On Wed, 2006-05-03 at 11:13, albi wrote: > > You might want to download the free Vmware server software and play > > with senarios like this. You can create installs with 2 drives in > > raid 1, and kill a drive and play with rebuilding. All virtual, so no > > damage to working systems. This is how I learned some of the nuances > > of linux software raid. > > very interesting idea, > > but.. vmware-server is free-of-charge ?! > > qemu is open-source and free-of-charge and suits my emu-needs! :) Yes, Vmware-server is free of charge. It is currently a beta version but is usable and will remain free after release: http://www.vmware.com/products/server/ There is also a free vmplayer product that is in a released version that you could use to run the machines after creating them with the server version (vmplayer won't create new virtual machines). The player is intended for more workstation-like use where you only run one guest per player instance and it also handles the display. The server version can run multiple guests at once and doesn't require any local display but instead has a separate console that can run remotely and the guest continues whether any consoles are connected or not. I'd be interested in a comparison by a currently-satisfied qemu user. One advantage of vmware is that you can run the server/player under either either windows or linux and the virtual machines are portable between them. Likewise for the console/server connection - you can run the display console on a windows box connecting to a server host on Linux or the reverse. VMware is still selling the Workstation and ESX versions of their software which offer some additional bells and whistles (and performance in the ESX case). -- Les Mikesell lesmikesell at gmail.com