Is virtualization a free vmware server suitable for programmers?

Question

Is free vmware server software suitable for programmers?

I got a little confused between the free server version and the paid workstation version.

What is the server version? Can I run it on the desktop?

I installed virtualPC using MS alerady, but I also want to look at vm.

Answer 1

Virtualization is useful for the following:

• A building code that could cause your host computer to crash. VM crash? Just restart it.
• Testers. Take a picture right before installing the program, and when you're done, return to the picture. All traces that your program has ever disappeared there, and you can try again later.
• The presence of a second computer on which the OS is installed on the host. I run a Mac laptop, but I support the Linux VM and our product virtual machine for development and testing.

Free server:

• Clunky Web-based interface for configuring and managing machines
• Slow remote display (as it moves to the client via http even on the local computer)
• Single shot per car
• IS FREE!!!
• It works as a system service, so the machines work in the background without opening any windows on the desktop.

Work station:

• Improved local interface
• Fast local display
• Support for DirectX and OpenGL (basic) so you can play some Windows games or use things like AutoCad inside VM
• Many pictures for the machine, the ability to grind and change / merge individual objects.
• It starts as a foreground application, so you have a VMWare window for starting and managing machines. On Linux, at least you can close the interface and leave the machine running. Did not try Windows.
• Costly

Xen:

• If you are happy that the Linux host is very fast running with support for a supported OS. Linux and some BSDs now have Xen hooks, so they can easily para-virt.
• It can run a fully virtualized machine to support Windows and other non-partisan operating systems.

VirtualBox:

• Free
• Is there any support for the sun (is this a good thing? You can decide)
• Similar to VM Workstation functionality

Qemu:

• Free
• Pig to determine network settings
• Highly customizable
• You can "emulate" machines without X86 if you are developing PPC or Arm.

Answer 2

Sorry, this doesn’t really answer your question, but I personally decided to use VirtualBox instead of VMWare, partly because of the exact problem you were having. Trying to figure out which VMWare products that I was allowed to use, and how I was allowed to use them, would take more time than doing everything that was configured in VirtualBox.

Answer 3

VMware Server can be run on the desktop, but there are several reasons why you might need a workstation version:

• It supports debugging in a virtual machine using either Visual Studio or Eclipse.

• It has a faster and faster user interface. VMware Server was used with a convenient console program, but version 2 comes with a browser-based user interface.

• In the latest version, you can open windows from a virtual machine directly on the desktop.

The good thing with the Server version is that it runs as a service, so you can automatically start virtual machines in the background, even before logging in.

Answer 4

VMware server works as a service, so it is more suitable for server tasks. It is also more limited when it comes to interacting with equipment on the host computer, for example, USB support has recently been added, and I believe that it is limited to two devices.

VMware Server also has (IMO) the worst configuration and management interface for all VMware products, as it is designed for remote management and is a web-based interface.

Instead, you can try using VMware Player, which is free and can run any VMware virtual machine. Its functions coincide in many respects with the VMware workstation, the limit is that the player cannot create new virtual machines. This is something you rarely do, but there are other ways to create new machines. A Google search for “creating a VMware virtual machine” will give you many options.

Answer 5

VMWare Server is wonderful, I use it to compare different projects that require different settings, and I would recommend it if you need different environment settings and your machine has enough resources.

VMWare ESX is not free, therefore not for you.
VMWare ESXi is free, but cannot run on top of an OS installation, so it may not be for you.

VMWare Player plays virtual machines ... but I am not familiar with it. (See Other Answers).

VMWare workstation is only available for 30 days.

Answer 6

Yes, you can use (ESX I think) the server for free on your desktop, I would recommend it if you are doing multi-platform development.

For example, you need to test your application on linux 32-bit and 64-bit, possibly Solaris and windows.

One of the things you should be careful about is that you are all set up correctly. If you do not, you will have to wait a few minutes before your OS is fully started, because it loads all kinds of drivers and, possibly, the machine at boot.

It is also useful to use a tool to create your own images, for example, to simulate your work environment. This was not possible with the virtual machine player the last time I checked.

Answer 7

I use Parallels and VirtualPC.

Parallels on the desktop PC and the OS X desktop PC, as well as the Virtual PC, which runs several Linux assemblies (all headless) on the 2003 server. Free VMWare is great, but I know that it has some limitations. I just found a VM a bitch to tune and tune when most of the other VM runs instantly out of the box.

Answer 8

The Vmware server is designed to work mainly in the background, with a web interface for managing virtual machines.

From there, you can open the remote console through a browser plugin that can do most of the things you need. (Although the ctrl-alt-del button is oddly missing). The server does not support hardware acceleration.

The workstation runs in usermode, so you start it after logging in. It works as an application, not a service. It also supports multiple snapshots if you need to roll back frequently. The server allows only one snapshot per host.

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Personally, I have a WinXP virtual machine in VirtualBox, which I use for development last year. VBox supports seamless mode on Linux, which was the main reason I chose it compared to VMWare. I believe that VMWare Fusion works the other way around, seamless mode for Linux or Windows on a Mac host, but they do not support it on a Linux or Windows host, as far as I know.

So far, it worked well, with only one caveat: back up your virtual disk! Especially if you are going to play with pictures. And set up a version control system outside the virtual environment so that you can get the code if the virtual disk is not available.

Answer 9

The previous version of vmware server used the same user interface as the version of the workstation (it seemed to support everything except snapshots).

The current version of the vmware server, unfortunately, has switched to a web browser-based user interface, which is useful for what it was intended for, for setting up virtual servers, but this is rather inconvenient for the development work.

Answer 10

I use VMWare Server 2 on my development machine to run VS2008 and WSS inside Server 2003 to develop Sharepoint web parts.

I am sure that there are other applications for such an installation, but for my needs this is quite enough.

Answer 11

I discussed the issue of getting a “free” version of MS or VMWare, but decided to surge, and the VMWare workstation for $ 189 said it was probably the cheapest money I spent every time. The tool is amazing and it was in working order as soon as possible.

I can’t believe that I have been waiting so long to configure vitrification on my development machine. Once you use it, you will not think about money spent more than 5 minutes.

I think my point of view does not allow a small amount of money to be a decisive factor in what you choose or use. This software probably costs thousands of dollars for the flexibility it gives you. If you can find a free tool that suits your needs, be sure to use it. But for $ 189 you get an incredible amount for your money.

Answer 12

VMWare workstation gets you (on top of the free version)

• Support for multiple monitors (you can start the VM through 2, 3, 4 monitors)
• Debug Recording / Playback
• Few shots
• DirecX / 3D Support

I also checked https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66317/which-is-the-best-vm-program-for-a-programmer

Virtualization is now a commodity product, basic simple software is free and will do the job. If you are developing software on a commercial level day after day, you will really appreciate the advanced features available on the workstation.

Purchasing a license for a VMWare workstation costs money; it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what you pay for Visual Studio, Windows, and all the other software that you most likely use.

Answer 13

For users who find this thread this time, it’s also worth adding that the VMware server is only supported on OS servers (read-only). I tried installing it on Vista, but that did not work. I am sure that it will not be called XP either. This may preclude its use on a dev machine.

I use VMware Server and Workstation, and they are both amazing products. My Android dev environment is in the workstation VM and works very well for me. I also run some old games in an XP virtual machine and I think the graphics support is very good.