Virtualization For Dummies®

Chapter 12. Implementing VMware Server

In This Chapter

• The pros and cons of VMware Server architecture

• Downloading and installing VMware Server

• Creating a guest virtual machine

• Installing a guest operating system

• Skipping the boring operating system installation

• Skipping the boring application installation

If you've been dutifully making your way through Chapters 1 through 11, you're probably really excited about the potential of virtualization. And, if you're anything like me, you want to get your hands dirty — you want to try virtualization to see how it works.

Never fear. In this chapter and the next two, I give you a guided tour of how you can get started using virtualization. I walk you through installing virtualization software and configuring it so you can actually start using it.

Best of all, I show you how to do it for free. One of the great things about today's software industry is how it's much easier to “try before you buy.” Just a few years ago, you had to make a significant financial commitment before you could see how a new technology would work for you. No more! Today, software companies make it easy to gain access to their products so that you can implement and evaluate them. In fact, it's even better than that. The products you look at in these chapters are real products, suitable for real use. No demoware, crippleware, time‐bombed evaluation copies here!

In this chapter, I focus on VMware Server.

Understanding VMware Server Architecture: Pros and Cons

VMware Server installs ...