Hyper-V Exchange and Outlook

This is a tricky one to explain.
Old system setup.
Stand alone Exchange 2010 on Server 08 R2 16GB ram dual core
Outlook 2010 on all workstations.
Everything was fine.

New setup.
Exchange as a VM on server 2012 R2 Hyper-V 32 GB Ram with 3 processors.

Ever since moving Exchange to the Hyper-V server all Outlook clients have random sporadic moments when all of Outlook freezes. I mean everything, minimize, close, all buttons, hotkeys everything. Then after about 5 to 10 seconds to all comes back fine. I cannot believe that this has anything to do with Exchange server... but it started the Monday after moving Exchange to the VM. I have raised the amount of processors and RAM, I have disabled all other VM's on Hyper-V. On the times when it happens to my workstation, I look at the resources of the Hype-V server and the VM and they are not anywhere near maxing out the available resources. I have tried changing outlook from cache mode to non cache mode. I have removed my profile from system completely and re-added it..I have created new users with no email.. I see no errors in the elogs on either the workstation or server.
It seems that no matter what I do this does not go away. Has anyone else experienced this issue?  

Thanks
Richard
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RichardPhippenAsked:
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Simon Butler (Sembee)ConsultantCommented:
Which version of Exchange did you put on to Windows 2012 R2? Exchange 2010 or 2013?
It sounds like something is taking a snapshot which is locking the machine up. More resources isn't the source of the issue, so I would remove that additional RAM and CPU.

Simon.
AmitIT ArchitectCommented:
Any Firewall? Between client or server. Use netmonitor tool and run traces when issue happens again, both on client and server end.
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
@ Simon
Sorry, should have been more clear. It is the same version on Exchange 2010 SP1. I do not have replication enabled currently on the Exchange machine, nor at the moment any backup software running.

@ Amit Windows Firewall was running, I just disabled that while typing this.. hopefully that is not the problem as it has always been on. I can try running the netmon tool, the problem is that by the time the user sees the issue and gets in touch with me, it has cleared up. But I will try. Will update later if the firewall was the issue or not.


Thanks
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AmitIT ArchitectCommented:
I assume you didn't stop the firewall service. You need to run this command in admin mode.
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off

Any Antivirus on your Exchange Server? I assume Exchange related binaries are excluded from AV.
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
@ Amit

Firewall service is disabled and off on both the host Hyper-V server and the Exchange server. Kaspersky does not scan anything on the Exchange server, nor the host Hyper-V machine.
Simon Butler (Sembee)ConsultantCommented:
I am not surprised it doesn't work - Exchange 2010 is not supported on Windows 2012 R2.

Simple as that.

SP1 installed because it pre-dates Windows 2012 R2 by about three years and therefore isn't blocked correctly.
You are going to have to migrate to another installation of Windows 2012 (NOT R2). You also need to install using the Exchange 2010 Sp3 media (the service packs are the complete product).

Simon.
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
@Amit

I am so sorry. I have been pulled too  many ways on this today, I was not focused on this topic completely.

The root level OS of the Hyper-V server is Server 2012 R2, the OS of the Exchange server is 2008 R2. Everything else listed is correct. Re-read it twice. Sorry again for the confusion.
Update on issue after firewall being completely disabled. Problem is still occurring.
Simon Butler (Sembee)ConsultantCommented:
Exchange 2010 SP1?
Again, you shouldn't be on that version. Update the server to Exchange 2010 SP3, with the latest rollup.

Although I don't think this is a problem with Exchange or the guest at all, but HyperV doing something.

Simon.
AmitIT ArchitectCommented:
What do you mean by moving Exchange to VM? Did you converted physical to virtual?
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
@ Amit

Clean install of Exchange 2010 on a new install of server 2008 R2.
AmitIT ArchitectCommented:
That's good. Any add-ons on client end machine? Run Outlook in safe mode and then check the issue. Or disable add-ons. Any other 3rd party tool you are using on your Exchange server?

You can also use exrca.com for testing this issue. Just click on Client tab and download the tool on a test machine and do the testing.

Finally, If it still persist, you open case with Microsoft.
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
@ Amit

(side note though. At another firm I used MVMC at another location on an Exchange P2V migration and that seems fine... I get so many mixed opinions regarding converting Exchange to a VM.. nonetheless)

The only 3rd party app on the Exchange machine is a signature application. And for testing I over the weekend I had it off.. it is hard to turn it on during the week as we are not allowed to send emails out without our disclaimer.

As for addin's within Outlook, We have a few.. AV and a slew of MS plugins.. I will disable them all on my machine and test.

I will look into Exrca.com
Thanks for the info.
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
Turns out the issue was AV software. Once uninstalled from workstations completely everything ran fine. No answer from AV company, tried out another company and everything is fine.

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AmitIT ArchitectCommented:
Thanks for the update. Some time AV really causes unnecessary issue. Though we were focusing on server end AV.
RichardPhippenAuthor Commented:
only solution was to uninstall my AV and install another brand.
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