Requirements for production deployment of Exchange Server 2007 with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V
A new article has been posted on TechNet covering “Microsoft Support Policies and Recommendations for Exchange Servers in Hardware Virtualization Environments”. This article, posted this week, marks the first time that I have seen details on the requirements for a supported Exchange Server 2007 implementation with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V in production.
In short, for a production deployment of Exchange Server 2007 with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, you will need:
- Exchange Server 2007 SP1 or later
- Fixed sized storage (fixed-sized VHD or pass-through disk)
- No other server applications running on the parent partition
- No CCR or SCC if combined with clustered virtualization servers
- No snapshots
- Processor ratio no greater than 2:1
Keep in mind that the list above is just a summary and there are additional details on each item.
The article is a very interesting read and it addresses a number of related issues, including:
- Virtual Machine Considerations
- High Availability and Disaster Recovery Considerations
- Backup and Restore Considerations
- Exchange Server Storage Requirements and Recommendations
- Performance and Scalability Considerations
There are also references to two support articles:
- https://support.microsoft.com/?id=897615
Updated support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software environments (updated on August 19, 2008) - https://support.microsoft.com/?id=944987
Support partners for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software (updated on November 10, 2007)
I recommend that you read the entire article, posted at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794548.aspx