Any VMware Pros?

[I_H8_Crawford]

Hoping someone here can help me out a bit - I am a complete noob with virtualization.

Getting a workstation notebook, want to use it as my regular work computer, but also want to run an ESXi server on it - going to have a bunch of virtual Polycom infrastructure - I want to be able to access it from said laptop that will also be hosting it.

What do I need from VMware to get this done?

Do I just need vSphere or do I also need Workstation?

Thanks!

[Top Shelf]

I think Workstation would suit your needs a lot better. ESXi is more designed to be installed on a separate piece of hardware.

You could install Workstation on your notebook, then create a few VM's and install any OS you want on those VM's

One thing to keep in mind if you haven't purchased the notebook yet, get lots of RAM and a CPU that has lots of cores. Also, make sure hard drive you get is a decent size as having multiple VM's can chew through disk space fairly quickly

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

I think Workstation would suit your needs a lot better. ESXi is more designed to be installed on a separate piece of hardware.

You could install Workstation on your notebook, then create a few VM's and install any OS you want on those VM's

One thing to keep in mind if you haven't purchased the notebook yet, get lots of RAM and a CPU that has lots of cores. Also, make sure hard drive you get is a decent size as having multiple VM's can chew through disk space fairly quickly

Thanks - the requirement for the Polycom infrastructure is VSphere - so do I need to purchase the VSphere license?

And no worries about the hardware - workstation will have an i7-4800MQ with 500GB SSD and 32GB RAM

[Top Shelf]

It is possible to install vSphere on a virtual machine running on VMware Workstation. I've done this before and while its not the greatest performance, it can be done. If you can send me post or PM me the link to the Polycom product requirements, I can have a look. Even if it doesn't explicitly state its supported on Workstation, most of the time it will run just fine.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

It is possible to install vSphere on a virtual machine running on VMware Workstation. I've done this before and while its not the greatest performance, it can be done. If you can send me post or PM me the link to the Polycom product requirements, I can have a look. Even if it doesn't explicitly state its supported on Workstation, most of the time it will run just fine.

Don't worry about the requirements on the second page - this is a test environment where only 2-3 calls will be supported:

http://www.polycom.com/content/dam/p...specs-enus.pdf

[Top Shelf]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

Don't worry about the requirements on the second page - this is a test environment where only 2-3 calls will be supported:

http://www.polycom.com/content/dam/p...specs-enus.pdf

So here is what I would do based on what you have said so far

1.) Get a copy of VMware Workstation
2.) Try to install the Polycom software within Worsktation. This will give you the best performance and is the simplest configuration. I think it will probably work, but if not then...
3) Download the free version of vSphere https://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/and install it on a Workstation VM. Instructions on how to do that can be found here

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

So here is what I would do based on what you have said so far

1.) Get a copy of VMware Workstation
2.) Try to install the Polycom software within Worsktation. This will give you the best performance and is the simplest configuration. I think it will probably work, but if not then...
3) Download the free version of vSphere https://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/and install it on a Workstation VM. Instructions on how to do that can be found here

Awesome - the free vSphere was the option I was looking at - I will try with just Workstation first.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated!

[TorqueDog]

If you're just doing a self-contained lab on your laptop, have you considered just using the built-in Windows 8.1 Pro Hyper-V? I've seen in some of Polycom's RealPresence whitepapers that Hyper-V is mentioned, but can't find any explicit support statements one way or the other.

Plus, as you said, it's just a test lab.