VPN, VMWare, VMFusion

[hypothamus]

Okay, so I have my new IP information via VPN provider (one recommended here). I am contemplating using VMWare, so I will always have a new instance of an OS. I have a few questions:

1) I guess I don't need VMWare if I have VPN, is that accurate ?

2) Is Fusion for Mac the same? It will provide me a virtual Windows OS, and is 25% the cost of VMWare Pro. I can host on Win or Mac, but thought that since I use the Mac less and it is portable, it might be best. Not sure if Fusion provides the same stealth technology as VMWare Pro.

3) When I go for multiple stealth IDs, I suppose I would have different VMWare instances, not all at once, but login to different IDs? Does that work? Then, have different VPN accounts for each VMWare login? I am getting it so far? Will Fusion do this as well?

4) How many non-concurrent virtual machines can I have with on VMWare licenses? Can VMWare allocate resources (CPU, RAM, etc.) when invoked (logged into), or if I am going to have 4 different virtual (non-concurrent) machines, do each need to have dedicated resources statically assigned? I am guessing not...

[nate]

Holly Sh!t you have a lot more research to do....

Originally Posted by hypothamus

1) I guess I don't need VMWare if I have VPN, is that accurate ?

No, not even close... They do different things.. VPN changes IP... VMware has nothing to do with IP... It keeps cookies separated. And makes it look like your using completely different computers/operating systems. (i.e. MacOS, Linux, Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 or 10) or makes it so you can keep the OS at home on a server and access the OS remotely using Workstation or another RDP instead of lugging around a portable HD or taking up all the storage on your Laptop.

Originally Posted by hypothamus

2) Is Fusion for Mac the same? It will provide me a virtual Windows OS, and is 25% the cost of VMWare Pro. I can host on Win or Mac, but thought that since I use the Mac less and it is portable, it might be best. Not sure if Fusion provides the same stealth technology as VMWare Pro.

VMware workstation is a solution for running virtual machines on Windows and Linux, Fusion is used for running virtual machines on macOS. They should be about the same... I've never used Fusion tho to compare. You can find a working key for VMware Workstation Pro online for free...

Originally Posted by hypothamus

3) When I go for multiple stealth IDs, I suppose I would have different VMWare instances, not all at once, but login to different IDs? Does that work? Then, have different VPN accounts for each VMWare login? I am getting it so far? Will Fusion do this as well?

You lost me on the ID part... No clue how to login to an ID...

Originally Posted by hypothamus

4) How many non-concurrent virtual machines can I have with on VMWare licenses?

There is no cap placed by VMware on the number of VM's you can create with workstation pro... Player only allows 1...

Originally Posted by hypothamus

Can VMWare allocate resources (CPU, RAM, etc.) when invoked (logged into), or if I am going to have 4 different virtual (non-concurrent) machines, do each need to have dedicated resources statically assigned? I am guessing not...

You have to allot the resources... But you can allot more than you have... Just because you give a OS 2 cores and 4GB of mem doesnt mean it will use it all all the time... I give all my VM's 2 Cores and 4GB of ram... But I dont use more than 1 VM at a time. If I did I'm sure I would run into bottlenecks.

If your CPU is good to go... Memory is the most important factor when using VM's. The more MEM your system has the better.

[hypothamus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by hypothamus View Post
3) When I go for multiple stealth IDs, I suppose I would have different VMWare instances, not all at once, but login to different IDs? Does that work? Then, have different VPN accounts for each VMWare login? I am getting it so far? Will Fusion do this as well?

You lost me on the ID part... No clue how to login to an ID...

Sorry, login IDs to the virtual Windows OS. Login to virtual machine 1, and use VPN account (IP) 1, login to virtual machine 2, and use VPN account 2....

[nate]

there are a few different ways you could do it... but yes, that's how it would work...

you could run the VPN Client on the guest operating systems, which is what i think you would need to do in order to run multiple VM's connected to different VPN's at the same time.

But you can also run the VPN client on the host and make multiple VPN Network adapters (NIC's) and set up each VPN connection with its own network adapter. Then in VMware you can set the VM up to bridge a connection to the VPN adapter for the VPN you want with that account. Then it will also act as a kill switch if the VPN connection was to drop.

It might be possible to connect to multiple VPN's at the same time using multiple network adapters on the host.. I havent tested that yet.

[hypothamus]

This is very intriguing. I loaded VMWare Fusion Pro on Mac, and then Win 10 as guest OS.

Take, for a minute, a use case where I will run 3 different ebay accounts, et. al. I am concerned that I will get the IP and VPN mixed up, so want to set three virtual machines. No need for concurrency, so let's ignore how to divide up limited resources.

1. I assume I will have to load Win 10, for guest OS, three separate times. Correct?

2. I believe it would make the most sense to run the VPN inside the guest OS, that way, I achieve two goals. First is that each time I log into the virtual machine, I have only one VPN setting, and thus will always get the correct IP address, etc., and secondly, I can maintain a local IP address on the host for printing to network printer and otherwise using LAN resources.

