You can use both Workstation 16 and Fusion 12 licenses interchangeably. VMware Workstation Player is a lighter version of Workstation with limited capabilities to run many VMs, such as virtual network configuration. Prior to a Workstation 16 Pro installation, you should know that VMware offers a similar product for macOS known as Fusion - currently available in version 12.įor Windows, Linux and macOS, VMware also offers VMware Workstation Player. The more VMs and the larger their size, the more resources are needed to run those VMs. But it's also possible to run a vSphere VM with 8 GB of RAM and 4 CPUs on a physical host with 4 cores and 16 GB of RAM. You can run a small Windows or Linux VM within a VM that contains 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of RAM in Workstation. Workstation CPU and RAM requirements depend on the number of VMs you plan to run and their size, though RAM is the most important resource to size properly. You can find examples of supported and unsupported processors at VMware's documentation page. Workstation 16 Pro can run on Intel- and Advanced Micro Devices-based PCs and laptops that contain processors launched as far back as 2011. Workstation 16 Pro installation requirements Workstation is also helpful if you require several VMs to build and test code because not more than one computer is needed. Other use cases for Workstation 16 Pro are to build test and demo environments with one or more OSes on a single physical VM. VMs are a better alternative to solving the problem with a dual boot configuration, which enables OSes to run on the same hardware - but not simultaneously. When software only supports Linux but your computer runs Windows, then a VM can run the Linux-based application on your Windows computer. Running these OSes in VMs at the same time opens up several opportunities.

These VMs can run many OSes, including vSphere.

With a workstation, you can run multiple VMs on your PC or laptop. Workstation 16 Pro benefits and use cases In this case, Workstation 16 Pro offers an alternative hypervisor service on a Windows or Linux computer. Hypervisors combine workloads on a fraction of the required hardware.īut hypervisor technology isn't always readily available for your personal workloads, such as home labs, as it is in corporate data centers.

Hypervisors are essential in the data center because they enable VMs to run multiple OSes on consolidated hardware instead of having to buy dozens of servers.

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