Some questions about VMWare (computer geeks needed)

Factual Questions
1

I am looking at using VMWare for building test servers. I have a website but I am cautious about making changes to a live server without testing first. I have used VMWare in the past but it has been a long time and I find the options on offer bewildering.

What I would like to do (and am asking here if it can be done with this) is run a VMWare session and have it simulate a server on the internet. That is, from the Windows desktop have it set such that I access the webserver running in VMWare on the same machine as if it were on the internet.

Further, from the link above, I am not sure which product I want. I am guessing VMWorkstation but not sure.

Anyone have experience with this who knows the answers to the above?

Thanks in advance!

2

Yup, VMWare Workstation is what you need. VMs are connected over a virtual network, which is in turn connected to the host computer via a virtual switch. Just set up the server and you can connect to the VM via the virtual network.

Technically, any VM product can do this, but Workstation has what I think is the optimum mix of configurability and simplicity. Below it you get Player, which is somewhat limited, and above that you start getting into enterprise-grade servers, which start getting complex very fast.

3

No problem at all. Your VMWare session will get an IP address and as long as you access it through that IP address, be it from another machine or from another VM, it’ll behave as if it were a remote machine. I’ve used MS Virtual Server for this many times.

4

I run VMWare Fusion on my Mac. It goves me different options for the virtual machines’ networking interface:

[ul][li]Bridged mode:[/li]Each virtual machine (VM) gets its own IP address. They all appear on the local network as separate machines alongside the host machine and any other machines there.

[li]Network Address Translation (NAT) mode:[/li]All the VMs share the IP address of the host computer running the VMWare software. To the local network, they appear as additional software running on the host machine.

[li]Host Only:[/li]The VMs do not get an external IP address. They can communicate with each other on a virtual network inside the host machine, but not with other machines on the local network.[/ul]

Now, this is all on the local network. Do you need a server on the actual Internet (in other words, outside your local network), or can you get by with a server on your local network?

5

It is all local for testing purposes. I or others will do a remote desktop to play with it on occasion but that is about it.

6

Does VMWare Workstation run as a service? Or is it a user program?

I personally run Server, but I’m not sure what the differences are between it and Workstation. I do know that Server should accomplish what you want the OP wants to do.

7

I would definitely use bridged mode. NAT is inherently a bit of a kludge - it works 99% of the time, but that other 1% can be a bitch. Some applications do not like NAT.

8

It’s a user program with a few background services for support (things like the virtual network interfaces and NAT emulator, device bridges, etc).

9

I can’t help you with the network aspect, but why don’t you download VMWare Player and try that out first. It’s free for non-commercial use.

And try out Paragon’s Go Virtual to clone an existing machine rather than trying to create a VM from scratch.

10

VMWare likewise makes a free program (VMWare vCenter Converter) that can virtualize an existing machine.