asked on

Installing SBS 2008 on ESXi 4

Hi

I have a new startup company that want to get an SBS 2008 Serer and 10 PC's.

We use VMware 3.5 and Vshpere on some of our large clients but i thought that there could be benefits of using SBS2008 on a single server using ESXi just for recoverablilty really.

Has anybody got this kind of setup and have feedback, is it supported? or do you have to stick to then conventional method of installing it direct to the hardware.

We would only be using local Storage.

We generally use HP Prolient Kit.

Any feedback would be welcome for and against.

Thanks

Nick

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Glen Knight

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Mike Thomas

I installed on Esx3.5 and it ran like any other server.

I can't imagine why there would ever be an issue with it.

And it would great for snap shotting, so it would certainly add something.

ncomper

ASKER

Thanks Both

Out of interest what backup stratergy have you used?

On SBS servers we have deployed in the pasy we have just installed Backup Exec SBS edition and a tape drive.

Is there anything out there ideal for the SBS enviroments that are virtualised.

Thanks

Nick

Glen Knight

here is the Microsoft document on Virtualisation Support: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd239202(WS.10).aspx

There are a couple of options, BackupExec supports VMWare and Hyper-V

Or you could add USB support to your SBS server as per Page 166: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_admin_guide.pdf and use the native Windows Backup with a USB Tape Drive.
Never tried it with a SCSI one.

coolsport00

Yep, you can certainly run it...there is a couple threads on here regarding this (one of them here: https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/25154512/SBS-2003-2008-disaster-recovery-plans-virtualization.html?sfQueryTermInfo=1+sb+virtual).

If you run SBS on ESXi, you cannot use typical virtualization backup strategies (Veeam, vRanger, etc) as that functionality was taken out of that VMware OS version back in June 09. If you wanted VM backup capability, you would need to upgrade to ESXi Essentials packages.
See:
http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html
http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/overview.html

Hope that helps.
Regards,
~coolsport00

p.s. Be careful about USB in VMware...it is still not 'officially' supported. The only way to use USB is via VMDirectPath (see: http://www.petri.co.il/vmware-esxi4-vmdirectpath.htm), IF the host supports IOMMU or you can see an EE expert article here:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/Software/VMWare/Copy-files-to-USB-drive-under-VMware-ESX4-ESXi4-vSphere-console.html

vmwarun - Arun

SBS 2008 is x64 only so please check your Hardware in VMware HCL before you procure your Hardware.
VMware HCL - http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php
ESX4/ESX4i both require a CPU that is x64 Compatible.

ncomper

ASKER

Thanks