VMware Server

   VMware Server is a free-of-charge virtualization software server suite developed and supplied by VMware Inc.

   VMware Server is a free virtualization product for Microsoft Windows and Linux Servers. It enables you to quickly provision new server capacity by partitioning a physical server into multiple virtual machines. You can use VMware Server to provision a wide variety of plug-and-play virtual applications for commonly used infrastructure.

VMware Server 1.0

   VMware released version 1.0 of server on 12th July, 2006, replacing the discontinued VMware GSX Server product line. VMware Inc. continued to develop the VMware Server 1.0.x series, issuing a maintenance release (version 1.0.10) on 26th October 2009.

VMware Server 2.0

   VMware Server 2.0 runs on several server-class host operating systems, including different virsions of Microsoft Windows Server 2000, 2003 and 2008 and mainly enterprise-class Linux. VMware Server 2.0 uses a web-based user interface, the VMware Infrastructure Web Access, instead of a GUI. For web interfaces, VMware Server 2.0 and VMware vCenter 4 use the Tomcat 6 Web Server.

   VMware Server 2.0 supports the following hardware and software....

• Any standard x86-compatible or x64-compatible personal computer.
• A wide variety of Windows, Linux, Solaris and other guest operating systems, including 64-bit operating systems.
• Two-way Virtual SMP.
• Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT).
• AMD-Virtualization (AMT-V).

With VMware Server 2.0, you can do the following...

• provision a new server without purchasing more hardware by locating multiple virtual machines on the same host.
• Run Windows, Linux and other operating systems and applications without software conflicts because virtual machines are completely isolated from one-another and from the physical host.
• Move virtual machines from one physical host to another without having to reconfigure them.

Note:-

1. The physical computer on which you install the VMware Server software is called the host computer, and its operating system is called the host operating system.
2. The ooperating system is running inside a virtual machine is called a guest operating system.

Requirements:-

Host Computer's Requirements

a. Processors

• Standard x86-compatible or x64-compatible server with up to 16 processors. Hosts with 32-bit IA-32 processors and IA-32 processors with 64-bit extensions are supported.
• 733MHz or faster CPU minimum
• Intel Xeon:- Dual-Core, including 5000 series (Dsmpsey), 5100 series (Woodcrest), 3000 series (Conroe), 7000 series (Paxville MP), and Quad-Core, including 5300 series (Clovertown).
• Intel Core 2, including E6300, E6400, E6600 and E6700 (Conroe), Q6600, Q6700/E(Kentsfield) and E4300 (Allendale) series.
• AMD Opteron 1000/2000/8000 series (Santa Ana, Santa Rosa).
• AMD Athlon 64X2/X2 (Manchester, Toledo, Windsor, Brisbane).

b. Memory:- You must have a minimum of 512MB of memory (2GB is recommended). The total amount of memory you can assign to all virtual machines running on a single host is limited only by the amount of memory on the host computer.

c. Disk Drives:-

• IDE and SCSI hard drives are supported. At least 1.7GB free disk space is required for basic installation and you can delete the installer afterwards to reclaim approximately 600MB disk space.
• IDE and SCSI optical drives are supported. CD-ROM, DVD-ROM drives are supported and ISO disk image files are supported.
• Virtual machines can connect to the host's floppy drives. Floppy disk image files are also supported.

d. Local Area Network

• Any Ethernet controller supported by the host operating system
• Static IP address for your host machine (recommended)

e. Operating Systems

• Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition.
• Windows Server 2008 x86 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition.
• Windows Server 2003 x64 Standard Edition(SP1, SP2, R2), Web Edition(SP1, SP2) and Enterprise Edition(SP1, SP2, R2).
• Windows Server 2003 x86 Standard Edition(SP1, SP2, R2), Web Edition(SP1, SP2) and Enterprise Edition(SP1, SP2, R2).
• Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition,R2 and Premium Edition,R2.
• Windows 2000 Server SP3, SP4 and Advanced Server, SP3, SP4.
• Mandriva Corporate Server 4 (32-bit or 64-bit).
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, 5.1, AS 4.5, ES 4.5 and WS 4.5 (32-bit or 64-bit).
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9SP4, 10, 10SP1 and 10.1 (32-bit or 64-bit).
• Ubuntu Linux 6.06, 6.10, 7.04, 7.10 and 8.04 (32-bit or 64-bit).
• TurboLinux Enterprise Server 10 (32-bit only).

Guest (Virtual Machine) Computer's Requirements

a. Processors:- Same processor as the host computer or as required by guest operating system.

b. Memory:- Up to 8GB, depending on host computer's memory, virtual machine hardware version and guest operating system support. Total memory available for all virtual machines is limited only by the amount of memory on the host computer.

c. Graphics:- VGA or SVGA

d. Disk Drives:-

• Up to four devices. Any of these devices can be a virtual hard disk or CD/DVD drive. IDE virtual disks up to 950GB. CD/DVD drive can be a physical device on the host or client system, or an ISO image file.
• Up to 60 Devices. Any of these devices can be a virtual hard disk or CD/DVD drive. SCSI virtual disks up to 950 GB.
• Up to two 1.44MB floppy devices. Physical drives or floppy image files.

e. PCI Slots:- 6 virtual PCI Slots can be divided among the virtual SCSI controllers, virtual Ethernet cards, virtual display adapter and virtual sound adapter.

f. COM Ports:- Up to 4 serial (COM) ports. Output to serial ports, host operating system files or named pipes.

g. LPT Ports:- Up to 3 bidirectional parallel (LPT) ports. Output to parallel ports or host operating system files.

h. USB Ports:-

• USB 2.0 supports is available only for VMware products that support virtual machine hardware version 6 and 7, such as VMware Server 20. and Workstation 6 or later.
• For USB 2.0 support, your host machine must support USB 2.0. Supports most devices, including USB printers, scanners, PDAs, hard disk drives, memory card readers and digital cameras, as well as streaming devices such as webcams, speakers and microphones.

i. Keyboard:- 104 keys Windows 95/98 enhanced.

j. Mouse & Drawing Tablets:- PS/2 mouse, Serial tablets and USB tablets.

k. Sound:- Sound output and input on host system only.

l. Ethernet Cards & Networking:-

• Up to 10 virtual Ethernet cards in hardware version 6 and 7 virtual machines. A PCnet-PCI-II compatible. For 64-bit guests: Intel Pro/1000 MT Server Adapter compatible.
• Support for 10 virtual network switches on Windows host operating systems and support for 255 virtual network switches on Linux hosts. Three switches are configured by default for bridged, host-only and NAT networking.
• Support for most Ethernet based prorocols, including TCP/IP, Microsoft Networking, Samba, Novell Netware and Network File System (NFS). Built-in NAT supports client software using TCP/IP, FTP, DNS, HTTP and Telnet, including VPN support for PPTP over NAT.

m. Operating Systems:-

• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows Vista Business Edition and Ultimate Edition (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows XP Professional (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Web Edition and Enterprise Edition (all 32-bit or 64-bit)
• Mandrake Linux, Mandriva Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Enterprise Server, openSUSE Linux, Open Enterprise Server (OES), Ubuntu Linux (all 32-bit or 64-bit)
• Solaris (32-bit or 64-bit)
• NetWare (32-bit)