{"id":1861,"date":"2016-09-04T09:53:54","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T14:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swildow.darktech.org\/wp\/?p=1861"},"modified":"2016-09-04T10:02:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-04T15:02:14","slug":"1861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wildow.com\/blog\/?p=1861","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many design considerations that can dictate how to build your virtual machines (VMs), but a major consideration is storage. This post will focus on using virtual hard disks (VHDs) stored locally on the hypervisor\u2014either through direct attached disks, shared storage, or a highly available cluster shared volumes (CSVs). Accessing storage directly from the VM via iSCSI targets or Fiber Channel mounts was popular prior to Hyper-V 2012. Often times, the case for this design was due to the 2 TB VHD limit imposed by all major hypervisor vendors. With Hyper-V 2012 and VMWare 5.5, this limit has been increased to 64 TB!<\/p>\n

Microsoft SQL Server can demand high input\/output (IO) and uses several different disks for multiple types of workloads. This guide will walk through building a SQL Server with different VHDs on separate controllers. These VHDs should not<\/em> be stored<\/em> on the same storage device if you want to maintain a high level of performance, unless it is an all-flash array. If you deploy to a Storage Space or a SAN, use multiple arrays across separate sets of spindles to spread the IO. Designing that kind of architecture is a career in itself!<\/p>\n

The Hyper-V 2012 R2 environment can be controlled (preferably) from any Windows 8.1 workstation. To do this, install the RSAT Tools<\/a> on your local workstation. Run Hyper-V Manager and connect to your hypervisor. Alternatively, Remote Desktop into the hypervisor and use Hyper-V Manager to connect to the local computer.<\/p>\n

LET\u2019S BEGIN WITH A BASIC VIRTUAL MACHINE CONFIGURATION<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. \u00a0Click New > Virtual Machine\u2026<\/strong> A wizard will open and walk you through the process. For the steps below, configure the indicated page as described and click Next.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HyperV<\/a><\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Specify Name and Location<\/strong>: Choose a name for the new VM and choose where to store the VM if desired.<\/p>\n

\"HyperV<\/a><\/p>\n

3. VM Generation<\/strong>: If using Hyper-V 2012 R2<\/strong>, choose Generation 2 if you do not plan to move this VM to a Hyper-V 2012 or earlier server.<\/p>\n

\"HyperV<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Assign Memory<\/strong>: Choose how much memory to assign the VM and do not<\/em> choose Dynamic Memory<\/strong>. 4 GB is a good starting point for most servers prior to running SQL Server with any expected workload. Remember to size the memory correctly after you know how much memory is required.<\/p>\n

\"HyperV<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Configure Networking<\/strong>: Choose the proper network switch.<\/p>\n

\"HyperV<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Connect Virtual Hard Disk<\/strong>: Choose where to create a new VHD, select an existing one, or choose to wait until later to attach a VHD. If you chose to create a new VHD, choose from where to install the operating system.<\/p>\n

Recommendation: Name the VHD \u201c[HOSTNAME]-BOOT.vhdx\u201d to identify the owner of the drive and provide a simple description.<\/p>\n