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PumpernickelFlag for United States of America

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Hyper-V Server 2008 Shared Resources

In VMWare ESXi, you can allot a session with 1GB of ram, and then allot another session with 1GB of ram and it doesn't use the resource unless it is needed.  So when you view your resources, it doesn't show 2GB taken up, it will show what the sessions are current using.  In Hyper-V, when you set a session to use the same setup listed above, it shows 2GB inuse.  Is there anyway to setup Hyper-V Server the same way VMWare so it won't use the RAM unless it is needed?  I have an 8GB server and I need 8 sessions of Windows 7.  That means 1GB each for the Windows 7 sessions, plus 1GB for Hyper-V Server 2008.  So the total would be 9GB, but the server is only 8GB.  VMWare worked well because it would allow me to set them each 1GB, but it wouldn't use the resources unless the session needed it.  
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rindi
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No. That is one of the big shortcomings of Hyper-V compared to VMWare, it doesn't dynamically share out the available resources.
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Since Windows 7 min. requirements are 1GB of RAM, would it be a big deal if I set them to 768MB if the users are just using them for email, internet, and some microsoft office here and there?
Although Windows 7 will run with 768MB, it'll be slow and not really nice to work with that way. Also, m$ tends to be really optimistic when they publish their minimal requirements for their OS's. I would assign at least 1.5GB or 2GB for a windows 7 PC or VM.

Why don't you keep on using ESXi, as it's free and does the job better than Hyper-V, and it doesn't require 1GB for itself either.
I had to switch servers, and the older server I'm using doesn't have hardware that is supported on ESXi.  So the RAID 5 config won't work, nor the motherboard, nor the CPU, unless I replace the motherboard, CPU and purchase a new Hardware controller.
Have you actually tried it? Sometimes it'll work even if it isn't on the HCL. I had a similar issue once, and I couldn't install ESXi to the HD of the server, but once I had it installed to a 4GB USB drive it worked and also recognized the array. Also, Hyper-V needs at least the same spec'ed CPU as ESXi as far as I know, so if your CPU supports Hyper-V it should also support ESXi.
I tried to install it to the HDs that I setup in a RAID 5 array, but it saw the drives as individual drives.
Then all you would need is a better RAID controller, as the current one seems to be a fakeraid controller.
With reference to your original question, I think you might be interested in "Dynamic memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1"
http://www.savilltech.com/videos/2008R2SP1inAction/sp12008R2inAction.wmv
SP1 is still in beta though.

Regards,
Shahid
I'm using Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.  I'm not using Windows Server 2008 R2.  
Now does it matter if I am using Windows Server 2008 Standard (Not R2) to manage the Hyper-V sessions?  Will that affect if Dynamic Memory is an option?
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msmamji
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Okay, I installed the tools on Windows 7, it connects, but there is still no dynamic memory, so I am guessing I need to install SP1 on the Hyper-V server 2008.  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyId=c3202ce6-4056-4059-8a1b-3a9b77cdfdda&hash=exiaUL%2bc7tWjw7qMXAHYZn5RcwOmsGiP%2bbxds2Tpj9FHPBq09pRdzNWURnJ1oo0YK6RjC4c6dOXn3qi1T3vQ9g%3d%3d , I'm guessing I just download the DVD iso, burn it, then navigate in cmd to the cd drive, and execute the setup executable?  Or is there a way to just download and install it right from the hyper-v server without burning it?
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Then could I just install SP1 on my Windows Server 2008 Standard (Not R2) and this would work?  Or is SP1 not available for Windows Server, that isn't R2?
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