VMWare Discussion

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just wish i did have an old HDD....

 

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I use a Dell Dimension
200 GB PATA HDD
1.25 GM RAM

I can run up to three virtual machines before my HDD starts paging and still get decent performance running four. While it was mentioned that VMWare would be valuable to the A+ student, I believe it would even be more valuable to someone studying networking and server systems. You could even use Windows NT or a Linux distro to set up a virtual router and practice subnetting. I can create domains and child domains, set up Active Directory, practice distributing software using Group Policy, even add virtual hardware. It's really an amazing tool. I've heard of virtual PC but there's some concern about how well it will support Linux guests...especially as expressed by the Linux community. ;-)

 

i intend to purchase a SATA RAID 5 capable controller when i build my new system (a long time in the pipeline unfortunately!), think i will then hook up 3 (at least) 120GB drives into a RAID 5 array, then stick in a second drive (maybe 50-100gig) to install linux on (though i could always partition some of that to use for the vm's since i seriously doubt ill need that much for linux (i have the full suse9.0 pro installed using up around 2.5gig at the moment, lol.

Fergal

 

fergal, whats the purpose of the raid 5 setup? raid 0 would be better for vmware, especially being the data is a) non critical and b)requires good disk I/O performance

Raid 5 is all well and good, but not the best suited to this task
and your looking at a pretty penny to get a raid 5 controler
as opposed to 25 - 100 quid for a Raid 0/1/0+1/JBOD controller

if you decide to go raid 5
you would need a PCI-X mobo to take advantage of most of the cards anyway, or you could end up hampering performance rather than helping it!
(see: PCI bus = slowwww)

 

yep. but since i have to wait ages to afford this lot (prolly gonna save an go bleeding edge, lol) it'll be PCI express i go for anyway! as for raid 5, i have to be honest, its more for my system in general (windows) than for vmware specifically! i kinda want to actually implement raid, and i dont need raid one, and have an associate who fell prey to the evil that is raid 0 (lost his entire data). raid 5 would provide faster data access for my system, and also provide some more security for my data in the event of a drive failure!

its mainly just for the fun of it to be honest, lol.

Fergal

 

bleeding edge would be raid 0+1

2 striped drives (raid 0)
mirrored

hence performance and backup, if your aiming for performance with reliability thats the best options (raid 5 can be argued that its more economical considering the extra cost of a controller, and i dont know of any PCIe ones yet, but as you say its a long way off)

as for raid 0 being evil
i disagree, raid 0 is known for not being a backup solution, and the changes of an array failure are slim at best (have been running one contiunously for 2 years no problems, and pretty much 0 down time)

consider raid 0+1 if you want performance and still reliabity

or see if you can pick up a cheap old server with some scsi disks in to play about with RAID 5

 

so where can I download the VMWare? I hear there is a trial version?

 

Go to this page. In the upper right hand corner, you can click on the "Try Now" and "View Online Demo" to get a flavor of what VMWare Workstation is like. Enjoy.

 

so what do you think of MOBO's with built in RAID capabilities? are they good at all or what? as for 0+1, it would be cool i spose, but i dont know how many pci slots im gonna have. want a graphics card (which may lose me a slot of pci too), good sound, an NIC (if one isnt integrated), and i want to use liquid cooling for the processor (so ill lose one slot to the tubing!

Fergal

 

well your graphics PCIe slot is pretty dedicated, coz its the only 16x slot on the board
built in raid is great, be careful though if you ever change mobos, for any reason (one fried) if the newer one has new firmware it can screw up the array and make data inaccessable, this however is not a problem if you ahve an expansion card as you can bring it with you

most mobos at the mo are combining pci and pcie slots so yo uwill likely have a few!!

sound is integrated in new boards, but a card is often used anyway, network almost ALWAYS is integrated in new cards (2 GBe in my new board) so that shouldnt be a problem, i think you will be pretty set, my server has a SCSI Card, SATA Raid card, Sound Card, Graphics CArd, Network card and still has a spare PCI slot lol
just dont buy one of these mini ones with '1' pci slot

 

yeah i spose. i mean, i could go for a scsi raid controller and use scsi drives. i dont know, will look at it when im closer to buying!

course, if i backed up my data then switching mobo shouldnt be too bad!

we'll c!

