(My take on) Support for Exchange 2007 Under the SVVP

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UPDATE: Many months later I can now say (as you all know) that Windows 2000/2003/2008 is now supported under ESX 3.5u2. You can see this for yourself here: https://www.windowsservercatalog.com/results.aspx?&bCatID=1521&cpID=0&avc=0&ava=0&avq=0&OR=1&PGS=25

You have to read the small print in the upper right hand corner to see the older versions info:

Additional Information

Products that have passed the SVVP requirements for Windows Server 2008 are considered supported on Windows 2000 Server SP4 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 and later.

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With the release of the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) there has been a lot of question regarding what Microsoft now supports and does not support.

Here is my take on it - I will place the caveat that things may change and this post is only as good as the answers I have gotten from various groups internal to MS. All public articles take precidence over this post.

As ESX X.XuX MAYBE the first VMWare version to be certified under the SVVP program (as VMWare is the most common product wihtin my Account Pool, I will use that as my reference point in this posting - if you prefer to use another virtualization product just swap out the name of VMWare with that name). I say MAYBE as they have not yet been certified but from what I heard from ALL my clients who use VMWare it will be announced at VMWorld next week. Please contact VMWare directly to confirm this version information and check the SVVP link for updates. The SVVP policy is found here: https://windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm

(NOTE: I’ve removed the version number of VMWare I referenced in my first posting as it is not our product and no official release has been made by VMWare)

Here is our master KB listing on virtualization: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/897615

We have a master KB listing all products (OS and Applications) currently allowed under virtualization (both MS and SVVP) found here: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/957006

But there are also over riding product related KB listed within this KB (and elsewhere). For example Exchange 2007 support. Found here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794548(EXCHG.80).aspx

 Looking at the Exchange 2007 link you will see that the following needs to be in place for full support of an Exchange 2007 SVVP install:

1. Exchange 2007 SP1 (the nice part is that the SP is a full installable copy so you can get there in one install)

2. Windows 2008 x64

3. Support Agreements with both Microsoft and VMWare. To me this means a Premier Contract (https://www.microsoft.com/services/Microsoftservices/srv_premier.mspx) as well as one from VMWare (https://www.vmware.com/support/services/ - don’t hold me to this, as there are side support options that may also have relevance from VMWare https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/ms_support_statement.html) Please contact VMware directly on that.

 

So it appears that if you really want to virtualize Exchange on non-MS Virtualization software we (MS) will be allowing it, but there are some BUTs when it comes to will we (MS) support it.

 

I’ll also add the following Q/A

 

Q: Do you recommend virtualizing the mailbox server role?

A: While the mailbox server role is fully supported in a virtual environment, in most situations, we recommend that customers run their mailbox servers on native hardware. Mailbox servers have unique characteristics (including high CPU utilization, heavy disk IO, and large quantities of attached data) that limit the benefits gained from virtualization. Customers who decide to virtualize the mailbox role should follow the performance guidelines provided a part of our support statement [link].

For analyst perspectives on which workloads are good candidates for virtualization, please refer to the following reports:

· Gartner #G00156214: “Server Workloads: What Not to Virtualize”

· Gartner #G00153718 “Best Practices before Your Virtualize Your Servers”

· Forrester: “What Applications are Enterprises Virtualizing?”

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