Virtualization the Simplest Way

Virtualization is one the most talked about technology these days. Parallels

Workstation uses Virtual Machine technology to let multiple operating systems

and their applications run simultaneously on a single computer. Every virtual

machine (VM) operates identically to a standalone computer. You can switch

between operating systems without needing to restart the system. Parallels

Workstation uses a feature, called Lightweight Hypervisor, which is a thin layer

of software between the host computer's hardware and the primary operating

system. In short, it controls host computer's hardware. The software also

supports Intel's Virtualization Technology (VT-x). It can be installed on

Linux as well as Windows.

Parallels Workstation lets you select the kind of networking your VM should

have-host only networking for your VM, no networking or bridged Ethernet mode.

You can also create a complete copy of a virtual machine using Clone Virtual

Machine wizard. A new configuration file and new hard disk drive(s) are made for

the cloned VM. The clone includes as many hard drives as are connected to an

original machine.

Applies To: IT managers Price: $49.99 USP: A tool for workstation level OS virtualization Primary Link: www.parallels.com Google Keywords: OS virtualization

Parallels Workstation supports Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, Solaris, and

MS-DOS as the guest OSes. It supports Windows 3.1 to Windows 2003 Enterprise

editions. All major flavors of Linux like Fedora, SUSE, Red Hat, and Debain are

supported. For Windows, OS/2 and Solaris VMs there is a set of tools called 'parallel

tools'. These tools are utilities, like Clipboard Synchronization, Time

Synchronization and Disk Compacting tool, that can help you configure and use

virtual machines. These tools can only be installed once the guest OS has been

installed and you are logged on. One of the interesting tools here is 'Parallels

Image.' This allows you to create images of hard disks, floppy disks, and

CD/DVDs. Using this tool, you can modify existing hard disk images (images of

VMs) for things like converting hard disk image to another format, increasing

size of a hard disk image or defragmenting an expanding disk image.

Parallels Workstation has wizards for most things you need to do and these

wizards are invoked when you select an action to perform.

You can choose whether the virtual machine created can access Internet, have a private network or be standalone

Using Parallels Workstation



When you create a new virtual machine with Parallels Workstation, you can select
from two templates: custom and typical. 'Typical' has options like how much

memory and hard disk capacity the VM has got pre-configured. The application

lets you select the size of RAM and hard disks depending on how much of them you

have on your physical machine. On our machine, it allowed us to select between 4

and 1500 MB of RAM.

Now, let's configure a new virtual machine:

• Start Parallels Workstation and select the option to create a new VM.
• Select the Custom VM option and select the Guest OS you want to run in
  
  this VM.
• Select the size of RAM (256 MB for example). When prompted, select to
  
  create a new hard disk image and select the 'Expanding' option. This
  
  lets the software resize the image as content grows.
• Select the type of network. The Bridged option lets you use both the local
  
  network as well as the Internet.
• Finally provide a name for the VM and the path to save its file and click
  
  on Finish.

Once a virtual machine has been created you can click on Edit and change various options like boot sequence, memory, hard drive capacity, etc

Now your Virtual Machine is ready for use and you can see its details in

Parallels Workstation main window. To configure how the virtual machine should

boot, click on Edit tab on the VM you just created, and click on 'Booting

options' tab.

Here you can choose the boot sequence according to your need. To start this

VM, click on Play button on the right side of the main menu. Once the virtual

machine has started you can boot it from a CD and install the operating system

on it.

Fedora Linux running in a virtual environment on a Windows 2003 Server, with Parallels Workstation installed

After you have finished using the virtual machine, you can either stop or

delete it. To delete VMs, there is a wizard that walks you through the process

and prompts you to keep or delete various configuration and image files created

for the VM.

Swapnil Arora