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Three Types of Virtual Networks in Workstation

- There are three default virtual network types in VMware Workstation: bridged, NAT, and host-only. - Bridged networking puts VMs on the same network as the host computer. NAT networking translates the VM's IP address, and host-only networking only allows communication between the VM and host. - Additional options include custom VMnet networks, LAN segments for private networks, and network throttling/custom MAC addresses. LAN segments allow unlimited private networks without DHCP or host connectivity.

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Sopan sonar
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123 views

Three Types of Virtual Networks in Workstation

- There are three default virtual network types in VMware Workstation: bridged, NAT, and host-only. - Bridged networking puts VMs on the same network as the host computer. NAT networking translates the VM's IP address, and host-only networking only allows communication between the VM and host. - Additional options include custom VMnet networks, LAN segments for private networks, and network throttling/custom MAC addresses. LAN segments allow unlimited private networks without DHCP or host connectivity.

Uploaded by

Sopan sonar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Three Types Of Virtual Networks In Workstation, By Default:

 Bridged = VMnet0
 NAT = VMnet8
 Host-only = VMnet1
Used to manage your virtual networks, here’s what the Workstation Virtual Network
Editor looks like.

Figure 1: VMware Workstation 9 Virtual Network Editor


Additional notes:
 The virtual DHCP server serves NAT and host-only networks
 You can create your own custom VMnet networks
 Virtual network adaptors are in each VM and you can add multiple, if needed
Keep in mind that these are all “by default” because all of this is configurable by you. For
example, you can change the bridged network to be a different VMnet or just delete it
completely (if you do, remember that the Restore Default option is your friend because
it can quickly put everything back to how it was when Workstation was installed).
Understanding VMware Workstation NAT
Networks
With NAT, or network address translation, the virtual machine will receive an IP address
from VMware Workstation’s built in DHCP server. The default IP address range for the
NAT network is 192.168.75.0 with a 255.255.255.0 (class C) subnet mask (which is
completely configurable by you). The IP address, assigned to your VM that is on the
NAT network, is translated to the IP address assigned to Workstation’s physical network
adaptor when the NAT’ted VM needs to communicate with the public network (which
could be the local company network if you are cabled to the LAN or the Internet, let’s say
if you are at a coffee shop).

Figure 2
The main limitation that you need to be aware of is that you can only one network set to
NAT (this is also the same for the bridged network type).
Figure 3
It is possible to have inbound NAT connections to a VM but you must configure those
manually in Workstation’s Virtual Network Editor under NAT Settings. As you see
below, I wanted to be able to connect to a VM in the NAT network, inbound, using RDP
(remote desktop) so I opened a port on the Workstation host under 3390 (incremented
one from 3389, or RDP) to RDP on the VM inside the NAT network (port 3389). To do
this, I had to know the IP address of the VM on the NAT network, as assigned via
Workstation’s DHCP server.

Figure 4
Understanding VMware Workstation
Bridged Networks
For my VMs running in Workstation, instead of the default of NAT, I typically prefer to
configure them with Bridged networking. With bridged networking, the virtual machine
is on the same network as the host (your PC or laptop that’s running Workstation). You
can think of the VMs with bridged connections all being connected to a big virtual
bridge, along with your host computer. What this means is that your VMs are just going
to request another IP address from your company’s DHCP server (let’s say, if you are on
the corporate network) and they would be on the same network as your host computer. To
put it another way, virtual machines with bridged network connections are just like any
other physical server on the network (for better or worse). The good side of this is that
you can RDP to them or connect to them in any other way that you would another
physical server. The downside is that they have no network protection so you need to
remember that those VMs will need anti-malware protection and you must enable their
firewall, etc.
Below you see one of my VMs in Workstation with a bridged connection. As configured,
the bridged network adaptor connects to my physical network adaptor (a wireless adaptor
in this case). I can opt to replicate the physical network status to the VM if I choose to (so
if the wireless network is down, so is the network inside the VM).

Figure 5
Understanding VMware Workstation Host-
Only Networks
The third type of virtual network in Workstation works as described. The “host only”
virtual network connects the virtual machine to the “host only”. In other words, the VM
can only communicate with the host that is running VMware Workstation but it has no
LAN network access, no Internet access, and no communication to other VMs that are
running on the same host under Workstation.
The VMs running with the host only network option will receive an IP address from the
Workstation DHCP server from a different scope than the NAT network. By default host
only VMs will receive IP’s from the 192.168.56.0 /24 network that will be used to
communicate just with the host, who will also use an IP from that subnet for the
communication. Thus, the VM’s network traffic isn’t translated with NAT.
The host only network option is a great option for sharing files between host and VM or
testing client/server apps.
Understanding VMware Workstation Private
Networks
However, instead of “host only” for testing VMs and client server apps, I typically
choose a totally private network option. In the past, this would be done by using the Add
Network option and creating a totally private custom network.
With that custom network (say you choose VMnet2), you have the option to:
 Connect or NOT connect it to the host
 Provide or NOT provide DHCP IP addressing
Let’s say that you choose NOT to connect it to the host and NOT to provide DHCP IP
addressing, then you have a totally private network where any VM there cannot
communicate with anything else except for any other VM that you might choose to place
there. By connecting 2+ VMs to the new custom private network you created, you have a
virtual network lab where you can do whatever you want (like test Windows Active
Directory or Exchange that uses the same IP addresses and domain names as your
production servers).
Keep in mind that, when you opt not to provide DHCP, you must either provide your own
DHCP server for the virtual network or assign static IP addresses to all VMs on the
network.
New in VMware Workstation 9 is the option to create LAN Segments. These LAN
segments are similar to a custom network that you would create if it didn’t have host
connectivity and if it didn’t have DHCP services from Workstation.
The advantage of these LAN Segments is that you can create as many as you want (you
aren’t limited by the Workstation VMnet 0-9 numbering limitation).
LAN Segments are a great solution that allows you to create as many virtual private
networks, for a virtually unlimited number of uses (see my examples in Figure 6).
Figure 6
Once you create the LAN Segment, you connect your virtual machines to it, just as you
would connect them to any other virtual network option in Workstation (shown in Figure
7).

Figure 7
One final advanced networking option in Workstation 9 is the ability to throttle incoming
and outgoing network bandwidth as well as the option to generate a custom Ethernet
MAC address.
Figure 8
Overall, Workstation 9’s virtual networking is the most advanced that I have seen, given
the multiple virtual networking options, built in DHCP server, and the new LAN
Segments option for building virtual private lab environments.

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