vmware questions??

HI folks,

I have a couple of questions about using virtual servers. I have 2 main senarios I am looking at:

1. Using vmware to create multiple hosts to connect to my cisco lab. If I have a PC with 4 NIC's in it can I assign 1 NIC to each virtual machine? Is it that simple?

2. Microsoft lab. Is it possible to have say 2 x 2003 servers and 2 x xp workstations running on 1 computer and have them all working as a networked domain without any network hardware attached to the host computer?

I have done a bit of searching on here but still not sure of how it all works.

Cheers

Jon

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Comments

blargoe

1. You wouldn't even need 4 nics. You can share the nic with the computer on which you are hosting VMware. You then have the following options:

a. Bridged - Each vm's "virtual" nic participating on the same network as the host machine, they would logically be on the same subnet as the host machine and would get settings from the same DHCP server, etc.

b. NAT - All VM's could access the Internet via the host machine's network adapter, but for all intents and purposes they are on a separate virtual netowrk

c. Host only - all vm's are isolated on a virtual network that does not get routed to the host machine's network.

2. Sure it's possible. Make sure you have a relatively modern CPU, plenty of memory (enough to run your host PC and each VM simultaneously, consult the Microsoft minimum requirements for memory) and disk space. Unless you want this domain broadcasting to your production network, you would be better off doing host only networking for this scenario.

dynamik

1. Do you specifically need each virtual machine connected to a separate NIC? You can certainly have any number of virtual machines access your network through a single NIC. Blargoe sums it up nicely.

2. Give it a shot and see if it works. What are the specs of your system?

VM 30 Day Trial: http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/eval.html

Server 2003 Evaluation: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/evaluate/trial/default.mspx

I run my Server 2003 machines with 256mb ram and my XP machines with 128mb, and I never have any problems doing any of my lab exercises. You can go 128/64 respectively if you're really tight on memory. If you're just doing basic exercises and pinging machines, etc., you can get by with the bare minimum.

emsrescue

Thanks for the replies guys.

I want to use 4 seperate nics so they can be attached to 4 seperate subnets / vlans.

The spec of the machine is a dual 1Ghz P3 with 1Gb of ram that I intend to upgrade to 1.5 to 2Gb at somepoint soon.

The reason I asked about the windows network was that I do a lot of traveling with work and I am due a laptop upgrade soon. My thinking is that if I can get a decent spec of laptop can I run an entire windows network on that using vmware. Does that make sense?

Cheers

Jon

dynamik

You'll get a good number of machines on a core duo or core 2 duo. Memory will be your biggest bottleneck. Try to get 2gb or 1.5gb at the very minimum. I'm on a desktop core 2 duo (E6600) with 4gb of ram and I've had over a dozen machines going in lab exercises with no problems.

jkstech

emsrescue wrote:

The reason I asked about the windows network was that I do a lot of traveling with work and I am due a laptop upgrade soon. My thinking is that if I can get a decent spec of laptop can I run an entire windows network on that using vmware. Does that make sense?

Cheers

Jon

I was issued a laptop by my employer for this very purpose, right now I have two 2003 dc, a wsus machine and an xp client, i've had more running before, such as linux machines and dedicated pentesting machines as well, with a good laptop and a good amount of memory you will be fine, i absolutely love it, I can pick up my entire domain and take it with me

emsrescue

jkstech wrote:

I was issued a laptop by my employer for this very purpose, right now I have two 2003 dc, a wsus machine and an xp client, i've had more running before, such as linux machines and dedicated pentesting machines as well, with a good laptop and a good amount of memory you will be fine, i absolutely love it, I can pick up my entire domain and take it with me

So its possible then! Good. Any idiot guides to setting the networking up anywhere? I have setup one machine before but never a whole network.

You'll get a good number of machines on a core duo or core 2 duo.

I would love a dual core machine but it will be about 10 years before they become cheap enough secondhand for me to own one. I am still using a 400MHz G4 powermac as my everyday desktop and the dual 1Ghz is the fastest machine I am likely to own for a while.

Thanks

Jon