Virtual Machine Considerations (Windows Server AppFabric Caching)
Windows Server AppFabric supports using virtual machines with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. Although you can use virtual machines for cache hosts in a cache cluster, the cache cluster does not manage these cache hosts differently from physical machines. If several cache hosts run on virtual machines on the same Hyper-V server, this could affect availability of cached data. If high availability is used, both the primary and secondary copies of the cached data might reside on virtual machines on the same physical machine. If that server goes down, the cached data will be lost.
It is also important to note that AppFabric cache clusters are timing sensitive. Therefore, it is important that all virtual machines maintain a consistent and accurate time.
The following list provides general guidance for using AppFabric caching with Hyper-V.
Enable the Time Synchronization service on all child partitions.
Do not freeze/un-freeze virtual machines from the root partitions.
Use Windows Server 2008 Core on the parent partition.
Do not use the parent partition for any purpose other than running and managing child partitions.
Do not use the Hyper-V server as a domain controller.
See Also
Concepts
Deploying and Configuring Windows Server AppFabric Caching Features