VMWare Recommended MSR

hello guys,

i was wondering what are the actual Minimum system requirements to be able to completely run and work from inside vmware
currently i have a toshiba 1.83GHZ Core 2 Duo with 512 RAM 80 GB hdd

i plan to leave my licensed winxp home
and have many virutal machines each for different kind of tasks
one for developpin
one for testing
one for internet and entertainement
and of course for testing and trying out linux distros
should i divide according to different tasks..
The main task include developping.. internet browsing..music and regular stuff


and in general, how do u describe ur experience with vmware
what are the bad things and the good things
any special tips or tricks

thanks

What version of VMware are you referring to? Player? Server? Workstation? ESX?

currently have Vmware 5.5 Workstation

if it is matter of lower hardware spec.. i will get any version that suits best

i am using vmware for personal use, not company or something

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/ws_pubs.html <-- have the specs you need.

http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/d...ostreq_ws.html <-- host requirements

Your system should be fine but more memory would be helpful. Remember that you are sharing those resources with the VM. If you don't have enough, the VM will act sluggish.

How you divide it is really up to you. There is no real best practise in how the tasks should be done. I've used 5.x and 6.x and have found them both to do well (I also have a 2.4Ghz, 2GB laptop).

Having lots of internal memory is the key. 512MB is a bit on the low side, even when you're just running XP. For running any decent VMware guest you would need at least 1GB and preferably more.

thank you so much for the feeback,

for the MSR , usually they post what you need to make it run
not what you need to use in the real world

128 MB minimum (256 MB recommended)
400 MHz or faster CPU minimum (500 MHz recommended)

that will install VMWare , but i don't think i can actually use winxp with it
that is why i am asking

so,i think i will update to 2GB RAM
have a clean winxp install with nothing at startup (even without some toshiba defaults)
Then i think i will have VMWare installed

i am not sure i will put antivirus on the basic xp
i am sure i won't make it run with vmware as it will eat ressources
maybe, i will have it installed, and from time to time i will run a scan
(i don't think i will be needing it)

I am searching now on different versions of vmware
if i can make a software interconnnect between virtual machines
for example i don't want to install and keep updating softwares: truecrypt/adobereader/opera/firefox on different machines

After you've done the fresh install of XP, defrag the disk. It will help. Having a clean and contiguous disk makes it run faster and better, IMO.

True.. Locking the pagefile to a certain size helps too. Turn off the pagefile, boot to safe mode and defrag.
Then boot normally and turn the pagefile back on, 1GB will do, set it's low and max to that (fixating it's size).
After the reboot the pagefile will be one continues file, improving swap access (you'll probably never need it but it's a good thing to do ;) ).

Have a look at VMWare server, it's free and works really good.
Workstation has a bit more options but these are mostly related to several people using the same wmware image file for testing (collaboration).
ESX and the others are more aimed at running vmware on several physical boxes all running the same vmware guests. I don't think you need that.

As for networking 2 or more virtual machines, yes, that's possible. Bridged, virtual or natted network interfaces are available. In a whole host of different configurations.
You can easily setup a client, a firewall and a webserver, all virtual.

Here comes the key though, every virtual machine uses some memory. Running 3 virtual machines each with 256MB will eat up about 768MB on the host system[*].
Remember to keep enough memory left for the host OS to run, things will run horribly slow if you don't.
I only have 1GB so I'm a bit limited on the amount of virtual machines I can run. 2GB would be nice :)


[*] Actually a lot less. Memory management has really improved over the years. It really depends on the memory usage of the guests so YMMV.

Well, if you're doing dev, Workstation will have more snapshot options than the single level in server. So that may be better.

And ESX is not dependent on have the same VMware guests. It's dependent on how those guests use the resources. ESX is designed for larger datacenter environments (to replace email/web/file/database server types).

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000714.html

a really really nice article

i quote:

[the] biggest performance win is to put the virtual hard disks on separate disk spindles from the operating system. The biggest performance hit in virtual machines is disk I/O. Making the VM fight with your OS and swap disk makes this issue much, much worse. Additionally, today's USB 2.0 and firewire external hard drives run on a fast interface bus, have large buffers and spin at 7,200 rpm, as opposed to 4,200 rpm for most laptop hard drives.

