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virtual windows server and workstations system requirements and config
I am currently enrolled in a college course on networking, which be followed next semester by a course on Windows Server 2008 R2. Through Dream Spark I have Windows Server 2008 R2 and various versions of Windows 7 available free of charge. The household budget cannot support more than one extra computer with two monitors.
My desire is to tinker with a client server network here at home without impacting the other computers in the house. I am thinking that a test machine is my best choice to accomplish this. Ideally I would like to have a Windows 7 Professional, x64 host with a virtualized network employing a Windows Server and a Windows 7 client. I would like to be able to view the server on one monitor and the client on a second monitor. If my understanding is correct, that way I can restore a VM snapshot without disabling the host machine if I encounter any critical or fatal errors during the learning process.
My only experience with VMs has been Windows 7 hosting Ubuntu (for an intro to Linux course) on VMWare Player. Only the bare minimum configuration for enabling Ubuntu was used. So ----
- Is this even possible?
- What are the minimum processor and memory requirements to support this? (i3 with hyperthreading and visualization enabled and 8GB Ram?)
- Are high end video cards necessary?
- Can the virtual network be set up in the VM by a novice?
- Are separate VMs required, or can it be done on a single VM?
- What VM would be the best option to use?
- Is this too complicated for a VM novice to tackle while learning another new topic at the same time?
- What else do I need to know?
Your answers to these questions and any other useful feedback will help me decide if I should invest the time and money to proceed. Thanks for your feedback.
drpepper