Some Hyper-V Basics

Here is the answer to an inquiry about Hyper-V when starting from ground zero.

• Overview
• RAID 10 is your best friend (lots of I/O) but needs at least 4x drives.
• 16GB of RAM is better.
• Gives access to 8GB for SBS 2008+ and a couple of clients including RD RemoteApps on TS and a couple of 7s.
• Register a domain, or set up a DNS A record for testsbs.yourdomain.com and purchase the GoDaddy cert for that URL.
• Have an ISP IP handy for it so that one can test things from the Internet which is critical to understanding how things work.
• Hyper-V
• Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 Full
• GUI install means more updates.
• GUI install means security openings not in Core.
• Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 Core
• Command Line means less updates (There were about 8-12 in the last 6 months that were applicable).
• Tougher to configure though we do have a guide.
• Less OS load means more CPU cycles available for Hyper-V = better VM performance.
• Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
• Has a built-in “GUI” to eliminate much of the CL work.
• SConfig on R2 Core with Hyper-V brings up the same.
• Blog Category list of posts
• Note the binding order post is important for both Core and H-V Server.
• Clustering and all of its features are available in this free addition.
• P2V
• We have used StorageCraft for restores to H-V.
• Only one vCPU can be assigned during the restore or performance suffers.
• Legacy NIC required for initial restore if networking is critical.
• Hardware clean-up steps same as Hardware Independent Restore clean-up steps.
• We have used the built-in SBS 2008/v7 backup for restores to H-V.
• We have used the built-in Windows Server 2008+ for restores to H-V.

The above is an overview or guideline that can be used to build out an understanding of how to work with Hyper-V in all of its iterations.

Other than more cores is always better for the host, the above should be a good start.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer