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Hardware Prerequisites

Before we dive into the wonderful world of the Metasploit Framework we need to ensure our hardware will meet or exceed some requirements before we proceed. This will help eliminate many problems before they arise later in this document.

All values listed are estimated or recommended. You can get away with less although performance will suffer.

Some of the hardware requirements that should be considered are:

Hard Drive Space

This will be the most taxing hurdle to overcome. Be creative if you might have some storage space constraints. This process can consume almost 20 gigabytes of Storage space, so be forewarned. This means we can not use a FAT32 partition since it does not support large files. Choose NTFS, ext3 or some other format. The recommended amount of space needed is 40 gigabytes.

  730000000    696MB  //z01 file size on disk
  730000000    696MB  //z02 file size on disk
  730000000    696MB  //z03 file size on disk
  730000000    696MB  //z04 file size on disk
  730000000    696MB  //z05 file size on disk
  272792685    260MB  //zip file size on disk
      total -------- 
              3740MB  //Total space before decompression and extraction

 5959506432   5700MB  //Extracted image file size on disk
20401094656  19456MB  //Per Converted FDCC VM on disk
      total -------- 
             28896MB

 8589934592   8192MB  //Optional Backtrack "GUEST" HDD Requirement's
      total --------
             37088MB

  123290094    112MB  //VMware-converter-4.0.1-161434.tar.gz
  377487360    360MB  //VMware Converter installed on disk
  101075736     97MB  //VMware-Player-2.5.3-185404.i386.bundle
  157286400    150MB  //VMware Player Installed on disk
      total --------
             37807MB  //See how fast it gets consumed!

If you decided to produce clones or snapshots as you progress through this course, these will also take up valuable space on your system. Be vigilant and do not be afraid to reclaim space as needed.

Available Memory

Without supplying enough memory to your HOST and GUEST operating systems you will eventually cause system failure. You are going to require RAM for your host OS as well as the equivalent amount of RAM that you are dedicating for each virtual machine.  Use the guide below to aid you in deciding the amount of RAM needed for your situation.

Linux "HOST" Minimal Memory Requirement's

   1GB of system memory (RAM)
        Realistically 2GB or more
  
Per Windows "GUEST" Minimal Memory Requirement's
   
   At least 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM (1GB is recommended) // more never hurts!
        Realistically 1GB or more with a SWAP file of equal value
   
(Optional) Backtrack "GUEST" Minimal Memory Requirement's

   AT least 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM (1GB is recommended) // more never hurts!
     Realistically 1GB or more with a SWAP file of equal value

Processor

Processor Speed is always a problem with dated hardware although old hardware can be utilized in other fashions to serve a better purpose. The bare-minimum requirement for VMware Player is a 400MHz or faster processor (500MHz recommended).  The more horsepower you can throw at it, of course, the better.

Internet Accessibility

This can be solved with a cat5 cable from your router/switch/hub. If there is no DHCP server on your network you will have to assign static IP addresses to your GUEST VM's. A wireless network connection can work just as well as an Ethernet cable, however, the signal degradation over distance, through objects, and structures will severely limit your connectivity.





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