Specifications

Best Practices for Virtualizing and Managing Exchange 2013

data from VSS-aware applications. VMM uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to ensure that data

is backed up consistently while the server continues to service user requests. VMM uses this read-only

snapshot to create a VHD.

For a busy Exchange Server, however, the point-in-time local copy for the online P2V will be out of date

very quickly. Therefore, an automated offline conversion may be more appropriate. Here, the source

computer restarts into the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE), and then VMM clones the

volume to a VHD. Offline P2V conversion is the only method to reliably migrate FAT volumes, and it is the

recommended method for converting domain controllers. In addition, offline P2V conversion can be the

most reliable way to ensure data consistency.

Virtual Machine Profiles and Templates

In VMM, a profile is a library resource containing specifications that can be applied to a new virtual

machine or virtual machine template. A template encapsulates a standard set of configuration settings

that can be used when creating a virtual machine. Templates can help you to quickly create virtual

machines with consistent hardware and operating system settings. This can be extremely useful for the

rapid deployment of Exchange Server virtual machines into an infrastructure. Templates also can be used

to restrict the virtual machine settings available to self-service users creating new virtual machines.

Profiles are used when creating templates. A template typically consists of a hardware profile, an

operating system profile, and a VHD that will be used by the virtual machine created with the template.

The VHD/X might be stored in the VMM library, or it might be a disk from an existing virtual machine.

The hardware and operating system profiles are discussed in more detail below:

 Hardware profile: A hardware profile defines hardware configuration settings such as CPU,

memory, network adapters, video adapter, DVD drive, floppy drive, COM ports, and the priority

given the virtual machine when allocating resources on a virtual machine host (Figure 39).

Figure 39: System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager – Hardware Profile