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 and for SQL Server 2008 that are running in the following hardware virtualization environments:

• Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008
• Configurations that are certified through the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP).
  
  For more information about certified vendors and about configurations for SVVP, visit the following SVVP Web site:
  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.

Any non-Microsoft virtualization software that is not a validated configuration through the SVVP program will be handled under the policy as documented in the following Knowledge Base article. This also applies to any earlier version of SQL Server that is not listed in this article that is running in any virtualization environment. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The following restrictions apply to support for SQL Server products in any hardware virtualization environment:

• Guest Failover Clustering is not supported in a virtual machine. Guest Failover Clustering is when you create a SQL Server failover cluster inside a virtual machine where the nodes are running as a virtual machine.
• The virtual machine must be running an operating system that is supported for the specific SQL Server version and edition and that is supported for virtualization.
• 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 Web site:
  http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle (http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle)

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 Web site 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 Web site: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?

A3: Yes. As documented at the following SVVP Web site, 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:For SQL Server, the operating system that is used in the virtualization environment still must be a supported operating system as required by the SQL Server version 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 Web site: These same requirements apply to SQL Server 2008 that is running in a virtualization environment.