We use VMware Workstation and Virtual PC for testing various configurations of Novell servers. A server isn?t always a ?File? server, sometimes I need a bridge to another network or want to use it for a fast backup. I have as many as 20 different configurations for testing updates and configurations. This also lets me get familiar with some of the components I normally never use, but might if I were comfortable with them in a production server.
It also lets me try things I would never risk in a production environment such as odd tree configurations, determine the resistance of a tree to damage by simulating a hacker attempting a penetration, do merges and prunes and so on.
I have one VM server setup to exactly mimic our primary including logins but with standardized passwords (no expiration). The VM server is on a standard XP machine with 4x250gb SATA drives and 2gb ram. It sits on the network running a utility to copy critical and changed user files to the SATA array at 1-5 minute intervals. Should we have a server issue, I can bring up the VM server in less than one minute, log everyone back in and continue with less than a 3 minute loss window. Yes, there are better ways; we should have a cluster, but being a small government agency with a small it budget, we can?t afford much. This solution works very well and costs next to nothing.
To the users, there is no difference in network performance; though to be fair, our servers are rarely running at more the 55-60% load and the XP machine has more disk and memory that the primary server so the VM server is actually faster.
I can also infect a VM with a virus, Trojan or just try stupid things that I wouldn?t do with a real machine. This works out because the VM can be set to non-persistent state so that any changes to the VM are temporary and are discarded on shutdown. It?s a lot of fun (and very educational) to hit a Windows XP VM with multiple virus and Trojan attacks and see how hardened it must be to survive. No other method is as educational or safe.
Virtual Machine technology has been around for many years (emulators), but only in the last few have PCs with enough horsepower to take advantage of it come to market. I routinely use VM to run a Linux desktop, even an old Windows 98 VM for certain tasks. In one location I use (yes, really!) a DOS VM to run a job so old it just can?t run in a Windows environment. It?s been slated for recoding but it works so well in a VM (perfectly, in fact) that no one?s bothered to schedule it.
VMware or Virtual PC are terrific tools for the professional, and every professional should own and know how to use them.
We have even considered building an XP VM and installing it as the desktop on workstations. The VM reverts to ?as installed? at every shutdown. If it breaks, shut it down and everything is back to day one, every change discarded. VM get a virus, shut it down and restart. The host OS has no network components installed at all, it can?t log on, browse the Internet or anything. Only the VM has network capability and nothing on the VM survives a reboot. So maybe this won?t work for home PC?s but for the office, where everything?s on the server, it might work. The only thing holding us back is the cost of Virtual PC or VMware.
Oh, and by the way, according to Microsoft (yes, we checked), the official word is that it?s OK to run two copies of Windows on the same PC (on for the host and one for the VM), at the same time with only one purchased license. You do not need multiple licenses for multiple instances of Windows so long as their running on the same machine.
A VM with XP installed and activated can be copied around just like any other data, so one standardized setup copied to everyone?s machine would do the job.
Now, if we only had the money to buy a hundred copies of VPC or VMware (sigh).
Al
