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Hi there!

I am planning to set up a Hyper V Core host.

This Core Host will host the DC.

Is it best practice to add the HV Core to the domain which is held by the DC on the VM?

Why yes? Why not?

Thanks in advance!

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(DoctorDNS) 2

There is no OS called Hyper-V Core. Do you mean Server 2812R2 running as Server Core, or the free Hyper-V Server?

Assuming you mean the former, then join it to the domain. Admin and security are both easier.

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Ah Sorry, Hyper V Server 2012 R2 it will be. (The one without the gui)

What happens if i restart the whole server?

Is it possible to log into the Hyper V server if the VM which hosts the DC isn’t up yet?

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Within the second and next times it will be possible. At the same time, you can always login as a local administrator if need be.

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5

There is no 2812R2 either :oP

There are 2 with no GUI

  • Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 ( hypervisor only and free)

  • Server 2012 R2 Core , with Hyper-V role ( needs a license, actual server, not just hypervisor)

Depends. I prefere not to join them to the domain.

However for small business and ease of management joining makes things easier.

You want is possible 2 DCs on different hardware.

If the DC is down you might be lucky and the credentials might be cached and it might let you log in , or well it won’t log you in saying no logon server found.

That is why you usually have 2 DCson different hardware, so you can take each down at a time for maintenance and you still have redundancy in case one host does, as you have the other DC on other hardware.

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Sigh/

Both Server core inside Server 2012 R2 and The hyper-V server are gui-less

Are you using the free hypervisor or the paid for Operating System that includes the hypervisor?

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Is it possible to logon to a laptop that is outside of the office without a domain connection?

There is your answer - cached account credentials work on servers as well.

Of course, best practice is to have at least two DC’s running as VM’s on different hardware

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I want to install the free Hyper V server.

As i read i then can run 2 x Server 2012 Standard R2 on 2 VM’s with just one licence on it.

The Second DC is a idea i asked myself too.

The old Dell T610 we are currently running with SBS 2008 would be perfect for a small Hyper V host for redundancy.

But coming back to the first question:

So there is no “best practice” for that? Some prefer, others don’t?

I think i will add it.

Thanks for the help!

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Is it possible to log into the Hyper V server if the VM which hosts the DC isn't up yet?

Still you can login locally using local administrator / administrator user credential. Personally I would say don’t make your Hypervisor core machine as part of the domain. Let it be a standalone and login using local administrator / administrator user credential.

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None I’m aware of. Do you want it added to the domain or not?

Of course, make sure you note the logon details of the local account just in case.

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Thank you guys!

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You can not do this.

If you use the free hypervisor, you must license each VM separately. If you use the paid-for Server with Server Core (utilising standard edition), you can run TWO vms on the server but no other services under the host;s OS. So the physical host can not be a DC.

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Really? That makes no sense for me o_0

Sorry for asking newb questions, but:

I have to use the Server 2012 Standard R2 install on my physical device and install ONLY the Hyper V role to be able to use 2 VMs but I am NOT allowed to use a free version of the Hyper V Server os and then also be able to use 2 VMs with my 2012 Standard R2 licence?

I thought the license says either 1 physical install or 2 virtual installs. No matter on which host. VMWare or Hyper V

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If you have existing standard licences then you should be able to use those to spin up two VM’s on the free hypervisor?

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As I understand it, no. But I could be wrong.

My understanding is that you can either have the free hypervisor and license each VM separately, or use full Server and license up to 2 VMs for standard edition. Running as Server Core but full server OS, means you are entitled to run 2 vms (standard edition!) for no additional charge. My understanding is that if you use the free HyperVisor you must separately license each VM. I did not think the Standard Edition entitlements ‘worked’ if you just had a standard edition license hanging around. Of course, if you did, you;'d be better off loading the server, installing it as Server Core - that way no question.

And, of course (YOU know this!) licensing is per two CPUs. So if you have a 4 CPU box (4 CPU s each with 1 or more ores), you could need more licenses.

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To answer the question, yes, you can join the host to the domain. Doing so gives you all the advantages of domain membership.

A case where it would make sense to NOT join the domain would be if you were hosting VMs for someone else and wanted to prevent that domain’s access to your hosts.

And the licensing thing about only being able to run one instance is wrong. Please, let’s put an end to this once and for all. Here’s the quote:

For each server to which you have assigned the required number of software licenses, you may run on the licensed server, at any one time: o one instance of the server software in one physical operating system environment, and o two instance of the server software in one virtual operating system environment.

That means any virtual OS environment. So, assigning a single license of 2012R2 Standard to a physical machine with 2 processors entitles you to two instances of the software in any one virtual OS environment. That host can be Hyper-V, 2012R2 core, 2012R2 gui, ESXi, etc.

Still not convinced?

If a server is running a hypervisor on bare metal (directly on top of the server hardware), such as VMware’s ESX/vSphere), then Windows Server is not deployed as a host operating system in the physical OSE. However, a license is required for every physical processor on the server and every “guest OS” instance running in a virtual OSE should be appropriately licensed (Standard edition will allow up to two virtual instances with each license and Datacenter edition will allow an unlimited number of virtual instances with each license).

If you have assigned a single license for Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard to a server running ESX/ESXi, then you may run two instances of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard at a time. The right to run an instance of Windows Server 2012 R2 in the physical OSE cannot be used in this case since ESX/ESXi runs on the physical OSE (and as a result, Windows Server 2012 R2 cannot be deployed as the operating system on the physical OSE).

If you have assigned a second Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard edition to the server running ESX/ESXi, then you may run up to four instances at a time of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard. You may not run a fifth virtual instance under the same license. You could, however, run a fifth instance of Windows Server if it is running as a physical instance on top of the server hardware.

Here it is straight from the horse’s mouth:

@thomaslee @garydwilliams

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@ Robert5205

That is a really nice info. Thank you for that!

So i didn’t misinterpreted that and am able to do the licencing as i planned.

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That’s incorrect. The hypervisor installed is irrelevant to licensing. if you assign a Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard license to that physical host, you can use any hypervisor and still get your two “free” VMs. Hyper-V Server, ESXi, Xen, Windows Server with (only) Hyper-V Role.

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I used to think that too, but MS calls it “serverhypercore” when you download it.

9600.16384.WINBLUE_RTM.130821-1623_X64FRE_SERVERHYPERCORE_EN-US-IRM_SHV_X64FRE_EN-US_DV5.ISO

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