I want to make a home lab to test software that interacts with hundreds (maybe thousands?) of nodes, all Windows workstations. Each VM will be spun up for testing purposes, then destroyed. Do I need to acquire any special licenses for Windows 7, or hundreds of licenses, to do this?
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2Why would you "destroy" a VM? Why not just revert it to an earlier snapshot. You need to explain in a lot more detail what you are doing and why.– KeltariCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 0:44
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I meant the term "destroy" loosely. Yes I would likely revert all back to a "State 1" for further testing, but ultimately when I've gotten all my results I would destroy the VMs -- meaning, for sake of licensing -- they would not continue to function in any sort of home or business capacity.– armaniCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 15:27
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You still have explained what you are doing. If you are only running 1 windows 7 VM at a time, then you just need 1 windows 7 license.– KeltariCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 15:28
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I am replicating an enterprise network, so I will have hundreds or thousands up at the same time, on one large network or multiple subnets. Then I will push agent software to each PC that communicates to another VM acting as a server (maybe Windows, maybe Linux). Load testing number of nodes in the network, etc.– armaniCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 15:41
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2 Answers
You do have 30 days of trial, don't you?
If I remember correctly it's included in every windows (as of XP (my knowledge)).
So if you are going to destroy every VM after spinning them up you haven't spent 30 days if it isn't some new kind of bruteforce nuclear reaction you are trying to recreate in your VM world.
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1That's a good suggestion. I suppose I would get the black-background activation thing, but it doesn't hinder any functionality right?– armaniCommented Feb 13, 2015 at 3:30
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It doesn't. You have the full Windows experience for 30 days before you start getting the black background and license requests. Commented Feb 14, 2015 at 12:46
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Sweet, thank you. I think that will be the way I go. I wish MS made it easier to license workstation OSes en masse for lab use (although it's likely because that would be easily abused).– armaniCommented Feb 16, 2015 at 22:07
The hardware required to have 100s or 1000s of Windows VMs running at the same time is enormous. The cost, power, and space required by the hardware alone would be exorbitant, to say the least. If you were going to attempt this, you would need to look at something cloud based, like Microsoft's Azure platform or Amazon EC2 to handle something so large.
Licensing is another issue. It would be best to check with them, especially Microsoft, about licensing. There may be a tier or service that would greatly reduce the cost of licensing so many Windows workstations.
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The hardware question is really only secondary to my licensing cost question. Thanks for your reply, though. I am hoping somebody has experience with even running a dozen Windows VMs that could speak to this, instead of having me "check with [Microsoft]."– armaniCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 20:57
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Just checked Azure - it similarly looks like it only supports server OSes.– armaniCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 21:13
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@armani I do have experience doing this, thats why I am telling you to check with microsoft.– KeltariCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 22:13
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If this is the wrong StackExchange forum to spawn a real discussion on this topic, please let me know.– armaniCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 23:17