Building a Virtual Machine

[irishbeast]

This is not something I have done before and wonder how difficult it is. 

 

When I am away from my main PC I struggle and remote software is not always ideal. I also want to be able to create environments for friends with crappy PCs (nice guy that I am) to use. 

 

How easy is this set up? In Windows 11

 

Any help appreciated

[kirashi]

7 minutes ago, irishbeast said:

This is not something I have done before and wonder how difficult it is. 

 

When I am away from my main PC I struggle and remote software is not always ideal. I also want to be able to create environments for friends with crappy PCs (nice guy that I am) to use. 

 

How easy is this set up? In Windows 11

 

Any help appreciated

It's very simple to set up a VM these days, assuming you have powerful enough hardware to host the VM's and the software you intend to run on them.

1. Download & install your VM hypervisor of choice:
   • VMWare Workstation
   • VirtualBox
   • <your_hypervisor_here>
2. Create a Virtual Machine following the guide for your hypervisor.
   • https://www.howtogeek.com/196060/beginner-geek-how-to-create-and-use-virtual-machines/
   • https://www.howtogeek.com/833996/how-to-run-windows-11-in-a-virtual-machine/
3. ???
4. Profit!

That said, I don't quite understand how setting up a VM would solve your problem about being "away from your main PC" on its own. If your goal is to remotely access software running on your desktop PC when you're away from home, you can do that by just installing Remote Desktop software, like AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or UltraVNC - no VM required. (I do NOT recommend exposing Windows built-in Remote Desktop to the internet.)

 

Also, if you plan to host VM's for friends, be aware that you'd want at least 25mbps upload per VM to ensure those accessing the VMs from outside your home don't experience lag. I wouldn't advise hosting VM's for anyone unless you plan to charge for them, as you'd be the one supporting them, and would have expenses to cover, like paying for a Windows license (and licenses for all other software) for each VM user.

[irishbeast]

47 minutes ago, kirashi said:

It's very simple to set up a VM these days, assuming you have powerful enough hardware to host the VM's and the software you intend to run on them.

1. Download & install your VM hypervisor of choice:
   • VMWare Workstation
   • VirtualBox
   • <your_hypervisor_here>
2. Create a Virtual Machine following the guide for your hypervisor.
   • https://www.howtogeek.com/196060/beginner-geek-how-to-create-and-use-virtual-machines/
   • https://www.howtogeek.com/833996/how-to-run-windows-11-in-a-virtual-machine/
3. ???
4. Profit!

That said, I don't quite understand how setting up a VM would solve your problem about being "away from your main PC" on its own. If your goal is to remotely access software running on your desktop PC when you're away from home, you can do that by just installing Remote Desktop software, like AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or UltraVNC - no VM required. (I do NOT recommend exposing Windows built-in Remote Desktop to the internet.)

 

Also, if you plan to host VM's for friends, be aware that you'd want at least 25mbps upload per VM to ensure those accessing the VMs from outside your home don't experience lag. I wouldn't advise hosting VM's for anyone unless you plan to charge for them, as you'd be the one supporting them, and would have expenses to cover, like paying for a Windows license (and licenses for all other software) for each VM user.

Thanks for the detailed response. 

Its not just for friends. I also want to try and learn Linux which I presume could be installed on it. Also for dynamic resource allocation, issue isolation and disaster recovery. I'm sure you know what all these mean. I have heard that local LLMs run better on Linux but have never used it and this way I can play around without cocking up my main windows iteration

 

Hardware should be okay?

Ryzen 5900X

64gb DDR4 4000mhz memory

Tons of SSD

Net connection 1gb down, 100 mbps up

 

I have found remote software to be laggy and not great although its been a while.

 

Thanks again for the great post. I am not setting it up for friends to have a free ride. Just if they are having issues I will get them to remote on to the VM and show them what to do as I don't like sharing my screen as a general rule.

[Kilrah]

14 hours ago, irishbeast said:

I have found remote software to be laggy and not great although its been a while.

But that's what you or your friends will have to deal with if not on the host, what else would there be?

 

Installing vmware and creating a VM is a piece of cake.