For those looking for a free simulator to aid in learning how to setup up computer networks, clusters, distributed systems, grids, cloud, P2P, etc. the EVE-NG Community Edition (CE) is quite popular.
EVE‑NG Community Edition (CE) can host full virtual machines (both Linux and Windows) and appliance images so you can model datacenter virtualization environments (rack servers, hypervisors, management controllers); not just network devices for network simulations.
EVE-NG Community Edition (CE) is free to download and use for non-commercial and personal lab purposes.
Link: https://www.eve-ng.net/index.php/community/
Reader’s note: AI assistants state that EVE-NG Community Edition (CE) is typically deployed in one of the following ways (listed by resource usage most-to-least):
Installed directly on bare metal as a standalone OS (EVE-NG installed to a dedicated machine). Highest resource efficiency but can use the most total hardware.
As a virtual machine (VM) on VMware ESXi (for lab servers/production-style hosts). High resource usage (hypervisor overhead + host services).
As a virtual machine (VM) running in VMware Workstation/Player (recommended for desktops/laptops). Moderate-high resource usage (desktop hypervisor overhead)
Installed on top of an existing Ubuntu installation (manual installation on an existing OS). Lowest dedicated-resource usage but less isolated.
The EVE-NG Community Edition (CE) Cookbook is the free official guide for using the Emulated Version Environment Next Generation simulator. It covers installation, configuration, management, and advanced usage for the Community Edition providing comprehensive instructions on topics such as virtual machine installs, bare-metal setups, cloud deployments, first-boot configuration, node management, and more.
Link: https://www.eve-ng.net/index.php/documentation/community-cookbook/
Reader’s may also benefit from a good AI assistant in learning to understand both the installation options and configurations, as well as EVE-NG Community Edition (CE) itself.
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