need suggestions for best virt server software

S

sdadept

Limp Gawd
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I have two co-located servers that are getting a lot less use these days. I'd like to consolidate them onto virtual machines. I own licenses for microsofts virtual server, but I've heard back things about it.

my strong preference would be to do bare metal virtualization (if thats possible) without a host operating system.

what are my options both free and paid? any links to articles that discuss these?
 
I would load ESXi on the machine. Check the sticky for more information. There's plenty of posts on here about people using ESXi as a starting point for their virtualization.
 
Another vote for ESXi.

Depending on the age/specs of your hardware a better choice might be CentOS, with VMware Server installed on top of it.
 
can ESX run on bare metal? ie, can I use it without having a base operating system?
 
ESX(i) is a bare metal hyper visor, that's the only way it functions.
 
fantastic, thanks for the info guys, i'll read the stickies.

I went and looked at the esxi site and it looks like it's difficult to manage esx unless you buy the management app, am I reading that right?
 
no, you use the virtual infrastructure client to manage your ESXi hosts, it's a management application that is installed on your workstation. If you pay for the licensing, you can use virtual center, which gives you centralized control over all of your ESX and ESXi hosts, but it all adds up. If you don't mind having a separate application open for each vmware host, sjut use VIClient
 
ahh gotcha. I will only have one ESXi server and I plan to run 3 virtual machines on that. So I should be good without buying the management app I think.
 
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