We find that many of our customers prefer the convenience of using a Virtual Machine environment to host their Enterprise Server.  Due to the low system requirements and resource usage of the Enterprise Server it is an ideal candidate for a VM environment.

Due to the design of the communications between the Enterprise Server and the Workstation via the DESlock+ cloud, the Enterprise server does not need to be on at all times, only when you need to use it to perform commands.  This applies to the Enterprise Server in general and not specifically when used in a virtual environment.

Backup

By hosting the Enterprise Server as a Virtual Machine, it makes backup and migration simple file copy operations.  Making copies of the entire guest environment means there is no need to install and configure the software again should the machine need to move to a new host. 

In the case of VirtualBox / VMWare this means ensuring the virtual machine has been shut down and powered off, the virtual machine interface closed, then taking a copy of the complete folder containing the virtual machine files.  It is important that when the machine is restored or powered on at a new host that if prompted whether you copied or moved the machine that you select the moved option to avoid the need to reactivate the operating system.

Recommendations

There are many hypervisors that are suitable for hosting the Enterprise Server.  We have tested the Enterprise Server against VMware Workstation v9.04 and Virtual Box v4.3.26 specifically.  However all hypervisors providing support for Windows guests with networking should be a suitable environment. 

You should not encrypt using DESlock+ the machine hosting the Enterprise Server or the guest machine.  This is because the Enterprise Server contains your recovery passwords so encrypting with itself would provide a situation similar to locking an emergency safe password inside the safe. 

Related Articles:

What are the minimum system requirements for installing the DESlock+ Enterprise Server?

External Websites:

https://www.virtualbox.org/

http://www.vmware.com/

Keywords: hyper-visor back-up migrate vm virtual machine vmware