Host OS:
Windows Server 2012 R2
Guest VMs in Learning/Practice Active Directory Domain
- 4 - 6 Windows Server 2012 R2 servers, 2 of which function as domain controllers, one that I use as Routing/NAT server that acts as default gateway to the Internet, and the others run various other roles.
- 2 - 3 Windows clients (Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10).
Motherboard:
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 (PC3 10666) - I've reached memory limit of motherboard with 16GB.
My motherboard has 5 integrated SATA 3 (6Gbps) integrated ports on board.
Optical Device is attached to a Sil Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID in a PCI slot.
Open slots are PCIe Version 2 x16, x4, and an x2.
My goal is to obtain the best possible performance while running all of the VMs described above simultaneously.
QUESTIONS:
- How many VMs should I place on a single SATA 3 (6Gbps) hard disk drive? My research thus far tells me to put each of the domain controllers on a separate disk and each of the Windows clients on a separate disk. Your thoughts or recommendations?
- Should I even consider placing a VM on a SATA 2 (300Gbps) hard disk drive or replace those hard disks with SATA 3 drives?
- I'm considering adding a 4-Port SATA 6Gbps controller card (PCIe x16) to the system. This would allow me to place each (or almost each) of the VMs on its own disk. Would this result in a noticeable difference compared to running 2 server VMs on the same disk?
- I assume that an external USB 3 disk would crawl. Correct or not?
- Are there any specific considerations that I should be aware of before running Server 2016 on a VM?
I hope I've provided sufficient information to allow you to understand my environment and my questions. I realize this is a hardware-related question but I thought who better to ask than those that work with Hyper-V.
Thanks,
John /configt
John