Networking in a Virtual Machine

To configure networking in your virtual machines, you should first configure networking for Parallels Workstation Extreme. You should also configure Parallels Workstation Extreme networking to have the possibility to send problem reports and get Parallels Workstation Extreme updates. If you have a network connection on your physical computer and do not use a proxy server, the Parallels Workstation Extreme network connection is set automatically. If you use a proxy server for network connections on your host computer, you should provide this proxy server settings in the Proxy Server pane of Parallels Workstation Extreme Preferences.

After setting networking for Parallels Workstation Extreme, you should configure networking for your virtual machines. Parallels Workstation Extreme allows you to use the following types of networking in your virtual machines:

• Shared Networking . This type of networking allows the virtual machine to use the current network connections of your physical computer.
• Bridged Ethernet . This type of networking allows the virtual machine to use one of the physical computer's network adapters, which makes it appear as a separate computer on the network the physical computer belongs to.
• Host-only networking . This type of networking allows the virtual machine to access only the physical computer and other virtual machines residing on it.
• Networking using a PCIe network adapter . This type of networking allows the virtual machine to access the local network and Internet through an Intel VT-d PCIe network adapter.

By default, the virtual machine uses Shared Networking, because configuring it requires minimal effort from the users. The Bridged Ethernet networking mode is more complex, and you may need to contact your system administrator to set it up properly.

Detailed information on these types of networking and the way to configure them is provided in the following subsections.