I am looking at purchasing a new server to host 3 virtual machines for a client. I have read that the virtual machine should be given its own network card. In this case, is it best practices to have 4 network cards, one for the hyper-v server and 3 for the virtual machines.
Is it best practices to have a network card for each virtual machine on a server
virtualization
Best Answer
Short answer: no, also because typically you can run dozens of VMs on a single physical server and you just can't stick enough network ports in it.
Longer answer: no, you usually do something in software (like network bridging, NATting, software-defined network gear, vSwitch, Vyatta, stuff like that), and if you really need "something like a real ethernet port" you are going to look at I/O-virtualization technologies (that means compliant motherboard, firmware, ethernet card).