Running windows 2000 server under 2008 R2 virtual machine?

[Texashiker]

Our office has a rather "old" 16 bit medical records application that we want to move to our new server. The problem is, the new server is Windows 2008 R2 64-bit, and 16 bit applications can not run under R2 64bit.

From what I understand, 2008 R2 has Hyper-V virtualization software included.

Can I create a w2k Virtual Machine on the 2008 R2 server, and install the 16 bit application?

The application is currently running on a very old Dell w2k server.

Upgrading the application is not an option at this time.

 

[yinan]

Our office has a rather "old" 16 bit medical records application that we want to move to our new server. The problem is, the new server is Windows 2008 R2 64-bit, and 16 bit applications can not run under R2 64bit.

From what I understand, 2008 R2 has Hyper-V virtualization software included.

Can I create a w2k Virtual Machine on the 2008 R2 server, and install the 16 bit application?

The application is currently running on a very old Dell w2k server.

Upgrading the application is not an option at this time.

Yes

 

[Chiefcrowe]

agreed. you should have no problem doing this since 2k is a supported guest OS.

 

[MedicBob]

I had a Server 2000 "box" running in Hyper V without a problem.

How disk intensive is this application? that migh be a concern, but possibly the only one.

 

[Texashiker]

How disk intensive is this application? that migh be a concern, but possibly the only one.

Its a single user medical records application. I think the lady enters information 2 or 3 times a week. For our new Dell server, I doubt it will even notice her entering the data.

We have a couple of older applications running on the windows 2000 server, this medical records is the first one to be moved over.

While looking through the microsoft support pages on Hyper-V, they said I will probably need to restart the server after installing Hyper-V, plus, I am going to install 2008 R2 service pack 1. I will probably do all of this one evening after everyone leaves.

 

[MedicBob]

Sounds like it should work great and almost exactly why most move to virtualization. Lower hardware and infrastructure costs.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Yes, i've set up hyperV and you do need to restart at least once after installing it and definitely after the service pack. I'd recommend doing all updates before you install the guest OS.

Its a single user medical records application. I think the lady enters information 2 or 3 times a week. For our new Dell server, I doubt it will even notice her entering the data.

We have a couple of older applications running on the windows 2000 server, this medical records is the first one to be moved over.

While looking through the microsoft support pages on Hyper-V, they said I will probably need to restart the server after installing Hyper-V, plus, I am going to install 2008 R2 service pack 1. I will probably do all of this one evening after everyone leaves.

 

[Texashiker]

Yes, i've set up hyperV and you do need to restart at least once after installing it and definitely after the service pack. I'd recommend doing all updates before you install the guest OS.

Took care of the updates - 2008 r2 service pack and some other updates that required restart friday while the main office was closed.

The big question, do I install windows server 2000, or the 32 bit version of windows server 2003. I know for a fact that the software will work on win 2k server, but I dont know about server 2003.

I think I will just go install windows server 2000 on monday, and be done with it.

 

[MedicBob]

Why not install both Server 200 and Server 2003 if you have licences for both?

Then you can test the application with Server 2003.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

since it's a VM, it won't hurt to test 2003 to see if it works. Since it is newer, you'll still be getting updates for it from microsoft. That's what i'd do anyway.

 

[Texashiker]

Why not install both Server 200 and Server 2003 if you have licences for both?

The server only has 4 gigs of memory, that is my only concern.

I thought about putting in a request for another 8 gigs of memory (or so) for future expansion. If the server had 8 or 12 or more gigs of memory, I would not mind setting up a couple of virtual machines

 

[Chiefcrowe]

what are the specs for the server? you probably will want to put in more ram at some point anyway... i think ours can probably support up to 20 guest VMs.

 

[Texashiker]

what are the specs for the server?

Dell T310
Intel Xeon Quad core cpu X3430 running at 2.39ghz
4 gigs DDR3 memory
Windows sever 2008 R2 64-bit

I might talk to the accounting department this evening about getting some more memory for the server, see if that can get bumped up to maybe 8 or more gigs.

Another issue, I could not find the windows 2000 server CD. So I might have to go with server 2003 - 32 bit.

 

[Paperlantern]

Yeah I would try it in both. You dont have to run both VMs at the same time, so Memory should not be a concern just to test them out and if they both work, youd most likely go with 2003 and 86 the 2k server VM.

Another option would be to just take your existing server and just virtualize it with a virtualization tool. You won't need the cd for that. I'm pretty sure Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager supports virtualizing windows 2000 server in an offline mode.

 

[Thor86]

Yes, time to move off 2000 if you can. Even 2003 server is getting old.

 

[stlcardinals]

You might take a look at Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager. It has a nice Physical to Virtual conversion utility that works really well. I used it to convert 4 Windows 2003 physical servers to VMs.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Just out of curiosity since i'm thinking of doing this also. What were those servers' roles?

You might take a look at Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager. It has a nice Physical to Virtual conversion utility that works really well. I used it to convert 4 Windows 2003 physical servers to VMs.