[NTLUG:Discuss] Difference between VMPlayer and the new free VMWareServer

[Kenneth Loafman]

Pat Regan wrote:
> Burton Strauss wrote:
>> --VMWare server ... (free as of Monday) Successor to GSX.  Runs on SERVER
>> OSes (Windows Server, Linux).  Can create VMs but does NOT have the snapshot
>> capabilities a developer needs.  Designed to be used for PRODUCTION use of
>> VMs so it has remote control consoles, etc.
>>
> 
> I just downloaded the beta of VMWare Server yesterday.  Snapshotting
> seems to be enabled (it isn't greyed out, but I didn't actually try it).
>  I am assuming it works.  I also noticed yesterday that support for VMs
> with 2 processors is supported as well.
> 
> One of the other very nice features of the Server product is that you
> can run VMs without running the GUI, and they can be set to start up and
> shut down when the host system reboots.  I assume it is also still true
> that the networking is faster in the Server products.
> 
> Is it true that they don't let you run VMWare server on MS workstation
> OSes?  I saw that they only list server OSes on the data sheet, but that
> is very disappointing if it fails to run.  It is a very artificial
> limitation.
> 
>> --VMWare Workstation ... (not free) Runs on USER OSes (says it won't run on
>> Windows Server, but it does).  Has the ability to jump forward and backwards
>> in time via snapshots, also teams of VMs (say you need to treat the app
>> server and dbms server VMs as a group).
>>
> 
> Does VMWare Server suffer from the same problem as Workstation (claiming
> to not run, but it does)?  Anybody with a Windows desktop care to test
> it? :)

VMware Workstation runs on Windows XP Pro just fine.  Workstation never
did need a server OS, IIRC.  I'll take a look at VMware Server soon.

Hmm, wonder if VMware will let me run on a Linux guest, i.e BSD guest of
Ubuntu guest of Windows XP.  That's the same way we used to validate
debuggers, run the debugger under itself and make sure it ran.