Rob's SQL Server Blog

Updated: Support Policy for SQL Server on Virtualised Platforms

The support policy for SQL Server running on virtualised platforms has now been updated to include support for SQL Server 2005 running on Hyper-V

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=956893

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) http://windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm

Any non-Microsoft virtualization software that is not a validated configuration through the SVVP program will be handled under the policy in the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/897615/

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.
• 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 http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle