Learning/getting into virtualisation

wijcc · 7 Apr 2017 at 15:47

Do any of you guys have tips, advise or know of good resources for learning and getting into virtualisation. I am wanting to learn and play around with it at home, so would welcome any pointers and advice.
Thanks in advance

Django x2 · 11 Apr 2017 at 14:13

With regards to what? Creating a bare bones hyper visor or installing a virtualisation client onto a Windows PC (VMware, VirtualBox, etc)?

In any resepect, the both operate similarly. For networking, you'll need to create an internal or external vSwitch
For Data and Source media, you'll need a good size disk store
Then you can install whatever you like.

I use a lab base which has PFSense to Nat all my VM traffic out to the internet so my VMs all have internet access whilst being privately vSwitched.

wijcc · 11 Apr 2017 at 18:52

I would like to learn and practise it as it would work in a commercial environment. So i can add it to my CV even if just the basics.

Mr-White · 11 Apr 2017 at 19:05

Might be worth reading up before deciding which one to use. You've got vsphere, hyper-v, xen server, virtual box and kvm to name a few

wijcc · 11 Apr 2017 at 19:09

VMware and hyper-x.. i want to start with VMware first

BattFink · 11 Apr 2017 at 20:53

Have you got a spare PC to hand (Ideally one with a lot of RAM)? You can download the free version of ESXi hypervisor from www.vmware.com

It's easy enough to install the OS, building VM's etc... however it's a long way away from what you'll typically be using vmware for in a commercial environment

wijcc · 12 Apr 2017 at 00:13

Thanks. I got a spare pc with 16gb of ram, it's an old i5.. hopefully its enough for me to learn the basics at the very least.

El Pew · 12 Apr 2017 at 11:56

Microsoft have some great learning videos up on the MVA, all for free. They typically go through things at quite a slow pace, each course is around 6 hours of video, so you have plenty of time to absorb everything.

The intro to Hyper-V one is here: https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/tra...yperv-jump-start-12644?l=cQ1YScBTB_3600115888

There are more advanced courses covering integration with System Centre for things like orchestration if you want to look at the more advanced stuff.

Mr-White · 19 Apr 2017 at 17:59

I still to this day chuckle when I remember a post on here, where someone was so adamant Hyper-V was better than vSphere

If you sign up to VMUG advanced account for $200, you can get full licenses for vCenter, vSphere and VSAN

Django x2 · 24 Apr 2017 at 08:20

Mr-White said:
I still to this day chuckle when I remember a post on here, where someone was so adamant Hyper-V was better than vSphere

If you sign up to VMUG advanced account for $200, you can get full licenses for vCenter, vSphere and VSAN

To be fair, those were dark days and HyperV was new for MS. It's a much more mature product now and the delta is a lot smaller. Some people will choose HyperV because, well, it's technically manageable through a nice easy to use GUI. VMware can be a bit daunting the first time you use it, or install it for some.

LizardKing · 24 Apr 2017 at 16:50

Django x2 said:
To be fair, those were dark days and HyperV was new for MS. It's a much more mature product now and the delta is a lot smaller. Some people will choose HyperV because, well, it's technically manageable through a nice easy to use GUI. VMware can be a bit daunting the first time you use it, or install it for some.

Very true, hyper-v is now getting to the point where the benefits of Vmware are getting harder and harder to justify the licensing costs over just running HyperV! especially in the smb market.
I'm vmware to the core but even so I'm contemplating at least looking into the feasibility of converting to MS for the next refresh :eek: