Starting VM in multihead system from any of the heads

[aitidina]

Hi everyone,

This question may be trivial, but as a new user to vmware, I have no clue about it.

The point is the following: we have 4 PCs at home, and instead of renewing all of them, I would like to build a multihead system running ESXI in order to vitualize 4 vms, one for each PC we actually have. Each vm will have a head consisting of a dedicated monitor (with GPU passthrough) and USB hub (for connecting mouse and keyboard), and each head will be in a different room. And because of this, it is a requirement that I can start a vm from the heads; this is, with just the keyboard and mouse.

My concern is: is it possible to do that, or do I need to interact with the server through vmware Sphere client -or something alike- if I want to power up a vm?

As I said, I have no experience with ESXI. I do plan on installing it in a spare computer and trying everything I've mentioned, but I haven't done it yet. So any help would be much appreciated.

Best regards

[continuum]

Your usage of the term "head" is so far outside the usual range that reading your post leaves me puzzled.

If I assume that head = a computer that runs the ESXi operating system

then your statement

> we have 4 PCs at home, and instead of renewing all of them, I would like to build a multihead system running ESXI

> in order to vitualize 4 vms, one for each PC we actually have.

either makes no sense at all or is simply impossible.

I would suggest that you rephrase your question without using the term "head"

[aitidina]

Okey, second try, here I go.

First of all, sorry for using the wrong terminology; as I've mentioned, I am totally unacquainted with this ambit.

In the one hand, what I intended to express with "in order to vitualize 4 vms, one for each PC we actually have" is the following: each of the PCs that I now have at home will be substituted by one VM running a guest OS.

In the other hand, I have used the term "head", since I don't know how is a grouping of monitor, keyboard and mouse called otherwise. To make myself clear: the objective is to have a single machine running ESXI, which will provide at least 4 VMs running simultaneously, each with its own monitor, mouse and keyboard. Let's call each of this groups of monitor+mouse+keyboard "station". What I intend to clarify is if I would be able to power up a VM from a station (I don't really mind if it's via console, some kind of keyboard shortcut, or otherwise), or if it's necessary to do it through the web client or some other way.

I think this type of setup is called "multiseat desktop virtualisation". As its uses will range from offimatics and web surfing to video edition, gaming, programming and multimedia, I'm looking for a setup that will provide hardware passthrough, which I think is the case with ESXI.

If I am not clear enough, I will try to explain again.

[continuum]

You will need 4 ESXi-installations then, one for each computer.

The shopping list for video cards that support ESXi hardware passthrough is very short and those cards are quite expensive.

Also setting this up is really adfvanced  stuff.