KB ID 0000333
Problem
At time of writing (30/09/10) it seems I cant get a definitive answer! My colleague tried to log a third line support call with Microsoft this week, as soon as they found out that Exchange 2010 was running in a VMware environment, they (literally) hung up on him.
Solution
Well Microsoft’s own documentation says it IS
Fair enough Exchange 2010 is supported on a “Third party Hypervisor ONLY if its been validated in the “Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program“”.
Lets check that then,
Quote ” Products that have passed the SVVP requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2 are considered supported on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 and later Service Packs, both x86 (32-bit), and x64 (64-bit).”
And The platform it was running on IS listed (ESXi 4.0 U1).
When presented with this evidence the response was “We will try and fix it on a “Best Endeavour” basis” and the problem (which had nothing to do with VMware, it was actually Microsoft Threat Management Gateway that caused the problem!) was resolved.
Sorry Microsoft that is just not good enough! My company pay handsomely for their gold partnership status, and we expect to get third line support on the products we sell. The product is either supported or it is NOT, don’t publish that it is, then use the fact that is running on third party virtualisation to get the problem off your support call queue. Because somewhere there is an Engineer/Consultant who has persuaded THEIR client to part with money to buy YOUR product.
I openly invite Microsoft – Third Line Exchange Support, The Exchange Development team and anyone else to respond to me. I will publish any pertinent response.
Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links
Technet Exchange 2010 Requirements Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program VMware Platforms Supported and passed SVVP
