Does vSphere have native audio in the VMs?

[JTU4]

Does vSphere have native audio in the VMs, or does it require an enhanced session via RDP similar to Hyper-V?

I’m a would-be home user and don’t have a license.

[Scott Vessey]

VMs are silent when you view them with the "console" function of the vSphere Client, but make lots of noise thanks to audio redirection when you use an RDP session (or similar)

You can use vSphere Hypervisor for free at home, if you have the hardware to support ESXi: https://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor.html

 

[JTU4]

Hi, and thanks for answering.

If I install Windows VPN apps in both the management VM and the guest VMs and activate “enhanced session”, how will RDP communicate with the VMs? Will it do that internally since I’ll have all the Windows guest VMs on the same physical computer as the Windows management VM and its console, or will it do that via the management VM’s VPN app to the commercial VPN server and then back to the same physical computer it originated from, only this time to one of the guest VMs’ VPN apps?

[Scott Vessey]

No idea.

[JTU4]

Let me simplify the example. No VPN connections and no VPN apps. All of the guest VMs and the management VM have their Windows firewalls set to public and there’s no sharing of resources with other physical computers at home or elsewhere. The guest VMs will be connected to a public (internet) adapter shared with the management VM :  Do the guest VMs get access to the soundcard internally, without ever communicating outside my physical computer, or do they go over the network card and to the hardware router in my home and then back to the same physical computer’s network card it came from, and from there to the soundcard?

A follow up question would probably be, do I need to password protect these guest VMs’ user accounts in Windows if I use vSphere? I know I don’t have to when using Workstation Player. I always password protect the Windows admin account.

 

I need to have these questions answered convincingly so that I can decide between Workstation Player or the free version of vSphere. Hypervisor type 2 or 1? I would prefer vSphere if possible, because I’m guessing it has lower latency when playing video and therefore less problem with picture and sound being out of sync, but only if I don’t compromise my security. Hope you or somebody else can help.

[alantz]

Sounds would be redirected from the VM running on your hypervisor to the endpoint that connected to the VM. If I connect to a VM I can have the sound redirected to the PC where I did that initial VM connection. So yes, sound is piped over the network. You can't have multiple people connecting to the same server and using only one soundcard. 

--Alan--

 

 

[JTU4]

Thanks for clearing this up for me. I guess I’ll have to settle for Workstation Player. Too bad VMware doesn’t include an internal link in vSphere for the audio, one that bypasses the network card so that we who are home users don’t have to expose ourselves to online threats we barely comprehend.

Edit: Just to make sure, VMware Player doesn’t rout sound over the network? It does it internally?

[alantz]

I guess I don't understand your network layout. Streaming from your server to your client would pose very little threat and would have nothing to do with online threats.

--Alan--

 

 

[JTU4]

But my intention is to use Windows VPN apps in the guest VMs and the management VM, so it becomes more complicated. The data goes to the commercial VPN provider’s servers and then back again. This is a risk with zero benefits to me. I’ve never before had a network of any kind, and here I would have one and I almost didn’t notice it.

 

Can you confirm there’s no network if I use the VMware Player?

[JTU4]

Is it like in the first picture or second? Do VMware employees read and answer these threads?

 

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-vNetwork-Documents/Understand-How-Virtual-Machine-Traffic-Routes/ta-p/2783083

[Scott Vessey]

VMTN is a user community, not an official channel to VMware.

If VMware employees do read and respond to threads, they are doing so in their own time - it’s currently after 9pm in the UK for me, I’m definitely not on work hours right now.

I would recommend that you stop creating more threads on the same topic, that’s 3 you have now, your newest being in the NSX area which doesn’t seem like a relevant product with what you are asking.

For reference, here are the other 2 threads:

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-NSX-Discussions/How-does-the-host-communicate-with-the-guests-in-Workstation-and/m-p/2873278#M13955

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Player/How-does-a-type-2-hypervisor-such-as-Workstation-Player-relay/m-p/2873249#M37806