Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Newbie / VMWare

[WANguy2k]

We have a Windows 2k3 domain. I just bought a new server which will be used to run VMWare on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise. I see nothing in any documentation that indicates I need to modify my domain to accommodate Windows Server 2008, although I see references to AD changes, DNS changes, etc.

I intend to do a core install on the 2008 server. The server doesn't need to be a domain controller or DNS/WINS server initially. (I may want to add these services later).

Are there any considerations before adding the new server to the domain? Any advise or links to documentation are appreciated.

 

[pagy]

If is going to be a member server then you don't need to do anything.

If you want it to be a domain controller;

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windo...aaad-4fa1-bccb-76ea8569da501033.mspx?mfr=true

Paul
MCSE 2003
MCSA 2003
MCTS:Active Directory
MCTS:Network Infrastructure
MCTS:Applications Infrastructure

If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?
Scott Adams

 

[kmcferrin]

I don't think that this is going to work. You can install VMWare server on Windows 2008, but I'm pretty sure that you can't install VMWare on a Server Core installation. You'll need the full GUI. But more to the point, why use VMWare? I can see installing VMWare ESX as your platform and then running Windows 2008 on top of ESX, but I can't see installing Windows 2008 as the platform and then putting VMWare Server on it. For starters, VMWare ESX has a bare-metal hypervisor, whereas VMWare server doesn't. So the performance on VMWare Server will definitely be worse than on ESX.

Of course, VMWare Server is free whereas ESX costs money. But if you already have Windows 2008 and you want a free virtualization solution, why not use Hyper-V? It's built into the OS so you've already paid for it, and it uses a hypervisor as well. I have found that the performance on Hyper-V is actually quite good, especially compared to VMWare Server.

________________________________________
CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+
MCSE:Security 2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

 

[58sniper]

It's built into the OS so you've already paid for it

Assuming the right SKU was used, as you can purchase 2008 with and without Hyper-V.

Pat Richard MVP

 

[WANguy2k]

Thanks for your responses. I didn't have nearly enough caffeine when I posted that: I'm running VMWare ESX, creating Windows 2008 Ent servers on it.

pagy, that was the answer I was looking for, just didn't come across it. I figured I needed to do an adprep or something before adding a 2008 DC.

But now that we're on the subject of VMWare -- I probably would have tried Win2k8 hyper-v, but it wasn't even out when the decision was made, and no one like rolling out something brand new.

I was told I needed win2k8 enterprise licensing to run virtual servers - 2 servers per processor. So I have 2 quad processors, 2 enterprise licenses for 8 virtual servers. This sound right?