Best Practices for Virtualizing Domain Controllers

Virtual DC Best Practices

1. DCs require VM High Availability
2. Never pause, clone or snapshot a DC
3. Not all backups are created equal
4. Avoid clock drift
5. Don't overprovision resources
6. Ensure backups actually work
7. Implement anti-affinity rules
8. Separate client and administrative traffic
9. Prioritise quick object restores
10. Monitor storage performance
11. Remain a bit physical
12. Have a plan for disaster recovery

Reference documents

• Things to consider when you host Active Directory in virtual hosting environments
• Running Domain Controllers in Hyper-V
• Virtualizing Active Directory Domain Controllers: General Best Practices
• VMware Whitepaper - Virtualizing a Windows Active Directoy Domain Infrastructure
• Virtualizing Active Directory Domain Services On VMware vSphere