NAT or Bridged Network - Advantages and Disadvantages

Question

I have installed Windows Server 2008 R2 and made an Active Domain Services.

I will use it to SharePoint Server 2010 development, all installation of necessary software is installed on this VM (SP2010, VS2010 SQL Server 2008 R2 and Office 2010) My hardware should be fine. I use a Laptop I7 with 16 GB and 256 SSD.

I use VM Workstation 7

I want my network to have access to LAN and to be updated via the Internet.

But one should not have access to it from the internet. I will not use Remote Desktop

I've set it as a Bridged network.

On my VM, I installed the following:

IP address 192.168.0.254

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Default gateway: 192.168.0.1

preferred DNS server: 127.0.0.1.

It works now but I am not aware whether it is safe.

Can it be accessed from the Internet.?

How to ping it? ( for control of my setup)

Is there a better method (None HYPER-V)

I know that this issue has been addressed many times, but I didn't got an answer to my question

TIA

Answer 1

NAT Mode is best used when you want your VM network to be it's own microcosm. You don't need stuff not on your VM Network to access resources on that network.

Bridge Mode is best when you want resources not on your VM network to access VM network resources. If you are on a network you don't trust (coffee house, hotel, conference net, that kind of thing) then I believe the built in Windows firewall is sufficient for protecting your VM resources but I may be wrong.