We are doing the following and are quite successful with the setup:
- 2x Windows Server STD
- Windows CALs
- Exchange STD
- Exchange CALs
- RDS CALs
With that we set up one host with Hyper-V (2012 R2 preferred).
- VM 1: DC
- VM 2: Exchange 2013 CU3
- VM 3: RDS
- VM 4: LoB, WSUS
We just finished migrating our last SBS 2003 out to this setup (though with two servers and a few extra licenses).
For larger firms we can set up two identical servers and have licensing in place to allow for the following:
- Server 1 & 2: DC VM with DHCP Failover enabled (new 2012 R2 feature)
- Server 1: LoB VM with Replica to Server 2
- Server 1: Exchange
- Server 1: RDS VM with Replica to Server 2
Because Exchange and SQL have their own built-in redundancy features we have the option to configure in-guest clustering to build out the required redundancy for them.
Or, we can go with two servers with dual SAS HBAs and a dual controller SAS direct attached storage (MD3220, VTrak E610sD, DS3524) and set up an actual Hyper-V Failover Cluster. This option works very well for the very downtime conscious client.
Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business
In the most simple setup with 1 hyper-v server, do you join it to the domain or do you keep the hyper-v server in a workgroup?
ReplyDeleteWorkgroup for standalone hosts.
ReplyDeleteHVRemote to configure the domain based RSAT machine/VM and the host.
Chicken and the Egg problem (BTDT) if the host is domain joined and can't authenticate for something like critical changes.
Philip