The primary performance bottleneck in virtual machines, by a very wide margin, is the hard drive.

sure i am gonna use the snapshot option
it is of the main reasons i will be using vmware
from the brief description i got from SirDice i think i will go for workstation
not too much for my needs and no too less

i think vmmachines will become really a mainstream
with quad cores and all that power .. besides gaming.. it will be good for vmwaring

well i think i will need a 2 GB Ram and an external HDD :P

Disk I/O is the biggest hit because the VM is technically just a bunch of files. The vmx file (VM config) gets loaded into memory. The rest then is access the vmdk (virtual disk) and memory/CPU usage. The fight for resources is where you'll see slowdowns. I'd go to an even faster option if possible (10,000 RPMs). And where possible, avoid shared SCSI (exception is ESX and the use of Fibre Channel/SAN).

Quote:

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i plan to leave my licensed winxp home

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In which case you plan to break the law, I am surprised that no-one has pointed this out to you.

Your "licenced copy" allows you to install and run the software as a single instance at any one time, on a single machine.

In the case of OEM loaded editions such as companies like Toshiba generally supply, that is also restricted to the original machine as well.

Unfortunately, some misguided people seem to think that VM applications are a golden opportunity to steal the IP of software providers............ they aren't.

Whilst it is true that many members of this site have access to as many instances of software as they require, due to corporate or institutional licencing, this is not the case for private individuals, as your original post suggests that you are?

The rules are simple: if you want to run another instance either on a VM, your original machine or another machine; you need another licence.

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i think vmmachines will become really a mainstream
with quad cores and all that power .. besides gaming.. it will be good for vmwaring

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Yeah, I remember people saying that sort of thing about Napster :D

If you find this difficult to understand, just look at Micro$oft's latest stellar performances:

1. The total confusion over licencing arrangements for Vista prior to its launch.

2. WGA :shocked:

I think that you will see where they are coming from?

thanks guys a lot for the tips :D

About the Licensing Issue.. i find it somehow a sad thing
ano.. come on.. let the users find a secured and nice way to secure their work

i think i will be vmwaring linux distros and playing :D

thanks for the feedback so far really helpful :D

Beee,

Quote:

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i think i will be vmwaring linux distros and playing

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Thank you for understanding the "political correctness" requirements of the situation and responding appropriately ;)

Yes, it is an area that I have very mixed personal feelings over. If I have a VM with an OS on it, it is surely to test different environments, compatibilities and so on? On the other hand, there are security considerations, as you have quite rightly observed. What I will say with a firm conviction is that I have NEVER encountered circumstances where the temptation to use VM ware would have caused me to purchase another copy (to remain strictly legal). I would just have done without?

People who do use VM to effect, tend to be students or professionals, so are covered by some sort of institutional or corporate licence. This is not a problem for them, but it can be very restrictive for younger people or "amateurs", who don't have access to those resources?

In my heart of hearts, I cannot believe that software vendors actually lose any serious revenue over this. The "big boys" have the licences, and those running pirate software have already avoided paying them? AND the pirates would "lose out" equally in their sales?

Actually, I could put forward a reasonable argument that banning VM ware multiple installations drives people into the hands of the software pirates, who really cost the vendors serious revenue. The answer would be to ensure that only valid copies would work in a VM environment? That way you make a valid copy seem much more worth the money?

Anyway, it is what it says.......... a VM.......... it needs space, and every 'doze partition should have 25% available space ;) I would suggest that you look at one of those large external HDD units?

If it is XP, I would say that you need 1Gb of RAM for your games/entertainment. Development would be happy with 512Mb, along with office and browsing. I actually don't think that you need as many instances as you are suggesting.

Maybe look at more partitioning of like hardware requiring activities under the same VM installation? Just give them folders where required?

Also, what would actually be competing for resources? No point in allocating RAM to something that will only use it twice a week when you boot to it?

Cheers,

:jack: