this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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Seeking Expertise for Windows Server 2022 on ESXi 7.0u3 in a Small Business Environment (alien.top)
submitted 11 months ago by ImmoGuy@alien.top to c/homelab@selfhosted.forum
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Hello everyone,

I'm reaching out to the communities of r/homelab, r/esxi, and r/vmware, hoping to find the right place for my query. I run a small 3-person business here middle in the Alps in Austria and have been struggling to find an IT technician willing to work with a company of our size. I've either received no responses or outright rejections due to our small scale. While I am somewhat tech-savvy, my experience with Windows Server and domain setups is limited.

I aim to install Windows Server 2022 on ESXi 7.0u3 (Free Version). This server will host the domain, our industry-specific software with an MS SQL Server. Currently, the industry software runs on a virtual Windows 10 machine on ESXi with a proprietary DB.

Our hardware includes a Dell PowerEdge R730 server, featuring 2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2643 v3 @ 3.40GHz, 63.91 GB RAM, PERC H730 Mini, drives (2x ST600MP0025 600GB 15K SAS, 3x AL14SEB120N 1.2TB 10K SAS), and network interfaces (2x 1Gbit, 2x 10Gbit - not connected). We're using an 1820 HPE OfficeConnect switch and a PFSense router. The 15K HDDs are configured in RAID-1, and the 10K HDDs in RAID-5. ESXi is installed on a redundant dual-SD module, and currently, I've set up 4 VMs on it: 3x Ubuntu (for a ticket system, a DMS, and Meshcentral) and 1x Windows 10 (which I plan to replace with the Windows Server 2022).

I need guidance on the following points:

  1. Recommended ESXi settings for this setup.
  2. Necessary configurations for the Windows Server 2022 VM template.
  3. Key considerations during the installation of Windows Server 2022.

I'm more than willing to share my current settings if it helps in providing advice.

Thank you all in advance for your assistance!

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[–] ExistingSuccotash478@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

If your plan is to setup AD DS, then i would STRONGLY advise against putting everything in one windows server VM. That is against all MS best practices and it will create many issues down the line.

Setup a Windows VM for AD DS, and another for SQL/application.

Ideally, you should run at least 2 domain controllers in an AD DS, but 1 can be enough for initial setup.

Windows AD controller doesn't need much in terms of resources (2-4 cores and 8GB RAM should be enough) for a few users. SQL, on the other hand is pretty resource intensive (especially memory) so grant those resources.

[–] Complex_Ad8695@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

If it's critical for your business, spend the money and invest in getting resources for a cluster setup. If you lose your host or storage devices, how long can you tolerate being absolutely down?

Building something simple, yet robust. I have seen too many shops build on 1 host, then have a failure, take them offline for good.

[–] CTRL1@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

This is a homelab subreddit. You are asking for people to plan out a production environment, basically do your job for you which is inconsiderate.

[–] HPE_Support@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Hi ImmoGuy, You need to consider it's a virtual machine thats it . No specific fine tunning required and you can convert to template after building the virtual machine. If you are going to convert this to SQL DB then you need to follow best practices document. https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/solutions/sql-server-on-vmware-best-practices-guide.pdf