VMware

Upgrade to the Best Platform for Microsoft Exchange

Run Exchange on VMware Infrastructure to maximize availability and protect against costly and disruptive email outages, increase infrastructure performance by 100% and reduce server footprint by up to 90%, scale dynamically to adapt to changing workloads, and expedite testing and provisioning. VMware Infrastructure is a dynamic, service-oriented platform that is officially supported by Microsoft and ideally suited to running Microsoft Exchange. Upgrade to VMware Infrastructure and free Exchange from the constraints of static physical infrastructure to:

  • Maximize availability without the complexity of Microsoft clustering
  • Increase the capacity of Exchange servers by 100%
  • Scale dynamically to support increasing load and eliminate sizing compromises
  • Expedite management tasks such as testing and provisioning
  • Reduce your infrastructure footprint and costs by up to 90%

Enjoy Full Microsoft Support

Microsoft officially supports Windows Server and Server products running on VMware ESX. This includes Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later, and Windows Server 2008 and specialty roles provided by the operating system such as Active Directory or File Services. Major applications that are supported include Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server. Microsoft has published a complete list of supported applications, and continues to update it. Supported ESX configurations are also listed.

VMware ESX was the first hypervisor to be validated under the Microsoft Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP), providing customers who run Windows Server and Microsoft applications with cooperative support from Microsoft and VMware. Customers can now run Exchange on VMware with the peace of mind that they will receive the support they need.

Microsoft Adopts VMotion-Friendly Licensing

Microsoft licensing has recently been modified to allow customers to reassign licenses between physical servers as frequently as desired. In the past, licenses could only be reassigned once every 90 days, limiting the benefits of VMotion. The new licensing flexibility enables efficient use of VMotion for Windows Server and major applications including Exchange, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server.

Non SVVP-Validated Configurations

What happens if you are running a non SVVP-validated configuration of ESX and Microsoft products? Customers routinely tell us they still receive the Microsoft support benefits. Support options vary, however, depending on how customers purchase VMware and Microsoft products.

The following scenarios are common:

Scenario #1: VMware software was originally purchased through a server OEM
Server resellers including Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP, IBM, and Unisys offer end-to-end support for Microsoft software running on their servers and VMware if VMware products are purchased with the server hardware and are covered by a valid support agreement with the server reseller. This provides customers one-stop support via the server reseller if an issue arises. See Support for Microsoft Software in VMware Virtual Machines for more details.

Scenario #2: VMware products were originally purchased from VMware or a VMware authorized reseller and the customer has a valid Microsoft Premier-level support agreement
Microsoft states that it will investigate potential issues with Microsoft software running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. This is not limited to specific products or versions of VMware. VMware virtual infrastructures are now regularly supported as efficiently and effectively as physical environments.

There may be confusion within Microsoft’s field and channel organizations regarding the scope of support that is provided to customers with Premier agreements. In general, Microsoft offers its large customers excellent support for their products running on VMware.

Microsoft’s policy states that support specialists may request that customers replicate the issue on a physical machine in order to proceed with the investigation. Microsoft support documentation notes that "we expect to ask customer to reproduce problems on "bare metal" only as a last resort."

Scenario #3: VMware software was originally purchased direct from VMware or a VMware authorized reseller and the customer does not have a Microsoft Premier-level support agreement
Microsoft’s Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) promises support for most Microsoft products to all customers running validated VMware configurations. See Microsoft KB 897615 and references to SVVP for more information. SVVP is available to anyone able to access Microsoft Support, including per-incident support. This has eliminated most of the confusion around support for Microsoft products in virtual machines.

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