VMware/Virtual servers?

[DMcCoy]

Didn't know that CyberNerd. You have to pay for the ESX stuff though?

Yes, cost is in the thousands, even for education.

My annual maintenance was £2300 for 6 hosts, VI standard with VMotion added (along with virtual center). Due to the exchange rate, a saving of around £700 over the previous year (along with some esx price drops).

[Andi]

Am I right in thinking that VMware server is free, but you then need to have the windows license to run server images on top of it?

I was recommended by someone to install Ubuntu on the server and then use that to fire up the VM images? What would be the benefits of doing that if I already have a beefy server and the relevant server license?

[CyberNerd]

Am I right in thinking that VMware server is free, but you then need to have the windows license to run server images on top of it?

AFAIK one windows server license covers 5 VM's on the same hardware.

I was recommended by someone to install Ubuntu on the server and then use that to fire up the VM images? What would be the benefits of doing that if I already have a beefy server and the relevant server license?

This is how we do it. The advantage is that the host OS is cut down and doesn't have unnecessary services/drivers installed and running, it makes it more efficient. Since Linux is modular it is ideal for this type of setup. Also there is an advantage of using faster filesystems that linux supports (XFS and JFS have good support for large files).
Also consider Xen which is free, probably more to learn but it supports some of the advanced features of the commercial offerings.