Educate me on virtual machines

[forumtrader]

I'm building a server at home and someone mentioned that the OS I install should be a virtual machine on the server. I want to have a server that acts as a large NAS sort of device and I have an 8 port sata card for that. I also want to have something act as a web server, but I want it locked down and don't want to be hacked.

Are virtual machines my best option? How do I go about setting them up. Is there free software you can use for this?

 

[Ice Czar]

VMware Server is free
and yes you can do all that with virtualization
but rather than try to replicate an answer Im not the best to answer in depth (as Im just learning myself)
Id refer you to:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/vmware_server_and_windows_in_linux.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=162717

 

[Leros]

If the computer is just going to be performing one task, then I don't see the need for virtualization.

 

[pm]

A virtual machine is a way of "partitioning" the CPU of a computer to run two (or more) operating systems at the same time, concurrently. So you could run Linux and Windows XP at the same time on the same computer. Or two different distributions of Linux.

But if you are running a server, I'm not sure why you would need a virtual machine to do this. There are advantages to virtual machines, but I don't see how they apply in the case you are presenting. Also, there is usually a performance hit - particularly when accessing high-speed I/O (ie. your SATA card).