Does this make sense? You mentioned the Kill switch. If I log out of a VM, will that teminate the VPN, or do I care about kill switch, since the IP address will be unique to each VM.

3. Is there a way to require a VPN connection when in a VM, e.g., make sure I am only getting the remote IP address ?

[nate]

Originally Posted by hypothamus

I loaded VMWare Fusion Pro on Mac

Originally Posted by hypothamus

so let's ignore how to divide up limited resources.

You might as well just give each VM 2 processors and 2 cores and 4GB of Memory/RAM

Originally Posted by hypothamus

I assume I will have to load Win 10, for guest OS, three separate times.

You don't have to, you could install Windows and set up all the basics settings you'd want on all 3 systems, then clone the VM.

But if you have the time you might as well just install all 3 from scratch.

Originally Posted by hypothamus

I believe it would make the most sense to run the VPN inside the guest OS, that way, I achieve two goals. First is that each time I log into the virtual machine, I have only one VPN setting, and thus will always get the correct IP address, etc., and secondly, I can maintain a local IP address on the host for printing to network printer and otherwise using LAN resources.

What ever works best for you, just don't forget to use or make a kill switch for the VPN.

Originally Posted by hypothamus

Does this make sense? You mentioned the Kill switch. If I log out of a VM, will that teminate the VPN, or do I care about kill switch, since the IP address will be unique to each VM.

No, that makes no sense... A kill switch automatically blocks your internet connection if the VPN was to drop. Trust me, your VPN will drop at some point.

Originally Posted by hypothamus

Is there a way to require a VPN connection when in a VM, e.g., make sure I am only getting the remote IP address ?

That is what a kill switch does. If you want it to always be on you can set up a Windows firewall kill switch. Then you can just set it and forget it.

I don't want to confuse you but there are multiple ways you could set it up. 24vc's way seems to work fine for eBay and PayPal.

24VC has instructions on his site on how to set it up for just your browser [here].

[hypothamus]

Originally Posted by nate

That is what a kill switch does. If you want it to always be on you can set up a Windows firewall kill switch. Then you can just set it and forget it.

I don't want to confuse you but there are multiple ways you could set it up. 24vc's way seems to work fine for eBay and PayPal.

24VC has instructions on his site on how to set it up for just your browser [here].

Thanks, Nate. I am coming up to speed quickly. I appreciate your help. I did reach the Win firewall tutorial, and have reached out to 24VC on some questions. I bought one IP address from them. So, I am not over-relying upon your help, as I don't want to wear out the welcome.

I get the kill-switch to turn off network traffic when VPN is down. Is there an easy way to invoke VPN upon Windows login, or must I always login to VPN?

Also, as the only reason I will set various OS guest machines is to use Chrome browser for ebay and PP, would a Linux guest OS be better suited for lower resource usage, and potentially more concurrent VMs? If so, which Linux OS do you recommend that has some UI (not command line) to it, and also has the ability to set kill switch, and other needed features?

[nate]

Originally Posted by hypothamus

Is there an easy way to invoke VPN upon Windows login, or must I always login to VPN?

I would think any VPN client you use has a option to start on boot and connect to a VPN... I know for sure SoftEther and Tunnelblick does... You just have to google automatically connect to VPN on boot for which ever client you are using... Using Linux its already built into the OS (ChromeOS or Ubuntu) using OpenVPN... There are too many possibility's.... Your going to have to search for answers outside the forum... Its actually faster if you google first then come back here and ask after you already have an idea what your talking about or going to use.

Originally Posted by hypothamus

Also, as the only reason I will set various OS guest machines is to use Chrome browser for ebay and PP, would a Linux guest OS be better suited for lower resource usage, and potentially more concurrent VMs? If so, which Linux OS do you recommend that has some UI (not command line) to it, and also has the ability to set kill switch, and other needed features?

With Linux, setting up a kill switch might be more than you can handle alone... For Linux I would recommend Ubuntu... It has a good GUI and is pretty easy to use. But you might have to install OpenVPN client tho... your never going to get away from having to use a command line with Linux.

You can make as many VM's as your hard drive will allow space for. If space is a issue, then I'd get a external SSD drive... Like 1TB. Over running everything on Ubuntu... The only Linux I would run all my accounts on is ChromeOS. But that's just my personal opinion. and its preference.

Actually Linux would be better suited for stealth... Problem is not too many people use Linux... So if you have 10 accounts all within 25miles all using Linux selling the same items... it wouldnt look good.

ChromeOS is different... lots of people use ChromeOS...

[MM78]

You can always use "Lite" versions of different Windows OS. It's what I use for the most part.

[hypothamus]

Originally Posted by MM78

You can always use "Lite" versions of different Windows OS. It's what I use for the most part.

I am not familiar with Win LITE. I looked it up. It looks like some freeware ?

[nate]

Originally Posted by hypothamus

I am not familiar with Win LITE. I looked it up. It looks like some freeware ?

He's talking about stripped down versions of Windows... They're not official versions of Windows by any means.

Tiny7 is probably the most well known.