
- Expand disk capacity on the fly: Allows for adding
new SCSI
hard disks and controllers to a running virtual machine
- Firefox 3 as a supported browser for the management
interface
- Remote Client Devices: Access devices such as CD-ROMs
that are not physically connected to the host via VMware Remote Console
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