VMWARE hardware recommendations wanted

[Bob George]

Well, in preparation for the forthcoming changes withing PLUG (good one
Jiva!) I've decided I need to get some experience with Windows 2000 Server.
And what better way to experience a Microsoft product release than under a
stable operating environment.

So I'm going to upgrade my hardware -- ironically for about the same amount
that W2K will cost -- and I'll also spend a fraction of that amount on
VMware. I envision running W2K to handle a miniscule (3 user) workgroup
environment, mostly to get experience with it. I'd still like for it to be a
tolerable experience for the users though. The Linux host system will still
be used to do the "real" work within the workgrouplet concurrently. The
Linux system will generally not be used for end-user applications other than
for myself (I don't count that much, so it needn't be a racehorse).

I've carefully read the FAQ, but I'd greatly appreciate it if anyone with
experience with VMware could answer some practical questions about hardware
before I place my hardware orders:

1. I'm looking at a dual-slot 1 motherboard (Supermicro P6DBE Dual 440BX)
with a single 500MHz PIII initially, with an eye towards a second CPU as
prices drop. I could put the difference in cost of the cost of the dual-CPU
motherboard towards a faster, single CPU. Would I be better off with a
single, faster PIII (ie. ABIT BE6-II 440BX with 650MHz PIII) or dual, slower
CPUs (ie. ABIT BP6 Dual Socket 370 Celeron 440BX with dual Celeron 533)?

2. Will 256MB RAM suffice for reasonable performance? Is this overkill for a
moderately loaded W2K instance? Would more matter? More/less than CPU?

3. I assume I'll want a fair amount of disk real-estate to allow multiple OS
instances Is a UDMA-66 EIDE drive sufficient?

4. I'll probably have something like a Matrox Millennium G200. How big a
factor is video?

5. Are my plans realistic? Will VMware on a (relatively) fast CPU be worth
it?

Thanks to this group, I'm aware of the possibilities offered by VMware. I'd
appreciate any guidance on avoiding painful lessons already learned!

Thanks!

- Bob