When people think of VMware and server virtualization, they typically think of VMware Infrastructure, the gold standard of server virtualization software.
Well, but for those out there who need to run Mac server apps and Windows-based server apps at the same time, VMware Fusion has been a handy solution for them.
Because VMware Fusion can run any of the more than 60 guest operating systems supported by VMware virtual hardware, VMware Fusion can indeed be used to run server operating systems, like Windows Server 2003, 64-bit, Ubuntu Server, and even Windows Server 2008, all while running on any Mac OS X operating system 10.4 or later.
Power to Burn
In fact, VMware Fusion is the only Mac virtualization application that lets you run 64-bit operating systems as virtual machines, along with the attendant large memory support (e.g., VMs with more than 2.5GB of RAM, etc.), and VMware Fusion is the only Mac virtualization application that lets you attach more than one core to a virtual machine.
Even though its exterior is shiny Mac-friendly, consumer-focused goodness, under the covers, VMware Fusion shares a family resemblance to datacenter heavies VI3 and VMware Server.
Ryan Lovett’s submission to the “My Switch to VMware Fusion” video contest deals with just that. But rather than switching from another virtualization solution, he’s switching from multiple physical boxes in his server cabinet, all onto a single Mac Mini, running VMware Fusion. Mac server virtualization with VMware Fusion. Pretty cool, eh?
He’s collapsed what looks like an old G5 tower, some Windows-based print and file servers, and a FreeBSD router, all into a single Mac Mini, running three virtual machines on it, all the time, with VMware Fusion.
Check out Ryan’s video below!
Ryan, if you’d care to add anything in the comments section about uptime, and what sort of VMs you’re running, I’m sure our readers would love to hear more about it.
