VMWare freeware or buy it ware?

[basparky]

Yo,

So we have CCT and PCT. I know, I know, don't have them on the same desktop.
OK, so I have a freeware version of VMWare our IT dept loaded for another program....and yes it is painfully slow.

So, would just buying more RAM for the VMWare be the fix or/and buying a "better" version of VMWare do it? And if so, is there a particular revision?

Anyone else using the same solution for CCT and PCT?

Thanks,

- Brian

[USC Anteater]

I'm not aware of any performance differences between desktop versions of VMware. As you mentioned - RAM is key...

[noskilltech]

I started out using Virtualbox from Oracle and then moved to VMware player. But VMware workstation is where it is at. All the free stuff works, but if you do a lot of testing and moving around virtual machines, it's worth every single penny you'll spend on workstation. There are more features to play around with. Now if it's just something you're going to set up and not touch it again, then stick with the free versions.

Your virtual machines are heavily dependent on memory (ram) so you'll want to stuff as much as you can in the computer you're running it on. Most people say anything over 8 gigs is a waste. I have 8 in my laptop, 32 in my desktop PC and 64 gigs crammed in my server running ESXI. Also the more cores you have in your machine the better. I put together a desktop with one of the AMD 8 core processors last year and while the gaymers might gripe about it's performance, it runs virtual machines like a beast. But the biggest surprise I've had to date was running CCT in a virtual machine on the server we have here. My server has dual quad core Xenon's on in it and even running the VM with one virtual CPU and 2 gigs of ram, CCT opens up in about 4 seconds and is extremely fast. Too bad I can't tote it around out in the field.

[MaxBurn]

Yes, system memory is the most important for VM performance. Beyond that it helps to make sure they are running off another drive that is not the host OS drive. After that SSD wherever possible delivers the biggest speed difference, likely more than just getting the two operating systems on different disks.

Building an adequate workstation is one thing but building something that will have several VMs on it as guests is a completely different thing but not a large or impossible stretch.

The step beyond that is something like ESXi where there is no host OS, just a bare metal adapter to host the guest operating systems.