RE: [ActiveDir] Virtual DCs

[neil.ruston]

Title: Virtual DCs

Hardware costs will fall but will the overall costs over say 3 years really be lower?   Factor in the cost of VMware; additional engineering effort required; additional admin overhead; additional support overhead to manage virtual machines.   How will these machines be administered? Patched? Backed up? etc etc.   I'd love to see a cost / benefit study for the above.       neil From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rivera, Ada Sent: 06 June 2006 15:30 To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org Subject: RE: [ActiveDir] Virtual DCs I would agree with your comments whole heartedly.  I don’t think this is a good idea.  Add to the fact that we are running Exchange 2003 and all of our DCs are also GCs.   As to why “management” is directing us to do this, one can only surmise…My guess is they are thinking of this as a way to save on hardware costs and reduce the number of servers to be managed.   Thanks for your input.   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Molkentin, Steve Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 9:50 AM To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org Subject: RE: [ActiveDir] Virtual DCs   Ada,   I am intrigued as to why "management" are directing you to do this. What benefits do they percieve? Do they understand the nature of the 2K3 directory and the load 7,000 users puts on it?   This is not a criticism - just a curious thinking out loud moment...   Personally - I wouldn't do it. Some would say a DC is a sacred thing, not to be toyed with. Proof of concept is always good in these scenarios...  if you were to set this up in a lab, even with just two VMWare-ed DC's, you could show the overhead this would place on the machine and help them to understand the additional cost this will bring.   Remember, a DC that is just a DC (AD, DNS, maybe DHCP) doesn't need to be a gutsy box - it can just be a PC rebuilt with Win2K3 server on it. However it does need to stay up all the time.  ;)   themolk.     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rivera, Ada Sent: Tuesday, 6 June 2006 9:51 PM To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org Subject: [ActiveDir] Virtual DCs We have a single domain forest with about 7,000 users. Currently we 8 AD regional sites and one HQ AD site. The regional sites each have a DC serving their local regional area and there are multiple DCs in our HQ site. The environment is currently running Windows 2000 SP4 and we are looking to upgrade our DCs to W2K3. The direction from management is that we will put all of our domain controllers on VM Ware when we upgrade the DCs to W2K3. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Good or Bad idea? PLEASE READ: The information contained in this email is confidential and intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you are not an intended recipient of this email please notify the sender immediately and delete your copy from your system. You must not copy, distribute or take any further action in reliance on it. Email is not a secure method of communication and Nomura International plc ('NIplc') will not, to the extent permitted by law, accept responsibility or liability for (a) the accuracy or completeness of, or (b) the presence of any virus, worm or similar malicious or disabling code in, this message or any attachment(s) to it. If verification of this email is sought then please request a hard copy. Unless otherwise stated this email: (1) is not, and should not be treated or relied upon as, investment research; (2) contains views or opinions that are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of NIplc; (3) is intended for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation, solicitation or offer to buy or sell securities or related financial instruments. NIplc does not provide investment services to private customers. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered in England no. 1550505 VAT No. 447 2492 35. Registered Office: 1 St Martin's-le-Grand, London, EC1A 4NP. A member of the Nomura group of companies.