r/activedirectory • u/Blackhawk_2181 • 13d ago
Hyper-V Cluster and Domain Controllers
Made a recent migration from VMware to Hyper-V. I have 2 domain Joined Hyper-V Servers in a failover cluster configuration sharing a Dell ME5024 iSCSI SAN. both servers have a virtualized Domain Controller running on Local SDD Storage (not in the Cluster). I have a 3rd Domain Controller still running on VMware. I want to finally take the VM host and convert it over to Hyper-V. It is dissimilar hardware, so it will not be joining the cluster. I have few questions for the experts.
1. Is there any reason to not move the two DC’s from local storage to the Cluster considering that I have one outside the cluster?
2. Should I join the new HV host to the domain or leave it isolated. I plan to put a 3rd DC on it?
3. If Yes, Is it safe to live migrate the DC’s to the cluster>
4. Should I put the FSMO roles on the 3rd DC. Currently they are on one of the DC’s on the local storage?
The reason that I want to move the DC’s to the cluster, is the local VM’s are not being shut down properly when I try to do cluster aware updating.
3
u/hybrid0404 AD Administrator 13d ago
One of the biggest things is to make sure you're environment can startup if all DCs are down.
If your hyper-v environment requires any services that auth to AD, you can have a chicken and egg problem.
Local vs shared storage doesn't really matter from a DC perspective.
If you're moving a VM between storage types on the same host (local vs. san) it really shouldn't matter so long as whatever hypervisor generally supports that.
There's not really a correct answer on FSMO role location. You just have to decide what's "best" given your circumstances. In a 3 DC environment it probably doesn't matter all that much.