I'm far to be an expert in this area, so I need some light on this. I have a clean Windows Server 2012 Standard machine, where I need to install an SVN server, Team Foundation, and an Sql Server 2012. So far so good. The problem is that also I have to install a Domain Controller, situation that is not recommended to do in the same machine, as some people I have asked said. Some recommended to me that install the Domain Controller using a Virtual Machine. Is this a good approach? Wich VM software is the best for this? Virtual Box is an option or I have to use Hyper-V?
Thank you very much!
Windows Server 2012 Database server and Domain Controller in the same machine
active-directorydomain-controllervirtualizationwindows-server-2012
Best Answer
As we do not know the load your various apps place on the system, we cannot provide a definitive answer about running all on one host. We would need more info regarding the RAM, disk configuration and processor(s) as well as number of users to give a better answer.
As far as having a physical DC. You will be placing a lot of services/Apps on that one host and will have a single point of failure for the domain. If the network clients or services are looking for services from the DC and it is offline as the host has failed, VM has carashed or because another VM is using too much of something (Network, disk I/O etc) then you may have issues. We tried this for a production environment and there were many issues. Adding a physical DC solved the issues right away. As noted, use a proper hypervisor and certified hardware for your VMs