So what is the best host OS for VMware?

[stilly]

I was thinking of running windows XP on a machine (since it even has a license for it) and then installing the vmware player and all that and then adding 64/32 bit systems to that.

Is that decent or should I install Linux as a host OS or Win 7?

I think I will mainly run Linux VMs and I want an OS that I am familiar with the most or can work with so that if it breaks down I can fix it fast. I am not too familiar with Linux, but XP I am the best in and Windows 7 not too much, but I am getting there.

Opinions?

[NYT]

not sure what youre talking about dude. vmware vsphere is the host OS for all other vms it will host...linux, windows, etc.

you need to license vmware for each physical cpu on the host server. if you have an xp license, you may use it on the xp vm.

i guess you could use the player if you wanted, but the system i would recommend you use would be a 64 bit system.

edit: the question is, what do you want to learn? virtualization or linux?

[APV]

If I am not mistaken Microsoft dropped support for XP. Linux or Win 7 would be much faster than XP assuming you computer is not too old. 2GB RAM is minimum recommended for Win 7. What is the purpose of the computer?

[stilly]

Oh did I get things wrong?

I thought that vm workstation worked in a Linux or Windows OS, and that VMplayer was the same.

I grabbed VM player some time ago and was eyeballing vm workstation, but before I actually pick up that software, I was going to install vm player in windows xp and give it a test and see how it performed.

My hardware is 64 bit and I read that as long as you had 64 bit hardware you should have no issues running a 64bit vm image even if you have a 32 bit host OS installed.

I do not have Vsphere running, I downloaded it but never ran it or installed it. I was not aware that it was an OS, When I was at the VM page they had some promotion or trial download of VMsphere or esxi server or something for 30 days or whatever so I grabbed it, but did not load it.

I was under the impression that VMplayer and VMworkstation were just programs that loaded up VM images of whatever OS you wanted to use.

In this case, I am going to do a test machine, the test machine is a HP NC6400 Laptop with a T7200 Core 2 Duo (2ghz) 64 bit CPU and 2-4GB of DDR2-800mhz RAM. (currently only 2GB, but 4 is on the way).

I went through all my stuff yesterday and ended up giving 12 computers to goodwill, and the leftovers (4 laptops) I am going to start working on.

So I thought that I would install a 64 bit version of Linux (elementary OS) and then install VMware on that and run various VM images, or I mean, install other OSes through that. damn you mean I got it wrong. I will just run vmplayer and see what it does.

I just hate booting into Windows XP on a laptop... :\

[Jason95357]

not sure what youre talking about dude. vmware vsphere is the host OS for all other vms it will host...linux, windows, etc.

you need to license vmware for each physical cpu on the host server. if you have an xp license, you may use it on the xp vm.

i guess you could use the player if you wanted, but the system i would recommend you use would be a 64 bit system.

edit: the question is, what do you want to learn? virtualization or linux?

There are many flavors of VMWare. I don't think he's planning to run a data center, but rather wanted to know for a personal desktop platform. Yes, VMWare Player and Workstation run on a regular consumer desktop OS, like Windows 7 or various Linux flavors.

Myself, I use CentOS and VirtualBox (both free), but . However, a LTS version of Ubuntu is probably your best bet for the Host OS. Funny, Sheldon just said, "Oh, Ubuntu. You are my favorite Linux-based operating system."

Yes, you can run a 32-bit OS with 64-bit guests. However, each VM guest would be limited to 6gb of RAM. Best bet is to install 64-bit Host, and then you can run 64 or 32 bit Guest OS however you like.

Workstation runs very, very stable on RHEL 6. I can't say the same for Windows OS running under it, but I don't think that's the fault of VMWare ;-)

[NYT]

Oh did I get things wrong?

I thought that vm workstation worked in a Linux or Windows OS, and that VMplayer was the same.

I grabbed VM player some time ago and was eyeballing vm workstation, but before I actually pick up that software, I was going to install vm player in windows xp and give it a test and see how it performed.

My hardware is 64 bit and I read that as long as you had 64 bit hardware you should have no issues running a 64bit vm image even if you have a 32 bit host OS installed.

