VMware Server (formerly VMware GSX Server) is a discontinued free-of-charge

virtualization In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers. Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...

-software server suite developed and supplied by VMware, Inc. VMware Server has fewer features than

VMware ESX VMware ESXi (formerly ESX) is an enterprise-class, type-1 hypervisor developed by VMware, a subsidiary of Broadcom, for deploying and serving virtual computers. As a type-1 hypervisor, ESXi is not a software application that is installed on ...

, software available for purchase, but can create, edit, and play virtual machines. It uses a

client–server model The client–server model is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate ov ...

, allowing remote access to virtual machines, at the cost of some graphical performance (and 3D support). It can run virtual machines created by other VMware products and by Microsoft Virtual PC. VMware Server can preserve and revert to a single snapshot copy of each separate virtual machine within the VMware Server environment. The software does not have a specific interface for cloning virtual machines, unlike

VMware Workstation VMware Workstation Pro (known as VMware Workstation until release of VMware Workstation 12 in 2015) is a hosted (Type 2) hypervisor that runs on x64 versions of Windows and Linux operating systems. It enables users to set up virtual machines (VM ...

. VMware Server has largely been replaced by the "Shared Virtual Machines" feature, introduced in VMware Workstation 8.0 and onwards.

Naming

The former name ''GSX Server'' allegedly stands for ''Ground Storm X'', an early code name for the project.

Versions

VMware Server 1.0

VMware released version 1.0 of Server on July 12, 2006, replacing the discontinued VMware GSX Server product-line. VMware Inc continued to develop the VMware Server 1.0.x series, issuing a maintenance release (version 1.0.10) on 26 October 2009.

VMware Server 2.0

VMware Server 2 runs on several server-class host operating systems, including different versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2000, 2003, and 2008, and mainly enterprise-class Linuxes. The manual explicitly states: "you must use a Windows ''server'' operating system". The product also runs on Windows 7 Enterprise Edition. Server 2 uses a web-based user-interface, the "VMware Infrastructure Web Access", instead of a GUI. For web interfaces, VMware Server 2 and VMware vCenter 4 use the Tomcat 6 web server, while VMware vCenter 2.5 is based on Tomcat 2.5. As part of the product, the VMware Host Agent service (also carried over to VMware Workstation Server until today) allows remote access to VMware Server functionality. VMware server 2 supports the Microsoft Shadow Copy service. (

Microsoft Virtual Server Microsoft Virtual Server was a virtualization solution that facilitated the creation of virtual machines on the Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Originally developed by Connectix, it was acquired by Microsoft pri ...

2005 R2 SP1 also supports Shadow Copy.) Virtual machines that support this service can be backed up without stopping. VMware Server was discontinued in January 2010; general support ended on June 30, 2011.General Life Cycle Support Policy
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References

External links