Virtualization Questions
We are planning to evaluate certain operating systems set up as virtual machines on a standard PC running Windows 10 Pro. There appear to be three leading candidates for virtualization software:
1). Microsoft Hyper-V
2). Oracle VirtualBox
3). VMWare Workstation
We are not (at this point) going to use virtualization in a production environment. We just want to investigate various operating systems as "guest OSs" on a virtual machine (Windows Server only).
We want to dedicate a Windows 10 Pro machine as the host (non-virtual). Initially, we plan to use Windows Server 2019 as the guest operating system. With a Windows 10 Pro host, is there any problem installing/running Windows Server operating systems as the guest OS? We are only planning to have a single guest virtual machine running on the Win 10 Pro Dell XPS desktop computer.
Since this our first foray into virtualization, I would greatly appreciate any recommendations or suggestions anyone has about how best to implement this. We will only be using Microsoft OS products as noted. Since this virtual setup should be relatively uncomplicated, I would prefer to use the simplest of the three virtualization options above. Thanks very much for any assistance you can offer.
1). Microsoft Hyper-V
2). Oracle VirtualBox
3). VMWare Workstation
We are not (at this point) going to use virtualization in a production environment. We just want to investigate various operating systems as "guest OSs" on a virtual machine (Windows Server only).
We want to dedicate a Windows 10 Pro machine as the host (non-virtual). Initially, we plan to use Windows Server 2019 as the guest operating system. With a Windows 10 Pro host, is there any problem installing/running Windows Server operating systems as the guest OS? We are only planning to have a single guest virtual machine running on the Win 10 Pro Dell XPS desktop computer.
Since this our first foray into virtualization, I would greatly appreciate any recommendations or suggestions anyone has about how best to implement this. We will only be using Microsoft OS products as noted. Since this virtual setup should be relatively uncomplicated, I would prefer to use the simplest of the three virtualization options above. Thanks very much for any assistance you can offer.
Thanks Lee! :)
I have two very thorough EE articles on all things Hyper-V:
Some Hyper-V Hardware and Software Best Practices
Practical Hyper-V Performance Expectations
Some PowerShell Guides:
PowerShell Guide - Standalone Hyper-V Server
PowerShell Guide - New VM PowerShell
PowerShell Guide - New-VM Template: Single VHDX File
PowerShell Guide - New-VM Template: Dual VHDX Files
Here are some focused articles:
Set up PDCe NTP Domain Time in a Virtualized Setting
Slipstream Updates Using DISM and OSCDImg
Protecting a Backup Repository from Malware and Ransomware
Disaster Preparedness: KVM/IP + USB Flash = Recovery. Here’s a Guide
I have two very thorough EE articles on all things Hyper-V:
Some Hyper-V Hardware and Software Best Practices
Practical Hyper-V Performance Expectations
Some PowerShell Guides:
PowerShell Guide - Standalone Hyper-V Server
PowerShell Guide - New VM PowerShell
PowerShell Guide - New-VM Template: Single VHDX File
PowerShell Guide - New-VM Template: Dual VHDX Files
Here are some focused articles:
Set up PDCe NTP Domain Time in a Virtualized Setting
Slipstream Updates Using DISM and OSCDImg
Protecting a Backup Repository from Malware and Ransomware
Disaster Preparedness: KVM/IP + USB Flash = Recovery. Here’s a Guide
What is the purpose of this exercise? If you want to learn about virtualization and how it could be be used to explore how you can run Windows 2019 VMs in production, then you should use a hypervisor that you might actually use in production. Your best options are Hyper-V and ESXi.
Using a desktop hypervisor gives you half of the experience of virtualizaton.
Using a desktop hypervisor gives you half of the experience of virtualizaton.
ASKER
The primary purpose is to investigate various flavors of the Windows Server operating system. It seems that the evaluation of guest operating systems is or has been a primary use of a virtualized computer (as opposed to purchasing a new server simply for testing and learning).
The secondary purpose is, as you say, to learn about virtualization.
Thanks to all of the experts above for their useful responses and the reference articles about virtualization.
The secondary purpose is, as you say, to learn about virtualization.
Thanks to all of the experts above for their useful responses and the reference articles about virtualization.
You should plan all of your server deployments to be VMs as the default. It is very rare that you should be deploying Windows bare metal. Many, many organizations have been deploying as VMs for 10 years or more.
Completely agree - as I discuss in my referenced article, the question isn't "why should I virtualize" the question is "why SHOULDN'T I virtualize" - if you can't come up with a good answer, then you virtualize!
ASKER
I should have mentioned that most of the networks we work on are small SMB size systems (as opposed to Enterprise level systems). As a result, we often only have a single server on the office network. All of these servers were set up in the traditional way (OS installed directly on the physical server). I realize that virtualization in not a new technology. However, it is something that we would like to learn about in a non-production environment where trying different server operating systems, etc. can be done without inconveniencing the system's users.
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ASKER
I will investigate this. It sounds like a very good idea. Thanks.
Depending on your budget, another option would be to build a small rig.
* ASRock Rack Intel or AMD Single Socket Board
* Intel Xeon E-2200 or Scalable
* 128GB+ pRAM
* A couple Intel/Samsung/Micron SATA SSDs in RAID 1 for OS and then Data (2 partitions)
Cost would depend on CPU and memory density.
* ASRock Rack Intel or AMD Single Socket Board
* Intel Xeon E-2200 or Scalable
* 128GB+ pRAM
* A couple Intel/Samsung/Micron SATA SSDs in RAID 1 for OS and then Data (2 partitions)
Cost would depend on CPU and memory density.
I picked up a couple of Dell R620 Servers off ebay with 128 GB of RAM and dual 8 core CPUs that, when outfitted with SSDs are blazingly fast... paid less than $500 each.
The one thing to keep in mind is noise. 1U servers will be a lot louder than 2U servers which would be louder than a pedestal server. Heat is also a consideration.
Those 620s are surprisingly quiet
If you're exploring this for server purposes, I would NOT use a Windows 10 PC. If you're already planning on using 2019 as a VM, then install 2019 to the hardware - even if it's a generic PC - Server 2019 will run on almost all hardware that a Windows 10 PC would (if not all).
I would suggest reading over my article on why you should virtualize and Philip Elder's as well. https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/27799/Virtual-or-Physical.html (Note: the early part of the article discusses why you want to virtualize, the latter part provides tips for what kind of configuration you should use and what things to keep in mind when creating your VMs.