Microsoft Virtual PC 2004
If you want the user of a virtual machine to be able to access resources on a physical network, including your organization's intranet and the Internet, you must configure the Networking setting of the virtual machine. Using the Networking setting, you can configure the following options for network adapters:
Number of network adapters
You can specify up to four emulated network adapters to be used for the
virtual machine.
Adapter configuration
You can assign each emulated adapter card to any network card installed on the
physical computer, including Microsoft Loopback Adapter. You can assign
multiple virtual machine emulated network cards to the same network card in
the physical computer. Alternatively, you can choose to attach a virtual
network to a local-only network. A local-only network is a private network for
communication between virtual machines only. The following table describes the
different adapter options.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Not connected | When this option is selected, networking is not available in the virtual machine. This option is recommended when the physical computer is not on a network, or if you do not plan to access the Internet through a virtual machine. This can prevent possible delays if the virtual machine software checks the network controller. |
| Local only | This option provides networking support between virtual machines only. This means that the virtual machine will not have access to any network resources on the host operating system. |
| Shared networking (NAT) | The first virtual machine network card can be assigned to Shared Networking (NAT). When this option is selected, the virtual machine is connected to a private network created by Virtual PC. The network includes a virtual DHCP server and a virtual network address translation server. The virtual machine is then able to access most TCP/IP-based resources that the host operating system can access. The virtual PC client is configured for DHCP and automatically gets an IP address from the range 192.168.131.x. |
| Network adapter on the physical computer | When this option is selected, the virtual machine is connected directly to the currently selected network connection of the host operating system. The virtual machine will appear and behave like a separate physical computer on the same network. The networking configuration of the virtual machine is determined by the configuration of the network. For example, the configuration of the network will determine how an IP address is assigned to the virtual machine. If the network uses a DHCP server, an IP address is assigned dynamically to the virtual machine. Similarly, if the network uses static IP addresses, you must manually configure the virtual machine to use a static IP address, following the procedure specified in the documentation for the virtual machine operating system. |
| Microsoft Loopback Adapter | If you want to create a more complex network environment on a single physical computer, without installing multiple physical network cards, you can install multiple instances of Microsoft Loopback Adapter on the host operating system. |