VMWARE Windows virtual Lab setup

[rickman67]

I am setting up a home lab to prepare for a Windows exam.

I have server 2003, server 2008 and Windows 7 within this lab. All 3 machines working fine.

All 3 machines I believe should be on a host only private network.

Which IP addresses and subnet masks should I enter for these 3 machines to have them on same network?

Thanks

 

[Gary]

192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.3

255.255.255.0 - 255.255.255.0 - 255.255.255.0

I believe.

 

[PeaB4YouGo]

Looks good to me, as long as the actual network's subnet is different.

 

[Gary]

Well if it different he will have to change the subnet mask

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Are all these 3 machines Virtual machines or is at least ONE of them running the Physical machine.

The reason I say that is that if you are using a Home Router then the FIRST I/P address in your list for example 192.168.0.1 will probably be the GATEWAY when you connect to the internet.

On a home router if you enable DHCP you won't have to bother with assigning any of the machines an I/P address either as the router will do it automatically.

Perhaps you could draw a diagram of what you want your home lab to do and what the function of the various machines are (plus any client machines - virtual or physical) that are required to connect to your servers.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Shadowjk]

I agree with gary that you should have the proposed IP address stack however change 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.4 since as stated earlier 192.168.0.1 should be reserved for the router if you have one. If you are studying for an exam then you may want to look into other private network IP addresses used in organisations. For example:

10.0.0.2 - 10.0.0.3 - 10.0.0.4

This offers you the ability to assign about 16 million IP addresses whereas before you were limited to about 65,000

Equally I would consider installing the DHCP service in server manager on one of the servers to hand out IP addresses to any new clients. Lastly, do you intend to make one server a domain controller and install Active Directory onto it? If so then you will need to change some DNS settings.

 

[PeaB4YouGo]

I don't think any of the VMs were supposed to get out to the internet, they were only supposed to be able to network among themselves. I could have gotten the wrong impression, though.

 

[Shadowjk]

I don't think any of the VMs were supposed to get out to the internet, they were only supposed to be able to network among themselves. I could have gotten the wrong impression, though.

True, however it is always good practise to look at expansion options in the future in any network since the infrastructure will most likely out live the intended purpose therefore compatibility with other options such as the Internet needs to be considered upon initial setup of a network. Just a good tip to think about especially in a business environment

Josh!