I want to start my first virtualized work environment and i don't know what is better to do.
I have windows 2008 R2 Std edition.
i want to setup 2 HyperV machines
Do i first setup the windows server on the HW or do i better install the HyperV Core on the HW ?
Thanks
IIRC, Hyper-V allows you to install the Hyper-V host and a single virtualised server instance using the single license (Server 08 comes with both physical and virtual license keys for this). Unless you have purchased a separate license for the Hyper-V host as well as the two VMs, you're not allowed to use the Hyper-V host for anything other than Hyper-V.
So, run up the host, then create both Hyper-V child servers. It will give you much greater flexibility in any case.
You install Hyper-V server on the bare metal and then you install 2008 as a guest inside it.
I think there is some confusion going around about the various forms that HyperV can take. There are a number of different ways to use it, but the easiest for you will be to simply enable the HyperV role within Server 2008 R2. Don't worry about doing anything else.
Set up the r2 server on the physical box, and enable the HyperV role on it. Just don't install anything else on the physical box.
As for your licensing, hopefully this will clarify:
Hopefully this will help clarify:
Server 2008 R2 license 1: 1. Install on the physical hardware using the Physical install key. 2. Install in the first HyperV child you run up using the Virtual install key.
Under Microsoft's EULA, you can use the same license for both the physical box and the first VM as long as all the physical box is doing is running the Hyper-V management console. If you want it to do more than run HyperV, then you'll need to purchase a separate license for the physical install.
If you want to run up additional servers after the first, you'll need to purchase additional licenses. If you purchase Server 2008 R2 standard, you'll need one license per VM. If you purchase Server 2008 R2 enterprise, then as stated above, you can run up to 4 VMs.
Mark, by HyperV guest license, I assume Cmosk is talking about the Virtual installation license as opposed to the Physical installation license.
On a side note, be careful running a TS on a virtual system. Make sure you've got appropriate hardware to support it. In my experience, disk I/O can bottleneck really badly on a virtual TS if you're not careful.
If you will use this machines only to virtualization you should use a core edition, this is because it has a smaller footpring and cosumes less hardware resources in the parent partition. You can manage them from a client PC using Hyper-V remote magamente console.
If you have only Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard maybe is not a good idea to use them in ths scenario. There is a Windows Server 2008 Core Edition enable only to run Hyper-V, is Call Hyper-V Server and is completly free, included support.
If you have Windows Server 2008 R2 enterprise edition is better because you can make a cluster between both host machines.
