VMware is becoming more and more popular as companies seek to streamline their systems by using virtual machines, which use less space and time than clunky, traditional server machines. As VMware develops, the products and utilities that are available for it develop as well. Besides new virtual backup systems, there are now many free utilities available for download with VMware systems. These utilities will give you more features for your VMware, and they’ll help you stay more organized and more efficient as you use virtual machines.
One of the best downloads that you can get for free is the Patch Downloader, a simple addition to your VMware tools that will automatically download ESX and vSphere patches, which will save you from having to look them up or constantly be bothered with pop-up screens about new patches. Another good download is the SnapHunter, which will automatically give you VMware Snapshot statuses from several different ESX servers at once so that you can monitor your systems more easily.
These aren’t the only free utilities that you can download, either. You can also use VMNetBac, which offers you the ability to back up virtual machine network configurations so that you don’t have to mess with recreating them if your network should crash at any given point. There is also a utility called KS QuickConfig that allows you to reduce the amount of time you need to configure and deploy virtual servers.
All of these small solutions can make your virtual machines run more smoothly as you have more control over configuring and updating them. Besides these small things, though, you need to be sure that you have the big things taken care of, such as an overall virtual backup system that will allow you to keep your system up and running during even the busiest of times.