Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
sections give you a brief overview of these systems but are not intended to provide instructions
about how to use them.
VMware Workstation is free for academic institutions approved in the
VMware Academic Program. Entry in this program is free for two- and four-
year degree-granting higher education institutions and accredited technical
VMware Workstation
VMware Workstation is popular among software developers and testers because it provides
a safe environment in which to write and test development software before it is released to
live production. It is also used by people who need to run multiple operating systems on one
workstation-class computer, including legacy operating systems. This can be useful for run-
ning old software without having to convert it for a new operating system. It's also useful for
learning a new operating system.
VMware Workstation 6.04 (and later) supports Windows, Linux, and other operating sys-
tems as host and guest OSs. Newer operating systems supported as both hosts and guests include
the following:
• Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions (x86 and x64)
• Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Enterprise, Business, and Ultimate (x86 and x64)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux up to 4.6 (x86 and x64)
• Ubuntu Linux up to 7.10 (x86 and x64)
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x86 and x64)
• openSUSE Linux up to 10.3
VMware Workstation has several of the same new features as VMware Server, which include
the following:
• Handles increased memory (to 8 GB)
• Supports 64-bit guest operating systems on 64-bit host computers
• Supports hardware virtualization, such as through AMD CPUs that have AMD-V capabil-
ity and Intel CPUs with Intel VT
• Supports USB 2.0 (including on Linux operating systems)
• Supports multiple monitors (to see different virtual machines on different displays)
As with VMware Server, you can configure hardware for the virtual machine, including mul-
tiple processors, memory, hard disks, USB access, floppy access, and other hardware elements.
You can also configure Bridged, HostOnly, and NAT virtual networks. A virtual DHCP server
can be configured when you use HostOnly and NAT virtual networking. Setting up a virtual
machine is also done with a step-by-step wizard.
Also, as in VMware Server, you can install VMware Tools, which includes specialized driv-
ers, such as drivers for enhanced video and audio functions for the guest operating system.
VMware Workstation has a console for accessing the guest operating system that resembles the
VMware Server console.
VMware Workstation is specifically designed for workstation host machines and offers a
wider range of host and guest operating system compatibility than Microsoft Virtual PC (at this
writing). You can download a 30-day free evaluation version at
www.vmware.com/products/ws
.
D
Microsoft Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V was released just a few months after Windows Server 2008. Unlike the other
virtualization systems discussed in this appendix, Microsoft Hyper-V is intended to run only on
Windows Server 2008. It is loaded through Server Manager like any other role in Windows
Server 2008. In this regard, Windows Server 2008 offers perhaps the smoothest installation
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