Support policy for Microsoft SQL Server products that are running in a hardware virtualization environment

This article describes the support policy for Microsoft SQL Server products that are running in a hardware virtualization environment.

Microsoft provides technical support for SQL Server 2005, for SQL Server 2008, and for SQL Server 2008 R2 (this includes all components that are included with SQL Server 2005, with SQL Server 2008, and with SQL Server 2008 R2) for the following supported hardware virtualization environments:

• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 and Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
• Configurations that are validated through the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP).
  
  For more information about certified vendors and about configurations for SVVP, visit the following SVVP website: 
  http://windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm (http://windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm)
  Note The SVVP solution must be running on hardware that is certified for Windows Server 2008 to be considered a valid SVVP configuration.

Microsoft may provide limited or no technical support for the following environments:

• Any version of SQL Server earlier than SQL Server 2005 (such as SQL Server 2000) that is running on any virtualization vendor or configuration.
• Any non-Microsoft virtualization software that is not a configuration that is validated through the SVVP program

This policy of limited support is based on the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

Restrictions and Limitations

The following restrictions and limitations may affect the support policy of the above supported configurations:

• Guest Failover Clustering is supported for SQL Server 2005, for SQL Server 2008, and for SQL Server 2008 R2 in a virtual machine for the supported hardware virtualization environments listed in this article provided all of the following requirements are met: 
  • The Operating System running in the virtual machine (the "Guest Operating System") is Windows Server 2008 or a later version.
  • The virtualization environment meets the requirements of Windows 2008 Failover Clustering, as documented in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:  
    943984  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943984/ ) The Microsoft Support Policy for Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters
• The SQL Server product must be a supported version under its current Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy. For more information about Microsoft Support Lifecycle policies, visit the following Microsoft Support website: 
  http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle (http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle)
• Virtualization Snapshots for Hyper-V or for any virtualization vendor are not supported to use with SQL Server in a virtual machine. It is possible that you may not encounter any problems when using snapshots and SQL Server, but Microsoft will not provide technical support to SQL Server customers for a virtual machine that was restored from a snapshot.

Frequently asked questions

Q1: What level of technical support will I receive if my non-Microsoft vendor configuration is certified through SVVP?

A1: Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) will work together with the customer and the SVVP certified vendor to investigate the problem with SQL Server that is running in the virtual machine. Microsoft CSS or the SVVP vendor will follow the process that is documented on the following SVVP website to use the TSANet program together with the customer’s permission in an attempt to resolve the problem: 
Q2: What if the non-Microsoft vendor virtualization configuration is not certified through SVVP?

A2: Microsoft CSS will follow the support policies that are documented in Knowledge Base article 897615. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If Microsoft CSS determines that the problem may be related to the vendor virtualization software, Microsoft CSS may require the customer to reproduce the problem outside the virtualization environment. It is important to carefully read about the configurations that are supported for SVVP at the following SVVP website:Not all vendor configurations are considered certified by SVVP even though the vendor participates in the program. The list of validated configurations may be updated as vendors submit changes through this program.

Q3: The SVVP program specifically lists the valid configurations for Windows Server 2008. Are other versions of Windows supported to be used as guest operating system?

A3: Yes. As documented at the following SVVP website, the products that passed the SVVP requirements for Windows Server 2008 are considered supported on Windows 2000 Server SP4 and on Windows Server 2003 SP2 and later versions: When running SQL Server on a guest operating system, the version of SQL Server must be supported on the version of the guest operating system, according to the requirements that are listed in the respective SQL Server product documentation.

Q4: Are SQL Server features such as database mirroring supported to run in a virtualization environment?

A4: The only restrictions to install and use SQL Server in a virtualization environment are documented in this article or in the SQL Server product documentation. Any feature or usage that is not stated in this article or in the SQL Server product documentation is assumed to be supported in a virtualization environment by using the same restrictions and support as a “bare metal” hardware environment. For more information about the hardware and software requirements for SQL Server 2008, visit the following Microsoft TechNet website:  These same requirements apply to SQL Server 2005 that is running in a virtualization environment.

Q5: Is Quick and Live Migration with Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V supported with SQL Server?

A5: Yes, Live Migration is supported for SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2 when using Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V or Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.Quick Migration, which was introduced with Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V and Hyper-V Server 2008, is also supported for SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2 for Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V, Hyper-V Server 2008, and Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.

Q6: What is the support policy for SQL Server when using a SVVP vendor virtualization feature such as snapshots or migration?

A6: Snapshots for any virtualization vendor are not supported with SQL Server. Any other virtualization additional functionality of a SVVP vendor such as migration must be supported by the SVVP vendor. This includes any problems that might occur with SQL Server when using these features. Please read this resource for more information about the support policy for additional functionality of a virtualization product:
Q7: Is Hyper-V Dynamic Memory supported for SQL Server?

A7: Hyper-V Dynamic Memory is fully supported with SQL Server. Only SQL Server versions and editions (Enterprise and Datacenter) that support Hot Add Memory can see memory that is added by using Hyper-V Dynamic Memory. SQL Server versions that do not support Hot Add Memory are still supported. But these versions will detect only the memory that is present in the operating system when SQL Server starts. Before you deploy Hyper-V Dynamic Memory, please read the following resources when you use Hyper-V Dynamic Memory with SQL Server:
Q8: Can customers run SQL Server in the Windows Azure VM role? 

A8: SQL Server is currently not supported for production workloads in the Windows Azure VM role. Customers who want to deploy data platform capabilities today in the Windows Azure platform should use SQL Azure. SQL Azure is a fully managed cloud-based service that is built on SQL Server technologies. SQL Azure also offers SQL Azure Reporting for BI capability and Data Sync to synchronize data between SQL Azure and SQL Server. Or, customers may decide to work with Microsoft hosting partners.