creating a private network of virtual machines

[Gergely Buday]

Hi there,

I would like to create a network of virtual machines, divided into
private subnets so that one can exercise network configuration,
routing etc. on them.

Is Xen the right solution for me? I do not want to run heavy software
on the machines, only the networking.

And, is there any open source software that helps creating such
network topologies?

Thanks

- Gergely

[Pasi Kärkkäinen]

On Thu, Jul 07, 2011 at 09:10:41AM +0200, Gergely Buday wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I would like to create a network of virtual machines, divided into
> private subnets so that one can exercise network configuration,
> routing etc. on them.
>
> Is Xen the right solution for me? I do not want to run heavy software
> on the machines, only the networking.

Yes, sure.
> And, is there any open source software that helps creating such
> network topologies?

Xen uses Linux kernel bridges for VM networking, so just set up as 
many bridges you need in Xen dom0 Linux.

If you don't attach any physical/external interfaces to the bridges,
they're "internal only" with no access to outside network.

-- Pasi