Fergal

 

if your storage requirements are low, scsi drives are a nice option
however the largest available is 146GB (this may of changed recently) and that costs around 600 - 800 quid last time i bought one
that and scsi raid is inherintly expensive

 

So I was installing VMWare last nite when suddenly my system crashed on me...it must have been because Zone Alarm had detected a new network and it wouldnt go any further...its got to a point where I cant even do system restore!!! Also Windows Media Player is failing too...looks like my system isnt cut out for VMWare at all...at the moment I am doing what appears to be some serious updates of SP2...oh and the other thing my graphics card has also been going funny...when I got back from Newcastle on Sunday I turned on the PC and the screen resolution was at 640x480 and the colours were 4bit!! I must have reinstalled the drivers about 7times before eventually I got success...whats happening to my system?

 

Maybe this?

***** Microsoft ID's Almost 50 Apps That Require Service Pack 2 Tweaks
Aug. 16, 2004

The apps include a number from Microsoft, as well as several from third-party vendors.
By TechWeb News



Microsoft has posted a list of nearly 50 applications and games--some of its own, others from third-party vendors--that won't work properly with Windows XP Service Pack 2 without some tweaking.
In a document published to its Knowledge Base support site, Microsoft detailed the problems that the applications will have with Service Pack 2's Windows Firewall, which is automatically enabled in the update.

"Client applications may not successfully receive data from a server," said Microsoft in the document, and "server applications that are running on SP2 may not respond to client requests."

Among the types of programs affected are file-sharing applications, E-mail clients, remote desktop apps, and multi-player games.

The list includes anti-virus software from Symantec, Macromedia's ColdFusion MX Server Edition, and network-management applications from Computer Associates. Several of Microsoft's own applications are also on the list, including Small Business Server 2003, Visual Studio .Net, and Systems Management Server 2003.

The necessary fine-tuning involves opening ports closed by Windows Firewall so that the various applications can access data--such as anti-virus updates--or be accessed remotely.

Microsoft told customers and partners last week that Service Pack 2 "breaks" Microsoft CRM 1.2 and won't work at all with Microsoft CRM 1.0.*****

 

in typical microsoft style, they release an update, and less than 24 hours before its commercial release, they're already telling us it has flaws/features (whatever you want to call it) that will bugger up your already existing system!

Fergal

 

they are not all flaws
we knew SP2 would break things, because it locks down the OS properly
something WE the consumers and IT professionals more so have slagged ms over for years, now we bitch that other companies who have used lax bodge jobs to get around security have products that dont work anymore, but we bitch at MS for the patch

and the majority of 'errors' that 'require tweaking' are nothing more than opening up a port on a firewall, something everyone with a firewall has to bloody do anyway!! pfft

Good on MS, now fix your other programs to work with SP2, and assist vendors anyway you can (which they did thougout the entire year long beta process, so lets not blame MS straight away here)


As for NoelG

cant really help you mate, you run an overclocked athlon with have always been remarkably flakey systems (not that overclocked P4s are any better) why cant you boot into safe mode? surely it doesnt load Zone alarm in that mode and hence shouldnt cause a problem, close zone alarm during the install (this is why apps recommend shutting down all other apps during installs, especially things like A/V and SW-F/W

 

Its ok guys everything is back on order (touch wood) I did go into safe mode and did systems restore but it was unsucessful again!!!! so I decided to uninstall Zone Alarm and other programs I havent used at all and also did a virus check and Ad-ware spyware check and she's back on form!! but thanks guys...

 

Guys,

I've been following this discussion and am a bit lost. Could I use VMware (ms virtual pc) to run off 1 machine with a few virtual servers running 2003 to simulate a network environment??? This question may have already been answered, but I cannot find it

Ta
j

 

Or to deploy a virtual server environment do I need software like gsx server?? (that option seems a little pricey though!!!!!!)


J

 

I think I will wait until I get a better machine (like in a thousand years) cos my one really got buggered. the poor baby. I found the root of the problem last nite...it turns out VMWare had a network connection that was causing the PC to hang so many times...I removed it and so far that has sorted the problem...I do have another problem to do with Windows Protected Files but I cant remember the exact details but when I do I will post it in the software forum guys...