VMware Server icon

VMware Server

VMware Server is a free virtualization product that allows users to run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server. It provides a simple interface for creating, running, and managing virtual machines.

What is VMware Server?

VMware Server is a type 2 bare-metal hypervisor developed by VMware that runs directly on top of the host operating system. It allows users to create and run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, providing a cost-effective way to utilize hardware resources more efficiently.

Some key features of VMware Server include:

  • Ability to install and run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single physical machine
  • Isolation between virtual machines for increased security
  • Snapshots to easily roll back to previous virtual machine states
  • Virtual networking and connection sharing between virtual machines
  • Drag-and-drop interface for transferring files between host and guest OS
  • Command line interface and APIs for automation

As a type 2 hypervisor, VMware Server has lower overhead compared to type 1 hypervisors since it leverages the underlying host operating system. However, this reliance on the host OS can allow more potential security vulnerabilities.

Overall, VMware Server provides an easy, free way for businesses to consolidate servers and take advantage of hardware virtualization. It lacks some advanced features of paid VMware products but can still effectively improve server efficiency and utilization.

The Best VMware Server Alternatives

Top Apps like VMware Server

QEMU, Parallels Desktop, VMware Workstation Pro, VMware vSphere Hypervisor, VMware Workstation Player, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, VMware Fusion, clearVM, Boot Camp, Citrix Hypervisor, Paragon Virtualization Manager are some alternatives to VMware Server.

QEMU

QEMU is a free and open source hypervisor and machine emulator. It emulates a complete computer system, including the processor, memory, storage, network interfaces and peripherals. This allows you to run software and operating systems written for one machine on a different machine.Some key features of QEMU include:Full...

Parallels Desktop

Parallels Desktop is a popular virtualization solution specifically designed for macOS, enabling users to run multiple operating systems on their Mac computers. It is known for its user-friendly interface, performance optimizations, and seamless integration of virtual machines with the macOS environment. Key Features: Cross-Platform Virtualization: Parallels Desktop supports a wide...

VMware Workstation Pro

VMware Workstation Pro is a Type 2 hypervisor developed by VMware for desktop virtualization on x64 versions of Windows and Linux. It allows users to set up multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine and run different operating systems and applications in each VM without rebooting.Key features include:Ability...

VMware vSphere Hypervisor

VMware vSphere Hypervisor is a free bare-metal hypervisor that enables server virtualization, allowing multiple operating systems to run on the same physical server. It provides a robust, production-grade hypervisor layer that allows for greater hardware consolidation, improved availability and simplified management.Some key features of vSphere Hypervisor include:Workload optimization...

VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Player is a Type 2 hypervisor developed by VMware for desktop virtualization. It allows users to set up multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine and run them simultaneously.Key features of VMware Workstation Player include:Ability to run production environments and test software on different operating...

Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free, standalone product from Microsoft that provides a hypervisor-based virtualization platform for running virtual machines on x64 Windows servers. It has a small footprint and requires limited system resources while providing a simple and reliable virtualization solution.As a hypervisor, Hyper-V creates and runs virtual...

VMware Fusion

VMware Fusion is a Type 2 hypervisor developed by VMware for Mac users. It allows you to create and run virtual machines that emulate other operating systems on your Mac hardware. Fusion provides a simple user interface to set up, manage, and use virtual machines.Some key features and capabilities of...

ClearVM

clearVM is an open-source desktop virtualization application that allows you to run other operating systems within your existing OS. It works by creating virtual machines that behave like real computers, each running their own OS. clearVM enables users to run multiple OSes simultaneously, such as Linux, Windows, macOS, etc. on...

Boot Camp

Boot Camp is an Apple utility included with macOS that assists users in installing Microsoft Windows operating systems on Intel-based Macintosh computers. The utility helps with partitioning the drive, installing Windows device drivers, and configuring the machine to dual boot into either macOS or Windows.When Boot Camp Assistant is...

Citrix Hypervisor

Citrix Hypervisor, formerly known as Citrix XenServer, is an enterprise-grade open-source virtualization platform powered by the Xen hypervisor. It allows you to manage virtual machines, storage, and networking in a simple yet robust manner.Some key capabilities and benefits of Citrix Hypervisor include:Supports hosting Windows, Linux, BSD and Solaris...

Paragon Virtualization Manager

Paragon Virtualization Manager is a comprehensive software solution for virtual machine and container management. It provides a centralized interface to create, configure, optimize, migrate, backup and restore virtual machines and containers running on multiple hypervisors and container engines.Key features include:Intuitive wizard-driven interface to easily create and configure virtual...