Right, right, lets all try singing from the same song book. Or whatever the expression is.
VMWare is just the company. What I am actually talking about is VMWare ESX which is virtualisation software that put the hosted OS directly onto 'bare metal' (as they seem to say).
As such, i am pretty certain that I need specfic hardware, as it's all run via a tiny wee Linux OS which only has drivers for certain kit. I think.
I should know this shit after being on the course.
http://vinf.net/2008/01/14/vmware-esx-v35-on-cheap-pc-hardware/
http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2008/06/building-a-home.html
http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/01/updated-homebrew-esx-hardware-list.html
Now you never said that, did you :)
As I've never done it then I'm afraid Google is all you'll get out of me!
I am just about finished with my storage and VMware proposal for the company I work for, decided to go for vsphere 4 essential plus instead of a full blown vsphere install (and saved £26k in licenses) The essentials plus does pretty much everything (HA, vmotion etc.) but limits you to three hosts, as I never invisage running more than 15 or 20 servers the saving made sense. Oh and I get a nice shiney new Netapp box to play with for network and VM storage :D
Hopefully I can get it signed off before the end of the year!
If you are still interested you can downlaod a full Vsphere esxi 4.1 server install from the VMWare site.
https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/index.php?p=free-esxi&lp=1
I have just been given a server from work for free (they were going to dump 4 of them! SuperMicro dual 3.4Ghz xeon with 2Gb and 500Gb SATA drive TBH)
My first VM (installing now) is XP SP3 just for testing, I need to get another 2Gb of Ram for it but I expect that will be eater pretty quickly.
Oh and this server is LOUD, I need to get some power in the loft and shove it up there.
Anyone recommend a flavour of the month linux to install and play around with? I was thinking of installing a web server and host my site to help learn new skills.