Chapter 2 - Installing and Configuring a Virtual Server

Abstract

This chapter discusses the installation and configuration of a virtual server. The installation is very straightforward, as with most Microsoft applications. The installation application is a wizard-based graphical install. Adequately planning the size of the physical server provides a solid foundation for running virtual servers. The setup of Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 is much like the installation of other Microsoft software. The wizard-based setup can be run from media downloaded from the Microsoft Web site, or you can order a media CD from Microsoft. The Microsoft Virtual Server Administration Web site is a Web-based application that is used to manage and configure the virtual server as well as the virtual machines running on the virtual server. The Virtual Server Administration Web site can be installed in two ways. The first way is to install the Virtual Server Administration Web site as part of the installation of Virtual Server. The second way is to install the Virtual Server Administration Web site on its own standalone server. Running the installation setup results in a working server, but when nothing is configured after the installation, only administrators are able to connect to any machine via the console. Configuring the virtual server provides secure and reliable access while giving the best performance possible.