VM-WindowsServer '12? Host vs Guest StoragePool? dyn VDI?

[RonnyLULU]

Hi,

as I am (quite) new to virtualbox and experimenting as with Windows Server 2012 as GUEST OS, i have a few basic questions and i hope you can help me:

I have 8 SATA HDD which i want to use (mostly from the Windows Server Guest)
- should i use the storage pool feature from the win 8.1 Host system or
- the "storage pool" feature from windows server 2012 vm guest by creating on the host one vdi file for each drive or
- Should i use the "dynamic virtual disk" feature from Virtualbox?

What about the data safety or performance? Dyn. vs fix?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Regards

[mpack]

Despite the grand name, a "dynamic virtual disk" is just an ordinary file, so you can treat it as tyou would any other host file.

Personally I would be unhappy about the file potentially straddling multiple host drives, as that would increase the probabilility of mechanical failure affecting the file (VDI files are large, so it already has an increased probability of intersecting bad sectors etc).

[RonnyLULU]

After googling and reading i now tried it with raw disk access.....is that a good way?

[mpack]

Absolutely not good. It's an experts-only feature, and experts tend to avoid it as well. I would not care for the performance loss either.

[RonnyLULU]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

As i have the HDD's, i would like to use them.

So what do you suggest would be the best way to set up the Virtual 2012 server with multiple hdds?

[mpack]

You would just locate a normal dynamic VDI on whatever hdd you want, then register the VDI with the VM.

[RonnyLULU]

OK....thanks again for your reply..

So if i am rigth you suggest, as i have 8 HDDs, to make 8 dynamic vdi-files, one for every hdd, and to use them with the "storage space" from windows server!?!

[mpack]

Sorry, I don't use Windows Server. Any VDI attached to the VM will appear as a disk drive to the guest. You can do anything with that drive that Win2k12 normally can.

Be aware that you have to select the correct disk controller type, as an IDE controller for example has a limit of 4 drives, and the PIIX3 chipset only allows one IDE controller. The ICH9 chipset allows two, hence you could have 8 drives. I think the limit is 15 drives on a single SATA controller, but ICH9 seems to let you have as many of these as you like. I never use SCSI so can't discuss that.

[RonnyLULU]

Ok...

Just one more question, is a dynamic vdi file limited to the size of the HDD on which it is located?

Because i dont wont that a the vdi file, when it reaches the limit of the hdd, to expand over to an other hdd, i want one vdi file clearly on one hdd, so as i said 8 vdi file on 8 hdds.

Thanks again for your help

[mpack]

The VDI is limited to whatever size the host OS allows. As I said before, the VDI file is just a completely ordinary data file. All the normal size limits apply. If your host OS allows files to span drives, the file will span drives. If not it won't.