The Virtualization paradigm

Maybe the word "virtualization" does not give out a clue of its actual meaning by itself, and even if it is not clearly defined at all. Some time ago I found an interesting concept about virtualization and now I have several servers running in my home computer as separate computers sharing the same hardware resources, this option is called VMWare and you can find detailed information about it at http://www.vmware.com/ but in this brief article I will discuss the concept of virtualization used by vmware and how you can get it to work.

Disclaimer
Vmware is a programt that emulates a real computer within your current hardware, this means that it will consume computer's resources (RAM, Hard Disk space, processing time and so on) needed to have a "real" computer working in your computer and even you will need to "install" an operative system to your new virtual machine. I am not responsible for any consecuence of this behavior.

Where do I get it?

Vmware can be downloaded for free at its own website http://www.vmware.com/ but be aware that this is not a trialware it is really free! and there are also other software solutions in the same web site that are not for free. In the same download page you must fill out a form in order to get your copy of vmware and an activation code that you will need to activate your copy. By now I am not including a picture of the download site since doing so I could have legal problems! , try keeping your activation code on hand, you will need them soon because if you do not have it, you will not be able to run any virtual computer you create in vmware.

Running Vmware
Once you get vmware installed in your computer, let's take a quick look on it. Click the Start menu on your windows and then point to Run, type vmware in the run dialog box, just like the image below

Now hit Enter to execute vmware, and then we'll activate it. Once vmware is running you will get the user interface, depending on which version you got, your screen will look very similar to this one:

Now you should click in the vmware host that apply to your scenario, in my case I run the vmware hosts on my personal computer, if it is your same case or you are planning to run the same scenario then you should select Localhost as your vmware host.

Activating vmware.

This step must be taken if this is the first time you have vmware working. Do you remember the activation code you got from the vmware website? well, now it's time to use it! Click the Help menu and choose enter serial Number. By doing so, you will get the activation screen where you will enter your activation code. Remember, without an activation code you will not be able to start any virtual machine you create. See the images below.

Now enter the serial number and all other information needad an click OK. Your vmware is now ready to go!

Creating a Virtual Machine

A virtual machine is in fact too similar to a real computer since it has hardware resources as well, but it's virtual because the hardware resources used here are the ones from your server or personal computer , that is an important saving because if you need a server for running an specific application you are not purchasing extra servers, but the drawback here is that you need a powerfull machine able to resist all the streess comming from the virtual machines. To create a new virtual machine you must run the respective wizard, to start the wizard click on New Virtual Machine.

I will not cover all the specific tasks that you can get done with vmware because this is not an extensive tutorial to use vmware, but if I tell you every detail of using it, what fun will you have without any investigation? the best way to learn a wide array of things is trying by yourself, it's cheap, exiting, and fun!

See you Later!!

Dr. Osorio