I just recently learned that Microsoft has released Hyper-V Server as a direct competitor to ESXi (which I have been using for the last year or so). I had a spare server sitting here so I decided to give it a shot. I mostly use my ESXi server as a lab/test server. I never dreamed what a pain in the butt it would be to set up Hyper-V for remote administration and general use. It seems that at every step, I meet permissions hell. I'm not running Active Directory, nor do I have any intention to in the near future. It would seem, however, that without AD in place, this will be a nightmare. Does anyone have any guides to getting a small Hyper-V lab set up in a non-AD environment? I seem to find precious little in my current Googling efforts...
Insane Setup Requirements for Hyper-V Server 2012
- Thread starter coolrunnings82
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If you perform a normal Windows 2008R2 server install and then add the Hyper-V role, everything just works - it's about as easy as it could possibly be. You do need to patch to SP1 in order to get the dynamic memory allocation feature, but that too is automatic if you run the Windows Update until it stops telling you that there are more updates available.
Are you installing a standalone version of Hyper-V instead?
Are you installing a standalone version of Hyper-V instead?
Yes, I'm installing standalone Hyper-V Server 2012 and trying to connect to it with a Windows 8 desktop. I can find some workarounds here and there but most come with caveats about how you shouldn't use their steps in a production environment, etc. The license structure is what I found attractive but I'm thinking it may not be so easy... ESXi I found to be very simple and straight-forward.
I experimented with the Hyper-V 2008R2 standalone back when I was running WHS, and I concur that it was a huge chore to get it configured, especially without AD. Not only is there no GUI, but for anyone accustomed to UNIX-style administration, the Microsoft shell commands are like a completely alien universe. It's much easier to work with ESXi IMHO.
I would agree with this. Microsoft needs to basically get to vSphere Client levels of ease.
The biggest problem I see with the permissions and AD - all in one box.
If this is an all in one box that means it is the first to be installed - ie no Domain yet.
seems short sighted. MS must understand that small businesses are going to want to use Hyper-V to control hardware costs, right?!
If this is an all in one box that means it is the first to be installed - ie no Domain yet.
seems short sighted. MS must understand that small businesses are going to want to use Hyper-V to control hardware costs, right?!