Updating environments with Hyper-V can be more of a challenge compared to updating an environment that consists of mere physical servers. Not only the workloads need regular updating, but also the Windows servers and Hyper-V servers underneath them. The challenges Hyper-V relies on a Parent Partition, whether you're using a Full installation of ...

Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Datacenter Edition offers the ability to make virtual machines highly available by leveraging failover clustering. This however is not a good idea in the case of Active Directory Domain Controllers. In this post I’ll explain why Hyper-V High Availability for Domain Controllers is not a good idea and ...

In the recent days I've been enjoying seeing Mark Wilson slinging good information on Active Directory design online on his (we)blog, based on the MCS Talks: Active Directory design considerations, part 1: Introduction Active Directory design considerations, part 2: Forest and domain design  Active Directory design considerations, part 3: ...

Designing and implementing a virtual environment on top of Hyper-V can be challenging. Placement of Active Directory Domain Controllers require additional consideration, especially in some Hyper-V scenario's where Active Directory membership is strictly needed. In the scenarios below the Hyper-V parent partitions ("Virtual Hosts") need ...

Domain Controllers are perfect virtualization targets, but virtualizing a Domain Controller reintroduces possibilities to mess up the Domain Controller in ways most of the Directory Services Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) and other Active Directory enthusiasts have been fixing since the dawn of Active Directory. When working with virtual ...

Virtualization offers huge benefits in flexibility, cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness. However, some design choices need to be made towards deploying Active Directory Domain Controllers in virtual environments. Some of these choices are general choices, but some of them apply to Hyper-V enabled environments specifically. When deploying an ...

Last time we discussed how to transition your Active Directory to Windows Server 2008, which was something a lot of you were interested in. This time I'm talking in-place upgrading Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers. While this might seem like simply feeding the DVD and ...

Technology is all about putting it to good use. This is why I'm starting a new series of blog posts on Server Core usage scenarios aimed to putting Windows Server 2008 Server Core installations to good use! Server Core is coming to you this Easter! Showcasing the Server Core potential Microsoft's original aim was to make a version of Windows ...

You might be running Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 Domain Controllers at the moment and you're looking to replace these servers with Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers to utilize the new features of Windows Server 2008. You might also be looking to replace your aging Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 Domain ...

In the many years I've been consulting as a Lead Technical Consultant, Architect and Engagement Manager there are a number of things I've learned from the school of hard knocks. Many things are obvious, and some less so. We can often find methodologies and material about how to run projects effectively, but rarely have I seen anything that ...