VirtualBox Fedora Host Windows Guest Networking and Folder Aliases

Question

I'm new to running virtual machines and I have a couple questions.

I have a Fedora 14 box with an 8 core Bulldozer processor that is running VirtualBox with Windows. This machine has several terabytes running in a software RAID and holds all of the files uploaded to the site.

I need to be able to SSH into the Windows VM from the other servers. To make the Windows VM appear as an independent server on the network, do I use "Bridged networking"? Is this the most optimum way?

Also, I have a piece of command line software I'll be using through SSH that needs to run on the Windows machine. This software expects some files to be in a default location and this cannot be changed. I have the Windows VM auto-mounting the RAID storage to the "E" drive and the CLI software needs to operate on some of these files.

The default directory should be C:\Common Files\example. Is it possible to "alias" the "example" folder to the E:\ RAID?

I really appreciate any help I can get. As I said, I'm quite new to virtual machines besides the cross browser testing I've done before.

Answer 1

I need to be able to SSH into the Windows VM from the other servers. To make the Windows VM appear as an independent server on the network, do I use "Bridged networking"? Is this the most optimum way?

Yes, bridged networking will give your virtual machine an ip-address from your DHCP server in your network or will allow you to give your VM a static ip in your WAN / LAN range. Host-Only networking creates connectivity only between your fedora box and your Windows VM. NAT will do NAT translation from your fedora box to your VM. So Bridged is the way to go (this will create a virtual interface on top of your physical one)

For the SSH application itselves I would google for "+windows +ssh server". Never used any of these applications myself.

Also, I have a piece of command line software I'll be using through SSH that needs to run on the Windows machine. This software expects some files to be in a default location and this cannot be changed. I have the Windows VM auto-mounting the RAID storage to the "E" drive and the CLI software needs to operate on some of these files.

I would create a shortcut in c:\Common Files (named example) and redirect that to the E:\ drive. Seems the fastest solution.