supported virtualization environments for SQL Server

It’s useful to know which virtualization environments Microsoft considers “validated” for use by SQL Server, whether or not you have a Premier support contract with Microsoft or not.  And they do of course provide a level of SQL Server support even if you run it in a non-validated virtualization environment.

This blog entry from Microsoft Customer Service and Support SQL Server Engineers gives details on support for SQL Server in a virtualized environment.  Here’s the summary at the end of the article:

If you use Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V or Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, you are supported for SQL Server 2005 and 2008.

If you choose to use a non-Microsoft virtualization solution, check to see that your configuration is SVVP certified. If it is, Microsoft CSS will support you and work with your vendor to help find a resolution to your issue.

If your configuration is not SVVP certified, be prepared for Microsoft CSS to ask you to reproduce your problem outside of the virtualization environment should you choose to seek assistance from CSS.

Here is a list of currently SVVP-certified products:

• Cisco WAAS Virtual Blades 4.1
  by Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Citrix XenServer 5 Embedded Edition
  by Citrix Systems, Inc
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2
  by Novell, Inc
• VMware ESX 3.5 Update 2
  by VMware, Inc..
• VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3
  by VMware, Inc.
• VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 3
  by VMware, Inc.
• XenServer 5
  by Citrix Systems, Inc

This list comes from here, which you can get to from the SVVP page by clicking Products under Additional Information in the left pane.  Note that there are hardware specs for each of the SVVP-certified products (click the link for the product you want to see).  No doubt this list will change as more products get certified.

Oh, it might also be worth mentioning that it appears that SVVP-certified products are certified to run Microsoft’s server software, as specified on the SVVP Products page, which currently includes Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 SP2, and Windows 2000 Server SP4 and later.  So it sounds to me like the SVVP certification is for the Windows OS, beyond just SQL Server.

Thanks to Michael Otey (again) for this tip, pointing me to the SQL Server Engineers Blog.

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