Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 157
Chapter 7 Networking
You!can!set!or!change!the!option!to!use!bridged!networking!in!the!virtual!machine!
settings!editor!(VM!>!Settings).!For!details,!see!“Changing!the!Networking!
Configuration”!on!page 162.
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Figure 7-2. NAT gives a virtual machine access to network resources using the host
computer’s IP address.
A!network!address!translation!connection!is!set!up!automatically!if!you!follow!the!
Custom!path!in!the!New!Virtual!Machine!Wizard!and!select!Use!network!address!
translation.!
If!you!want!to!connect!to!the!Internet!or!other!TCP/IP!network!using!the!host!
computer’s!dialup!networking!or!broadband!
connection!and!you!are!not!able!to!give!
your!virtual!machine!an!IP!address!on!the!external!network,!NAT!is!often!the!easiest!
way!to!give!your!virtual!machine!access!to!that!network.
NAT!also!allows!you!to!connect!to!a!TCP/IP!network!using!a!Token!Ring!adapter!on!
the!host!
computer.!However!r!your!virtual!machine!does!not!have!its!own!IP!address!
on!the!external!network!if!you!use!NAT.!Instead,!a!separate!private!network!is!set!up!
on!the!host!computer.!Your!virtual!machine!gets!an!address!on!that!network!from!the!
VMware!virtual!DHCP!server.!The!VMware!NAT
!device!passes!network!data!between!
one!or!more!virtual!machines!and!the!external!network.!It!identifies!incoming!data!
packets!intended!for!each!virtual!machine!and!sends!them!to!the!correct!destination.
If!you!select!NAT,!the!virtual!machine!can!use!many!standard!TCP/IP!protocols!to!
connect!to!other!machines!on!the
!external!network.!For!example,!you!can!use!HTTP!to!
browse!Web!sites,!FTP!to!transfer!files,!and!Telnet!to!log!on!to!other!computers.!In!the!
default!configuration,!computers!on!the!external!network!cannot!initiate!connections!to!
the!virtual!machine.!That!means,!for!example,!that!the!default!configuration!does!not!