Hyper-V storage best practices

Question

I am configuring a new Dell server to replace some of our aging infrastructure. We have done a server assessment and feel comfortable to consolidate our current configuration into our new server - Windows 2022 Standard. There are 2 scenarios I am considering and am looking for some feedback from the forum as to which might be the best way to configure some large data partitions as I have not done this in a Hyper-V environment.

Scenario A: Configure the server as a Hyper-V host and create 2 VM servers which would utilized the 2 licenses available with Windows Server Standard. One VM would accommodate the apps we need to transition over as they are currently on VM servers (2012). The other part of the transition is transitioning the large data partitions (one 4 TB and one 5 TB). The concern I have is creating VHDK partitions to accommodate and share out this data. (note that these large data partitions do not require backups).

Scenario B: Configure the server as Hyper-V host and file server create 1 VM server. This would utilize the 2 server licenses available. The VM would accommodate the apps and the physical server would accommodate the file shares as well as a few additional utilities. I feel a bit more comfortable with this, only due to my lack of experience with large data partitions in Hyper-V.

Look forward to some input and experience from the forum.

Answer 1

Hi,

In most cases, it's recommended to keep the host operating system free of roles, features, and applications that aren't required to run Hyper-V.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/best-practices-analyzer/hyper-v-should-be-the-only-enabled-role

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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