I do not have Vsphere running, I downloaded it but never ran it or installed it. I was not aware that it was an OS, When I was at the VM page they had some promotion or trial download of VMsphere or esxi server or something for 30 days or whatever so I grabbed it, but did not load it.

I was under the impression that VMplayer and VMworkstation were just programs that loaded up VM images of whatever OS you wanted to use.

In this case, I am going to do a test machine, the test machine is a HP NC6400 Laptop with a T7200 Core 2 Duo (2ghz) 64 bit CPU and 2-4GB of DDR2-800mhz RAM. (currently only 2GB, but 4 is on the way).

I went through all my stuff yesterday and ended up giving 12 computers to goodwill, and the leftovers (4 laptops) I am going to start working on.

So I thought that I would install a 64 bit version of Linux (elementary OS) and then install VMware on that and run various VM images, or I mean, install other OSes through that. damn you mean I got it wrong. I will just run vmplayer and see what it does.

vm workstation is new and pretty cool but not really meant for IT purposes, more for app development purposes. the user would run this on their local workstation to create multiple environments to test their application or website.

vm player is a bit of the same, i would forget about it if you had vm workstation.

if you want to learn vmware, i would go find a cheap server on ebay, a dell 1950 with dual quad procs and 40 GB+ of ram should cost you under $400 out the door with a vm vsphere 5.5 license. install vsphere on the host and then build out your vm environments. learning how to manage resources, logical disks, virtual hardware, etc will give you a leg up if youre looking at getting into the industry.

if your interest is in application dev, go with vm workstation. though you will need a lot faster of a machine than the test laptop youre planning on using. it will run like crap on that laptop.

[APV]

I think with Core 2 Duo (2ghz) 64 bit CPU and 2-4GB of DDR2-800mhz RAM any Linux or Win 7 would have much better performance than XP.
As Jason95357 mentioned CentOS and VirtualBox are free and will let you run an image of any other OS. Recent releases of Linux have nice easy to use GUI. Win 7 works fine with VMWare but it is a bit expensive if you do not have a license.

[ibanezfoo]

I was thinking of running windows XP on a machine (since it even has a license for it) and then installing the vmware player and all that and then adding 64/32 bit systems to that.

Is that decent or should I install Linux as a host OS or Win 7?

I think I will mainly run Linux VMs and I want an OS that I am familiar with the most or can work with so that if it breaks down I can fix it fast. I am not too familiar with Linux, but XP I am the best in and Windows 7 not too much, but I am getting there.

Opinions?

Are you going to be doing other things with that machine? If not, just use ESXi and don't worry about your OS.

I don't think the new vmware player supports XP does it? I use it on my Win7/64 workstation at work.

Keep in mind that if you have an older 64bit processor VMware won't actually run any 64bit guests on it, even though their compatibility matrix says it does. I know this from recent experience.

Also, you didn't say how many guests you would be concurrently running but 4gigs of ram may not be adequate.

[Fizz]

Are you going to be doing other things with that machine? If not, just use ESXi and don't worry about your OS.

I don't think the new vmware player supports XP does it? I use it on my Win7/64 workstation at work.

Keep in mind that if you have an older 64bit processor VMware won't actually run any 64bit guests on it, even though their compatibility matrix says it does. I know this from recent experience.

Also, you didn't say how many guests you would be concurrently running but 4gigs of ram may not be adequate.

Virtual machine software requires that:

Your CPU supports 64 bit and virtualization features/acceleration (Intel VT...)
You have VT features enabled in your motherboard BIOS.

Once those ducks are lined up pretty much all of them will support 64 bit guests.

[habendanio]

I'd use virtualbox instead. Its free and available on all o.s.'s. That said if your gonna run xp and another os thats 64 bit then the main system will need to be 64 bit. I made a virtual windows xp system about a decade ago. The nice thing about it being in a virtual environment is if you upgrade your main system you just copy your virtual xp over. Being virtual all of the hardware never really changes and you really never need to reload. Just take a snapshot that you can go back to. I've used this same virtual machine on multiple linux boxes, windows laptops, and a couple mac laptops.

[Pandanin]

I saw it asked but not answered...

Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 support officially ends April 8th, 2014