Hyper-V Windows Server upgrade advice

Question

A friend has a small business that uses a MS Windows Server file server to support a SQL based business application plus file and print services for six employees and asked for my input regarding an upgrade.   They currently have an eight year old tower file server with an E5-2640V3 2.6GHz 8 core CPU, 48 Gb RAM, 1.5 Tb SAS 15k RAID5 hard drive storage array to host a physical (non-virtualized) instance of Windows Server Standard running MS SQL Express and Active Directory Domain Services.  The new file server I am recommending includes a Xeon E-2488 3.2 GHz 8 core CPU, 64 Gb RAM, 4 Tb RAID5 read intensive SSD storage array with a virtualized installation of MS Windows Standard 2022.  I am trying to determine if the potential advantages for backup, temporary manual failover and recovery using Hyper-V to host a single virtualized instance of MS Windows Server instead of a physical bare metal file server installation is worthwhile in a small one server environment?  I am pretty sure the performance increase from the faster CPU, additional memory and SSD storage would more than offset any noticeable performance degradation that virtualization will incur over a physical installation.  While I know that a separate computer is typically recommended to host Active Directory Domain Services in a larger environment, will there be any issues letting the single virtualized Windows Server instance continue to host AD DS if the base physical server Windows Server installation is running nothing except the Hyper-V Manager?  Considering their main business application uses MS SQL, would mixed use SSD storage be advisable for the 30% price increase over read intensive SSD?

Answer 1

Hello Jeff Katz1,

thank you for posting on the Microsoft Community Forums.

You're on the right track with your recommendations, and virtualizing the server environment has multiple advantages even in smaller setups. Here are some points to consider:

Virtualization Benefits

1. **Backup and Recovery Solutions**: Virtualization significantly simplifies backup and recovery processes. You can take snapshots of the VMs and use these for quick recovery in case of issues. Additionally, many modern backup solutions are optimized for virtual environments.
2. **Resource Allocation**: Hyper-V allows you to allocate resources dynamically. If you need more CPU power or memory for a specific task, you can adjust these settings on the fly.
3. **Isolation**: Running services in separate VMs can isolate different roles, reducing the risk of a single point of failure. This is beneficial even in smaller environments.
4. **Flexibility**: Virtualization offers greater flexibility in scaling up or migrating workloads to new hardware if needed.

Performance Considerations

The performance increase from the new CPU, additional RAM, and SSD storage should indeed offset the virtualization overhead. Modern hypervisors like Hyper-V have minimal overhead, making the performance difference between virtualized and bare-metal installations negligible for most use cases.

AD DS on Virtualized Environment

Running AD DS within a virtualized environment is generally fine, particularly in smaller environments. Best practices for virtualizing AD DS include:

• **Time Synchronization**: Ensure time synchronization settings are correctly configured to avoid issues with Kerberos and other time-sensitive operations.
• **Backup**: Regularly back up the VM hosting AD DS.
• **Replication**: Consider enabling replication to another VM or physical server if possible, to provide redundancy.

SSD Storage Considerations

Given that the main business application uses MS SQL, here are some considerations:

• **Mixed Use SSDs**: These provide a balance between read and write performance. SQL databases typically involve a mix of read and write operations, so mixed-use SSDs could offer better performance and longevity than read-intensive SSDs.
• **Cost-Benefit**: While mixed-use SSDs come at a higher cost, the potential performance benefits and increased drive longevity can be justified, especially for write-heavy applications.
• **Longevity**: Read-intensive SSDs might wear out faster under write-heavy workloads, potentially leading to higher long-term replacement and maintenance costs.

Conclusion

Your recommendation of upgrading to the new hardware with a virtualized environment running Hyper-V is sound. The potential advantages for backup, flexibility, and resource management outweigh the minimal performance overhead introduced by virtualization. Allowing the virtualized instance to host AD DS should not present significant issues in this small environment, provided best practices are followed. Mixed-use SSDs, though pricier, are advisable for the SQL workload due to the balanced performance and longer lifespan under mixed read-write scenarios.

Hope it helps.

Best regards,

Lei

Answer 2

Hi Lei,

It helps significantly, thank you so much for concisely addressing and confirming the advantages I surmised for using Hyper-V to virtualize MS Windows Server versus a physical installation on a single file server in a small business environment.  I was a bit surprised by the limited information my internet searches produced, so glad to know I am on the right track and will be testing the Hyper-V virtualized MS Windows Server 2022 trial on a demo computer.  To address your backup and replication cautions, I am looking at a Synology NAS based backup appliance that also has the capability of temporarily running a copied VM, which hopefully can be used as a cost effective manual failover platform.

I would welcome links to any documentation you may know of with recommendations for installing, configuring and optimizing a MS Windows Server VM using Hyper-V on a single file server.

Regards,

Jeff