VM IC Time Synchronization ProviderThe guidance for domain controllers has changed over the years. The
recommendation was to disable time synchronization completely and then to
disable only part of the service with the following command:
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders
\VMICTimeProvider /v Enabled /t reg_dword /d 0Once again, though, the recommendation is to just disable the time
synchronization integration service completely, as documented in the time service
section at the following location:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/virtual_active_directory_domain_controller_virtualization_hyperv(WS.10).aspxMy recommendation is to check back regularly, but fundamentally, Hyper-V has
gotten better at controlling the drift, hence minimizing the time synchronizations
needed for virtual machines that already synchronize from another source.IDE CONTROLLER
I cover processors and memory in great detail later in this chapter. The other “must
have” component for a system is storage (technically, you don’t need a network,
though a system is typically not very useful without one). Generation 1 virtual
machines must boot from storage connected to the IDE controller, which as
previously explained emulates an Intel 82371AB/EB IDE controller. This enables
almost any operating system to be installed in a Hyper-V virtual machine, because the
Intel 82371AB/EB IDE controller is common and the driver is built into every major
operating system.
Two IDE controllers are provided in a generation 1 virtual machine: IDE controller 0
and IDE controller 1. Each IDE controller can have up to two devices attached, which
can be a hard drive or a DVD drive. Typically, the only time a DVD drive is used is
when there is an option to install the operating system into a new virtual machine by
attaching an operating system installation ISO to the drive, although mapping to a
physical DVD drive in the host is also possible. It’s also possible to install or update
the Hyper-V Integration Services, which were provided as an ISO prior to Windows
Server 2016, but they are now delivered through Windows Update to the guest OS.
Two IDE controllers with two devices each allows a maximum of four storage devices
to be connected, which may seem limited. In most virtual machines, you will use the
IDE controller only for the boot hard disk, and all data drives will be connected to the
synthetic SCSI controller instead.
Something seemingly obvious may be occurring to you. In this chapter, I have been
continually saying that emulated hardware is bad, that it is provided by a user mode