Before deploy Windows Server 2012/ 2012 R2 operating system on either Hyper-V or VMware platform, it is recommended to check the compatibility list. Here is the summary of information that I’ve gathered.
Hyper-V – Windows Server 2008 R2 or R2 SP1
- Must install hotfix, click here to download.
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 guest operating system
- Not supported to run Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system
Hyper-V Windows Server 2012
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 guest operating system
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system
Hyper-V Windows Server 2012 R2
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 guest operating system
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system
VMware Esx 4.0 or 4.1
- Not supported to run Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2
- Upgrade to higher version or deploy Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V
VMware Esx 5.0 or 5.1
Do take note the update is installed before deploy the guest operating system
- ESXi 5.0 Update 1, Update 2 or Update 3 to run Windows Server 2012 guest operating system
- ESXi 5.0 Update 2 to run Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system
- ESXi 5.1 support to run Windows Server 2012 guest operating system
- ESXi 5.1 or Update 1 to run Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system
VMware ESX 5.5
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 guest operating system
- Support to run Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system
Information about Vmware compatibility is gathered from here and here.
