| PC World Reviews VMware Server |
| Friday, 21 April 2006 by Michel Roth | |||
|
We downloaded the beta, renamed VMware Server, to see exactly what you get and how easy it is to use. VMware Server runs as an application on a host server with two versions available – Windows and Linux – with identical functionality. Installation is straightforward, particularly the Windows version, but it can be tricky on some of the more obscure Linux distributions. However, stick with one of the major commercial Linux packages (we loaded it onto a server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 4.0) and you shouldn’t have any problems. The same VMware console can be used to manage either platform with, again, consoles for both Windows and Linux, which can either be run on the host server itself or remotely. Either way you start out by defining the VMs you want to run; from scratch, using the wizards provided, or by importing the single file used to hold an existing VM configuration. VMs are also started and stopped from the console, plus you get full remote access, as though sitting in front of a physical system. Companies looking to consolidate servers can get maximum benefit from new hardware while retaining the same web, email and other servers. It also lets you build custom virtual machines and (where licensing allows) deploy them as many times as you want – and in minutes rather than hours or days. Indeed, pre-built file and print, DNS, email and other virtual servers can be downloaded from the VMware website ready to just load and run. It’s a must for software developers to develop and test their applications, with none of the time, trouble and investment required using real systems. Based on a tried and tested technology, VMware Server is a stable and eminently usable product, and should be released along with full commercial support by the middle of the year. We recommend you download and try it yourself – it doesn’t cost anything and you won’t be disappointed. Read it all here.
Show/Hide comment form
 |
|||
