Upgrade your Internet Experience
Microsoft.com
Welcome Sign in
Windows Small Business Server TechCenter
Click to Rate and Give Feedback
TechNet
TechNet Library
Windows
Windows Server
Deployment
 Best Practices for Using Hyper-V wi...
Best Practices for Using Hyper-V with Windows Small Business Server 2008

Updated: March 10, 2009

Applies To: Windows SBS 2008

  • Install a second network adapter

    It is recommended that you install two physical network adapters on your server. Hyper-V uses one network adapter, which it binds to the Microsoft Virtual Network Switch Protocol. You should install a second network adapter to help you remotely manage the system.

  • Use fixed virtual hard disks in a production environment

    When you create a virtual machine, the New Virtual Machine Wizard creates a dynamically expanding virtual hard disk by default. However, you should not use this virtual hard disk in a Windows SBS 2008 virtual environment, because some features and applications do not support virtual hard disks of this type. Instead, you should either create a fixed virtual hard disk for use by the virtual machine, or you should dedicate an entire hard disk drive for this purpose.

    Additionally, fixed virtual hard disk performance is faster, the file system is less likely to fragment, and it is easier to manage space on the physical hard disk.

    ImportantImportant
    You should always defragment a physical hard disk before you create a virtual hard disk.

    noteNote
    For instructions about how to create a virtual hard disk, see “Create Virtual Hard Disks” at the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=131254).

  • Do not join the instance of Windows Server 2008 that is running on the parent partition to the Windows SBS 2008 domain.

    If you install the primary and second servers on virtual machines on a single physical computer, and you join the instance of Windows Server 2008 that is running on the parent partition to the Windows SBS 2008 domain, a cyclic dependency is created between the parent and child partitions. If this occurs, the domain controller on the virtual machine is unavailable, and it can become more difficult to manage the parent operating system. However, you can mitigate this issue if you have an additional Active Directory domain controller on a different physical computer in the domain. In this case, you can join the parent partition to the domain.

  • Configure domain controllers for optimal performance

    You can run an Active Directory domain controller in a Hyper-V virtual machine. The following best practices apply:

    • Never save state in a domain controller. Doing so can cause synchronization issues in the domain if you revert to the saved state.

    • Do not pause a domain controller virtual machine for long periods of time. Doing so can adversely impact replication. Instead, shut down a domain controller when necessary.

    • Do not take snapshots of a domain controller. Microsoft does not support this functionality in these scenarios.

  • Back up the parent and child partitions

    To ensure that you can fully restore your virtualized server in the event of disaster, you should use Windows Server 2008 Backup to back up the parent and child partitions. For more information, see “Backup and Recovery” at the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=131606).

  • Do not back up or restore different partitions at the same time

    Do not run a Backup or Restore process in the parent partition and in a child partition at the same time. Doing so causes a conflict when each instance tries to lock the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writer.

Tags What's this?: Add a tag
Community Content   What is Community Content?
Add new content RSS  Annotations
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008      Ken Hansen ... tonysoper   |   Edit   |   Show History

I'd be curious too see some info on employing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 in an SBS environment - this is a free (as in beer) underlying Hypervisor that allows deployment of multiple virtual machines, but also requires either a Windows Server 2008 or Vista SP1 system to function as a system console for provisioning and managing virtual machines. While Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 is free, every installed OS needs it's own license, unlike purchased OEM/Retail Server 2008 instances that include either rights to virtualize one (Standard Edition), four (Enterprise Edition), or unlimited (Datacenter Edition) instances on the same physical server.

A business might want to gather up multiple discrete server boxes running Line of Business servers onto one moder box, and this would allow them to do this without investing in any new operating system licenses. It is also possible to virtualize non-Microsoft Operating Systems (Linux, Solaris, etc.) and manage them from the SBS 2008 server.

>>tonyso: You can find more information about Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 at: http://www.microsoft.com/servers/hyper-v-server/default.mspx

Hyper-V remote management      Joe_Raby ... vave uth   |   Edit   |   Show History

Is it also recommended that the computer used for remote management should also not be joined to the SBS domain if the SBS primary server is virtualized on Server Core or Hyper-V Server? Wouldn't you run into major issues if your remote management box needed domain authentication to sign on?

Having another physical backup domain controller would prevent issues, relating to the advice given about not joining the parent partition to the domain.

For that reason, if you want to manage the server remotely from a domain-joined PC, and don't have a backup physical domain controller, wouldn't it be recommended to stick with the GUI version of Server 2008 as the parent so that you could still log on locally in emergencies? (You would still have to not join the parent to the domain though)

Given these difficulties, it almost seems like using Server Core/Hyper-V Server isn't nearly as flexible as having a local GUI.

Hyper-V remote management      tonysoper   |   Edit   |   Show History
Hyper-V remote management      tonysoper   |   Edit   |   Show History

Joe-Raby's comment is correct. Whenever you require that the remote management computer be part of an domain that is not trusted by the domain of the server running Hyper-V, then you should use Windows Server 2008 - which provides you a full GUI and local management. In either case, you should follow the best practice recommendations in the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide, for hardening your W2K8 VMs. Also review http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc974516.aspx for best practice advice on Hyper-V security.

The GPO Accelerator can make this easier. The GPOAccelerator creates all the Group Policy objects (GPOs) that you need to deploy recommended security settings for your environment to save you hours of work that you would otherwise need to configure these settings.

BTW, the guide was published before Hyper-V RTM. When the Security Guide is updated, a new worksheet in the Attack Surface Reference Workbook will be added that lists the attack surfaces for Hyper-V. Until then, you can find the same information in the Hyper-V Attack Surface Reference Workbook, available for download today at http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/2/9/829bee7b-821b-4c4c-8297-13762aa5c3e4/Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Attack Surface Reference.xlsx. Copy=-paste into your Attack Surface Reference Workbook from the Security Guide and you are good to go.

Hyper-V remote management from Vista PC      Puttelutt   |   Edit   |   Show History
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=9ff6e897-23ce-4a36-b7fc-d52065de9960

Download the Windows 2008 Remote Administration Toolkit for Vista here. It will allow you to manage any role or feature on a Windows 2008 server. Remember that we are talking SMB market here, and that an additional AD DC isn't ussually affordable or available. Hyper-V allows us to take advantage of the Premium edition of the SBS 2008 server by installing both licenses on the same physical box. A perfect SMB set up if you ask me. One physical server, Hyper-V R2, VM1:SBS 2008, VM2: Windows 2008 server Standard as a Terminal server.

I'm currently installing this setup with the RC of Hyper-V Server R2. I'll post it here if I get in any trouble.
Tags What's this?: Add a tag
Flag as ContentBug
© 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use | Trademarks | Privacy Statement
Page view tracker