Consider a domain controller running Windows Server 2008 R2 with a dual-port NIC. Would I encounter problems by installing the Hyper-V role? Here are my primary concerns:
- Because Hyper-V is a hypervisor, the parent OS is also a virtual machine, it just happens to be in a special partition. Would the timekeeping problems associated with virtual machines apply in this instance?
- One GigE port would be dedicated to Hyper-V, the other would be used for the parent partition. I've heard all about DHCP weirdness with Hyper-V on a DC. Can this be avoided as long as it is carefully configured?
We will be getting a new server for use as a DC in a few weeks, and for only the cost of increased RAM, it could serve as a decent virtualization platform.
(Edit: This won't be the only DC for the domain, but I will be moving all of the FSMO roles onto it, making our existing DC act only as a secondary.)
Best Answer
Just to be clear, the "parent partition" on the virtual host, regardless of whether you want to technically refer to it as a VM or not, would not have the same issues with timekeeping. If you do end up deciding to instead run AD on a normal VM that actually appears in Hyper-V manager, be careful about how you manage it: 1) don't ever take snapshots of that VM because they are worthless on a DC and reverting to one of them will cause lots of trouble, and 2) don't expect to have the same flexibility with reverting to a backup of that VM either (in the way that you could with another box like a web server). More on these issues here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888794. As has been previously mentioned, the best config is to run these roles (Hyper-V and DC) on separate boxes.