System Requirements
Hardware Requirements Processor
x64 2 GHz+
Software Requirements
Supported operating system
Windows Server 2008 +
RAM
2 GB+
VMM Server
Runs the VMM service to run actions, transfer files, control communication, connect to VMM database First component to install Maximum of 400 hosts & 8,000 VMs per VMM Server Considerations
VMM Server must be a domain member Installing VMM Server directly on a failover cluster is not supported
Can be installed in a clustered VM (not managed by VMM)
VM Migration is not supported for virtual machines with VMM Server installed Install VMM server on dedicated machine or with other VMM components
VMM Database
Microsoft SQL Server database
VMM comes with SQL Server 2005 Express
Considerations
Local or remote instance SQL Server Express Database is limited to 4 GB (up to ~150 hosts) No support for SCOM integration with SQL Server Express Security between VMM server and remote library server Additional disk space for database
VMM Library
Contains
File-based resources: VHDs, ISOs, Script VM templates Unused VMs Hardware & Guest OS Profiles PowerShell scripts Sysprep answer files
The VMM server is the default library server Each library server can have multiple library shares High availability achieved with failover clustering
VMM Library must be separate from VMM Server
Considerations
Enterprise Topology
Remote Library Server
Brisbane
London
Virtual Machine Hosts Remote Library Server Virtual Machine Hosts
VMM Administrators
3 Security Groups
VMM Administrators VMM Self-Service Portals VMM Servers
Standardize VM
Plan VMs for each server role Store VMs in library for quick deployment Use VM templates
Hardware profile Virtual hard disk Guest operating system profile
Hardware Profiles
A library resource containing hardware specifications Can be applied to new VMs or a VM template Ensure consistent hardware configurations Managed in library view Created from scratch, from a template, or hardware configuration of existing VM Settings
BIOS, Processor, Memory, Floppy drive, COM1 and COM2, IDE devices, Network adapter, Priority, Availability
Guest OS Profiles
A collection of OS settings that can be used in a VM template during creation of any VM Database object Not associated with any virtual machine Settings Identity information - Computer name
Keep the * for a random name
Takeaways
Carefully plan the physical locations of the different server roles Separate user roles with different operational rights Standardize VMs for different server roles with templates and profiles