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Ok, We are ready to deploy our first Hyper-V server with 3 VMs. Just wanted to get other peoples thoughts on Microsoft SCVMM. Do we really need it with only 1 host server? It seems like a good option if you have more than 1 hyper-v host. Are many people using it with only 1 hyper-v host server?

Also, can it be installed on the Hyper-v host? Or does it require it's own server? What about the Microsoft Data Protection Manager. Are there any real benefits to using these tools with 1 host server? Can they be installed on the host server?

Thank you for all you help.

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  • Did you end up getting System Center Virtual Machine manager or did you just "make do" without it?
    – Warren P
    Oct 17, 2012 at 17:32

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Do we really need it with only 1 host server

Depends. You need SCVMM to do P2V migration and it does provide a nice overview of the status of the VM's and better snapshotting functionality, but no, you don't (and it's much, much cheaper if you choose not to use it)

can it be installed on the Hyper-v host

Yes, unless you're running Hyper-V Core (the free edition)

What about the Microsoft Data Protection Manager

I found that DPM had some serious shortcomings (we switched back to Backup Exec, thank God for technet subscriptions), but they weren't related to SCVMM. To do D2D you can't use removable disks (!!), but yes, it can be the same host as Hyper-V and SCVMM (same caveat applies, it can't be installed on Hyper-V Core)

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    Actually you can do P2V migrations without SCVMM. It's just not an automatic process. technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415
    – Tatas
    Feb 14, 2011 at 20:56
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    Just a note, you don't NEED SCVMM to do P2V migrations; you can use disk2vhd, but its not recommended for domain controllers. You can also download a trial of SCVMM which is good for 1 year (even though it says 120 days during the download).
    – Jeff Miles
    Feb 14, 2011 at 20:59
  • Is virtualizing Domain controllers officially supported these days?
    – Tatas
    Feb 14, 2011 at 22:43

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