The Benefits of VMware
VMware is a program that essentially creates a computer within a computer -- a virtual machine that runs on your physical computer. You can install any operating system and use any software that you like on a virtual machine without making any changes on your computer. Although PC owners who use VMware do so primarily as a means of testing a new program or operating system before installing it on the computer, VMware has a number of other benefits that you may not have considered.
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Software Development
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Software developers often have to make their products work with several operating systems to make their products viable for as many customers as possible. In the past, this would have meant owning multiple computers or setting a single computer up in a multi-boot configuration. VMware is a far simpler way of giving one computer the ability to run multiple operating systems.
Running Older Software
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When you install a new operating system on your computer, some older software might no longer work. This is bothersome for people who enjoy playing classic computer games. It can also be extremely detrimental for a business that relies on older software in its day-to-day operations. You can install any operating system that you like on a virtual machine. If the software that you want to use works on that operating system, it will work on the virtual machine.
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Server Virtualization
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A server computer often has to support multiple users simultaneously. Occasionally, a program or service utilized by one user can cause a spike in processor or memory usage that consumes an excessive amount of the server's resources and prevents others from being able to utilize it. Server virtualization can help prevent this from happening by giving each server user a virtualized environment with strict resource limits. If one user hits the resource limit for his virtual server, other users are still able to utilize their virtual servers. Virtualization can also help to protect a server, as a malware or virus attack within one virtualized environment is unlikely to damage other virtual servers or the server computer.
Troubleshooting
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If you have a computer problem that you are having a difficult time resolving, you may not want to make random changes until you find the one that you are certain will resolve the issue. By creating an image of a computer's hard drive and attaching the image to a virtual machine, you can work with an identical copy of the problem computer, making changes until you find the one that fixes the problem. Once you find the resolution, you can implement the fix on the problem computer and delete the copy of its hard drive.
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