Re: Running SBS 2003 on a virtual server?

Yes, you can do it, and it also has advantages when migrating from 2003 to 2008 as it's a virtual to virtual migration, with enhanced recovery options.

I've been running SBS 03 on both VMware and Virtual Server on Windows Server 2003 in production for some years now, and recently switched the host to Windows Server 2008 and the virtual hosting environment to Hyper-V.

You'll need an OS for the host, I'd recommend WS 2008 running Hyper-V. SB 2008 Premium provides licensing for this, or you can use Server Core with Hyper-V enabled but IMHO that's too much learning all at once.

VMware running on WS can also be a decent platform, but as it stands right now SBS 2008 is supported by MS on Hyper-V, while the word is not in on support for VMware.

Drawbacks to virtualization are few, but they include needing 3rd party solutions for access to USB/Serial hardware on the host, and of course the learning curve. But IMHO, it needs to be learned - virtualization provides a great platform for learning anything, including virtualization itself.

--
Les Connor [SBS-MVP]


____________________________
"r042wal" <rob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:8764AF16-E60F-4B78-9384-C223C0A2205F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I was looking for feedback from anyone running SBS 2003 on a virtual server?

My customer has an SBS 2003 server that we would like to migrate to a new SBS 2003 server. They would like to purchase the hardware that would enable them to migrate to SBS 2008 at a later date when SBS 2008 has been around longer.

Since presenting this, they have asked about going virtual with the new server we are considering. This would mean likely mean a Dell 2900, quad-core and 12Gb of RAM.

Could I run SBS 2003 in a virtual environment on this? Would VMware Server 2 be the best platform to host this? Considering I have had no experience with virtual servers in a production environment, is this a prudent move?

Thanks for any comments or opinions.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Using Hyper-V with Windows Small Business Server 2008
    ... This would be a three layer / tier approach as VMware is the third. ... Layer one in your approach would be SBS. ... Layer 2 is your virtualization OS ... So, in the approach SG recommended, was to have the first tier Hyperv Server ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: SBS 2008
    ... Suddenly we have a plethora of virtualization solutions, ... provision a win2k8 server testing yet... ... Both Server Core and W2K8 with Hyper-V role. ... that I will virtualize my entire SBS 2008 domain. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Running SBS 2003 on a virtual server?
    ... If I start by running SBS 2003 in Hyper-V, can I use the existing licensing? ... I noticed on TechNet there is a different license for SBS 2008 virtual so I wondered if the same applied to SBS 2003? ... I've been running SBS 03 on both VMware and Virtual Server on Windows Server 2003 in production for some years now, and recently switched the host to Windows Server 2008 and the virtual hosting environment to Hyper-V. ... Drawbacks to virtualization are few, but they include needing 3rd party solutions for access to USB/Serial hardware on the host, and of course the learning curve. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Running SBS 2003 on a virtual server?
    ... Gumby suggests I consider Hyper-V Server. ... I have not researched how many virtual machines I can install in this, but he suggested I might have better performance because there would be less overhead than with Server 2008 Hyper-V doing the hosting. ... You can use existing licensing for SBS 2003, but you're moving it to new hardware when you virtualize, so OEM is out, and you'll need to re-activate. ... Drawbacks to virtualization are few, but they include needing 3rd party solutions for access to USB/Serial hardware on the host, and of course the learning curve. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: How to virtualize SBS 2003 on Hyper-V
    ... I have one site running SBS03 Premium on Virtual Server on Server03 x64, I'd actually like to move it into Hyper-V. ... But it is unsupported by MS and it is not something that I would attempt on a production/business SBS. ... I need to verify all steps before virtualization: ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
Loading