using hyper-v parent partition for a workstation

Question

I am setting up a Windows Server 2012 with hyper-v that will be used for running 3-5 virtual machines. The server has two pci GPUs and since hyper-v does not enable GPU passthrough I was thinking of using one gpu in the parent partition and one for remoteFX.

Since the parent has direct access to the hardware I could use the GPU for graphic demanding apps (for development). But that would require to install apps inside the parent partition. Is this a bad idea? Should I instead create a separate VM and access to it from the parent using RDP?

Possibly a silly question, is Windows 8 or 10 an option? – Greenstone Walker Sep 20 '16 at 04:41 — Greenstone Walker, Sep 20 '16 at 04:41
Windows 8/10 does not support remoteFX :/ – blejzz Sep 20 '16 at 11:34 — blejzz, Sep 20 '16 at 11:34

Ryan Ries · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-20T02:12:18.603

3

If you want to be technically pedantic, one should not run any more code than is strictly necessary on a Hyper-V host. It adds attack surface to the hypervisor and unfairly steals CPU cycles from the virtual machines running on that hypervisor.

But if this is non-production... just for development purposes... then do what you want.

(PS - I think Hyper-V in Windows Server 2016 has PCI(e) pass-through capability so you could hypothetically pass your GPU through directly to a VM... but don't quote me on that.)

edited Sep 20 '16 at 02:12

answered Sep 20 '16 at 01:34

Ryan Ries

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yes, 2016 has DDA, but it is still a techical preview – blejzz Sep 20 '16 at 11:35

using hyper-v parent partition for a workstation

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