Ok, I dont really understabd VMware, maybe someone could point me in the right direction

[JamesWHS]

First I'm sorry if someone has asked this, I was searching through the threads and didnt find anything specific to my goals.

So.. Ill tell you my story, maybe someone could help.

I'm building a new WHS,...(basicly windows server 2003)... (familiar with the OS have it on another box) I want to create a dual box, WHS/ Windows 7 ultimate. I have heard running htpc content on a whs is a bad Idea, but I think If I could Emulate windows 7 and dedicate a drive to it that would be awesome so I could handle all my stuff in one neat box.

Can vmware help me accomplish this? I would dedicate almost all this power to windows 7 as WHS only needs like 512 ram, and a single core processor 😛

Thanks in advance

Server specs;

AMD Phenom II x4 945 3.0 gxz

4gb DDR3 1666 mhz

6 HDDS , 5 1tb drives for WHS , and 1 500gb for windows 7

ATI 4870 card

Mobo, 7 sata, 2 IDE, 1 esata, 1 fire wire, 10 usb

Gigabit Lan, TV tuner, Blueray drive

[vm_arch]

Okay... running your mediaPC in the virtual machine probably wont help you... as the media reproduction may not be the best from within the VM (might get grainy or jerky and you wont get any benefit from your snazzy ATI Radeon card)

Myself... I'd build it the other way around.

Install Win7 (I assume Ultimate) on your hardware...

Then install VMware Server 2.x

Then install Windows Home Server inside a VM in VMServer.

Now you get the benefit of both the high-spec hardware... and the server functions you want... but still get the benefit of your graphics performance for watching TV/movies

Hope that helps

[JamesWHS]

Would WHS still be able to manage disks like it does now? Are you familiar with the Pool on whs?

[vm_arch]

If you were to allocate the Raid array (your 5 big disks) as a RDM (or mount as large disk) to the WHS then you should maintain all of that functionality

[vm_arch]

I should add the following suggestions:

• use a small partition on the array as your boot drive

• Consider adding the sixth drive into the array if they are all the same size - or use as a hotspare

• Regularly backup or clone your WHS VM so that you have a backup to recover from if you break anything (or if WHS throws its toys out of the pram one day in the future)

[JamesWHS]

the storage pool on whs isnt raid though? its software that windoes uses like jbod to create one large storage pool, then it dupes every file for backup

[vm_arch · Accepted solution]

Sorry, I saw your statement above in the specs (6 HDDS , 5 1tb drives for WHS ) and assumed this number of drives would be raided at the hardware level (heaven knows why you would want to trust Windows to raid your hard drives... I wouldn't trust windows to look after my cup of coffee sitting beside my mouse while I go to the bathroom - left alone trust it to properly manage files (hehehe)

Ahh... I kid

Seriously though, present the five drives to your VM of WHS as five .VMDKs... windows Home Server won't know the difference!

[JamesWHS]

wow cool, which version of vmware do I need and how much does it cost?

[Texiwill]

Hello,

VMware Server 2.0 is free and will work. If you really want a non-web based UI then use VMware Workstation which has a fee associated with it. I personally would use Workstation for this since its your desktop. VMware Server will keep the VM running in the background so to speak so that you have to use RDP to access it or a web based Remote console.

To each there own on this one. I use both for various things.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009, Virtualization Practice Analyst[/url]
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[JamesWHS]

Server sounds perfect as WHS is designed ti be ran headless, via connector software and rdp anyhow, thanks !

[JamesWHS]

I answered this but it isnt showing up. I think 2.0 would be perfect as WHS is designed to be ran headless anyhow through RDP and Connector software. Curiously, Could I run 2 different OS' through their own VM..

Im thinking that maybe it would be cool to through an emulated Linux distro to, That way I could still surf the interwebs with no threat of virus corrupting my OS' Considering Ill only be using the windows 7 for HTPC content, and all update will be turned off, I could essentially just disable the lan adapter for windows 7