BobAgi,
To answer your question, first the shared folder is located on a different drive of the VM's. I have only one shared folder with multiple folders within it. Each VM is mapped to the shared folder using the same letter.
Yes, I could achieve all the items listed below with a network share but using shared folders has worked very well for me. One advantage of using shared folders, they are faster than network shares.
1. I have a couple of VM's that I do development in. These are setup as bridged but most of the time, they are disconnected. Usually they connect, only to get updates. Yes, I could have setup them up as NAT but I prefer the bridged mode.
2. The source is in the shared folders and I compile from a VM. The output is saved in the shared folders and I can quickly test from other VM's or the host quickly with shortcuts.
3. You can place software, like Sysinternals Utilities in a sub shared folder with a shortcuts and all the VM's have access with one location. Very easy to update one location for multiple VM's.
4. If restoring from a snapshot, you don't have to worry about, did I copy my data to a safe place. The shared folders are not affected by snapshots just as network shares would not be affected.
5. Keep the data safe. I have routines to back up the entire shared folder or certain folders under the main shared folder. Yes, there are times, I copy the whole VM as a backup as well.
6. Even though, I have not tried these, other possibilities include moving MY Documents, page file or anything else you want on a separate drive.
On the forum, I have read about a lot of issues using shared folders. Like I stated earlier, the only issue that I have experienced is the file locking issue. To remedy that, using, Unlocker, it is a quick workaround when needed.
TXuser