A Domain Controller running on a VM is, theoretically speaking, just like a regular physical computer, as far as Active Directory is concerned. That means that you will manage this Domain Controller with the same tools as a regular DC. In fact, if you're managing Active Directory, you're probably familiar with the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, the ntdsutil command line tool, and many other tools, and you know that these tools allow you to manage a DC remotely, regardless of whether it is a physical or virtual computer.

So, why is a virtual DC so controversial? After reading this chapter, you will find that most of the issues with a virtual DC are because of the bad use of resources on a virtual environment. As you have learned so far, using the correct virtual hardware—that is, using the Hyper-V features—and correctly configuring the application, which in this case is Active Directory, are part of the administration process. In many...