I am a computer science student and know how to use terminal commands etc. in the Linux OS.
I am currently trying to learn how to use Linux Server and in order to save me having to install two OSs on my PC, I would like to run Linux server on a virtual machine. I have opted to use Oracle VM for this.
The PC I am using is as follows:
Windows 7 64 bit intel i5 4460 8 GB RAM
I have enabled the use of VM in my BIOS.
My question is as follows:
Can I safely use Oracle VM to run Linux Server in order to explore the OS's features? If not, then what would be a good system to learn Linux server (keep in mind that buying a new PC for this is not an option until i know i can make it work).
I want to play around with things like DHCP, and am trying to get around the problems that arise with NAT and hosting network applications from a home server. So in light of this I am looking to implement a server to host this application which will provide lightweight functionality to my parents' home business.
I am asking this question because I don't know where oracle VM stores it's virtual disk on my physical disk (so I don't know what I may be overwriting) and also because I don't know if installing this OS via a VM will mess with my PC's boot sectors (I have been there before and wish to avoid this).
Thanks in advance for your help :)