Vmware and Server 2003

If I have one XP box but with VMware workstation is it possible to use that as a study machine? I ask that because one of the things you would want to do is log into windows through a windows 2003 Domain and how can you do that inside vmware if to start up vmware you have to be logged into windows? Catch what Im saying?

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sthomas

You could install Windows XP Pro and Windows Server2003 in VMWare and do it that way. As long as you have enough memory in your PC.

mog27

Is 1GB enough memory? Or would 2GB be better?

sthomas

1GB should be sufficient for studying purposes but 1.5-2GB would be better.

Ciscopimpenator

Can I run VMware with Windows XP Home Edition and get Windows 2003 Server to run?
What I need to do is somehow get 2 emulated Server 2003 computers running within Windows XP home edition....do I need Windows XP Pro?

Keep Pimpin'

-Ciscopimpenator

WanBoy67

You need Windows XP Pro to logon to the AD, you can only join a workgroup with XP Home. You need to keep at least 256Mb for your XP Home OS, another 256Mb for each XP Pro VM, and 512Mb for each Server 2003 VM to keep up any kind of speed. You could run with the minimum 128Mb for each VM but its not recommended. Preferably using a Dual Core CPU which improves multi-tasking no end.

If you don't have VMWare Workstation you can use EasyVMX to create the VMX files and use the free VMWare Player.

Ciscopimpenator

Wanboy, great info.

Looks like I need a RAM upgrade and possibly a new system. I might just piece together a new system and throw Windows Server 2003 server on it.

Another question:

Lets say I had a system with Server 2003 preinstalled. AT this point all I would need is one instance of VMWare running Server 2003 to make the home lab, correct?
Are there problems running VMWare with Server 2003?

Can I run an evaluation of SErver2003 and then run VMWare/Evaluation Server 2003 within this?
Basically I want to run as many Evaluation instances as possible.
Are there limitations on what programs will run within the evaluation version?

Much thanks,

Ciscopimpenator

tel_s1234

I run VMware on my laptop, that only has 512 ram and I run 2 w2k3 enterprise machines and an XP pro machine on top on the host (XP Pro) machine. It's more than usable.

WanBoy67

tel_s1234 I agree, your senario is workable - CPU plays a big part also not just ram. But you'd have to say that running VMs with at least recommended RAM is - well, recommended.

Ciscopimpenator what system spec are you running for your lab? VMWare was designed with Servers primarily in mind, so there are no real problems running it in this way (other than a slight speed decrease over a physical install - a faster CPU usually hides this, there are advantages to running servers in VMs also) You can certainly run a Server 2003 VM within a physical Server 2003 and replicate AD & DNS. AFAIK there are no limitations to the 180-day trial other than it being a 180-day trial :P You can get Exchange, ISA, SMS, SQL, SharePoint Server & Forefront trials also if you so wish - the trial days vary.

You can also convert a physical install to a VM image by using VMWare Converter for use with VMWare Player or Workstation. It's free too.

tel_s1234

It's nice to have more RAM, but it's not a disaster to run it on the minimum, certainly if it's just a lab. The biggest slowup I found, is when you switch between large(r) programs on the host machine and the vmware program, stay within VMware and it will more than meet your needs. Still, that's only how I have found it, others might disagree.

Ciscopimpenator

Ok heres my setup

WIndows XP Home Edition
2800+ Sempron 1.6 Ghz
786 RAM

I'm thinking get the 2003 Server Eval and dual boot with my current setup. Then I can run another instance of 2003 Server within VMWare under the 2003 Server Eval.
Dual booting...I usually don't have problems but never tried with 2003 Eval and Windows XP Home.
I will probably buy 1GB RAM for cheap so my system will have almost 2 GB.
IF you can think of another way of running the system on Windows XP Home edition let me know.

Also, is connecting two OS'es through VMWare a problem? So I will be able to instigate AD and DNS stuff along with everything else, correct?

Another option for me would be installing Suse Linux and trying to get MS Server 2003 to run under some other program analogous to VMWare.

Ciscopimpenator

WanBoy67

You can run your VMs on XP Home but you'll need XP Pro ( or 2000 Pro ) to logon to the AD. So you'll need another VM or another physical machine. Buy an XP Pro upgrade license or if you've got the cash invest in a TechNet Direct subscription for $349 ( you'll get Server 2003, Exchange, XP Pro, Vista licenses for 1 year ) - try to get your employer to get this for you if you can. You download the CDs from the Microsoft website with TechNet Direct but the option to get CD/DVDs shipped to you instead every month is $499. You could run XP Home, Server 2003, Server 2003 & XP Pro as 128Mb-256Mb-256Mb-128Mb or 196Mb-196Mb-196Mb-196Mb with your current ram and upgrade the processor instead, or leave it as it is. It's up to you. The more VMs you run off the same hard drive the slower it gets though.

You need to bridge your VM networking so your physical and virtual installs can see each other ( done with in VMWare Workstation or EasyVMX with VMWare Player ). Everything which you can do with a physical server can be done/replicated/clustered within a VM ( AD, DNS, DHCP, WSUS, Exchange, etc. ) You could try Xen or Qemu if your using Linux. Check compatibility first though.

https://buynow.one.microsoft.com/rssc/homePage.aspx?tabid=0&storeid=7F763A47-2EF5-4013-89EF-A88E2D3E26CB&localeid=en-us

http://www.claunia.com/qemu/

jasonboche

VMware all the way...

WanBoy67

jasonboche wrote:

VMware all the way...

With Workstation maybe

mog27

How would I back up a vmware windows 2003 machine? Is it just a matter of saving the cloned .vmx file?

WanBoy67

The .vmx file is just the options file. You need to backup both .vmx and .vmdk files. If you have Workstation you can take a snapshot before you change whatever you’re changing and go back to that snapshot later. If you're running two copies of the same image, you need to copy the 2 files to another location, run the VM and then run NewSID on one of the images.

Edit: Just checked Workstation, you can make a clone with Snapshot Manager which is linked to the original .vmdk file with just the differences between the clones saved to another file. Kind of depends on weather you have Player or Workstation.

tunya

I need to know how to use windows 2003 server in vmware to distribute DHCP
now I set lab test by using winXP pro on laptop and run windows 2003 server in vmware.
I can ping pass from winxp to 2k3 server in vmware with static ip use vmnet2 (Lan card)

winxp ip (my laptop) 192.168.0.34/24
win2k3 server ip (vmware) 192.168.2.1/24

but I can't ping from win2k3 to winxp laptop in static ip mode.
please suggest me about my configuration please ....I think may be I confuse.

jasonboche

I think you should create a new post on the forum for this problem rather than use someone else's post. Consider it good internet ettiquette.