Question

VMWare vs. Virtual Server 2005

VMware, Virtual Server 2005, Virtualization, Training, Virtual networking, Remote access

Hello,

I am looking to deploy a virtual environment that can contain multiple machines (50+),
have the machines networked inside the virtual environment, and be accessed remotely by two or more simultaneous users.

This is primarily going to be used as a training and test environment. So the remote access and virtual networking capability are a must. I am new to virtual machines so any information pertaining to these requirements will be very useful. I have been looking at VMWare and Virtual Server primarily.

All help will be appreciated as to which would be the better choice. If you need further information please feel free to ask.

Thanks.

Either one will fill your requirements easily. The big issue will be ensuring that you have enough RAM and drive space to run the machines.

Windows has a larger footprint than VMware does, which is one of the reasons that I'm a fan of VMware over Windows.

Also with Windows as the host OS, to the best of my knowledge there is no Vmotion option that VMware includes. However without shared storage, and with a single server Vmotion really isn't an issue. The other nice thing about VMware is that it gives you the ability to setup templates which allow you to build a machine once, then run through a wizard to deploy the rest of the machines in about 5 minutes per virtual machines (if you are using the Virtual Center console).

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Another big consideration is what kind of Virtual Machines you plan to run. I've never been able to get Linux installed into the MS Virtual Server product, but it runs fine on VMWare Server. However, I do like the MS Virtual PC and Virtual Server interface better than the VMWare Server interface.
Planning to run 50 virtual machines is going to require a massive amount of RAM and drive space.

Good luck,
Tom